Mustering all my immunity and bling for the Gabby Awards

It has been a week of misery, Lysol, honey lemon tea and antibiotics that could take out a plague (at least that is the hope now that it is coursing through my veins). And tonight I am pulling myself up off the couch and into some merciful Spanx to head to the Gabby Awards. Huh?! I know! Who goes from bronchitis hell to a formal affair in a matter of hours? Apparently, a grrrl who has purchased some killer Cha Cha de Gregorio satin heels...and who also is very happy to support a certain someone she's smitten with who produced videos for the big event. So deep breath, lozenges, and red lipstick, darlings. Farewell to germs and hello to an evening to honor Greek Americans (and that talented gentleman I will be sitting next to).

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The kid left and the germs settled right in.

My week alone, or at least relatively alone while Lil E went across the country for a vacation with his dad, was full of so many good intentions.

Of course, there was the to-do list that included doing all those things like throwing out gazillions of craplastic thingies accumulated in size 3T pockets and brightly colored bins and under the couch cushions...oh, and also the mama-equivalent that lives in my make-up and kitchen drawers.

There was also the good intention of having dinners with friends I haven't seen in way too long, and all this blogging I was going to do.

Then, like the inevitability of getting sick the day after finals is over, I sent my boy off and I got sick. I caught some kind of pandemic that has knocked me and my big list of good intentions the eff out.

Before I did get all feverish, I did get to see an all-grrrl tribute band called Lez Zeppelin (must love) that also gave me a bit of a shoe rush (helllloooohhh, lead singer with the white leather knee-high boots). It was so fun to spend a few pre-hacking cough hours at this phenomenal show.

I'm off to the doctor tomorrow after a stern warning from one of my grrls (who doesn't have white leather knee-high boots but totally could rock them) and then I am going to climb right back in bed with my Kleenex, sinus spray, cough medicine, neti pot, Riiiiiiicohhhhhhhla drops, and ibuprofen. Then, I am sure the nastiness will clear enough for me to write more. And not about my germedness, I swear.

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Because pink makes me happy

There is much to post about -- it's coming. Eventually.

There is much to do -- it's happening. Slowly, but it's happening.

There is much to ponder -- it's all in there. Swirling, but it will soon settle.

For now, on this rainy day that seems much closer to autumn than the summer solstice, I am centering on this. Yes, taken in my mother's garden.

I am choosing to surround myself with colors (shhh, never mind the 27 black tees hanging in my closet) that make me feel good and to shift my focus from the craziness to the calm.

I took this picture because pink makes me happy, almost every time.  And because peonies, in their lushness made by ants burrowing into the buds, are among my favorite flowers.

So today, with all this stuff to accomplish and think about and unwind, I'm pressing pause with this one pink peony.

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