A rejuvenating day

Today didn't start out as I'd planned. I thought that after Sunday pancakes, we'd go walk around the plaza or take Gemma for a long walk or do some fun outing... But I was awakened at 6am by Caroline, complaining that she was feeling terrible. Sure enough, she had a fever -- and she NEVER has a fever -- and she looked droopy and miserable. So, I plied her with cold and flu medicine, plumped her pillows, and got her back to sleep.

Oh well. There I was, with a sick child, and a husband who has been at home with me, every day, since DECEMBER 15 (ah, the luxuriously long vacations of the college professor) ... and I was feeling miserably, crankily, housebound. Or, more precisely, FAMILY bound. I love being home. Just not when everyone else is here all the time with me.

So I did what any self-respecting wife and mother would do. I went shopping.

I just needed to get out and peruse STUFF, y'know? I headed south to Santa Rosa, to the shopping center that houses Target, Marshalls, Office Depot, and Costco. Good browsing territory all right.

My main goal at Target, I'm sort of embarrassed to say, was some cool patterned mechanical pencils I saw on Melody's blog. Lover of all things polka dotted, I've been coveting those dang pencils since she posted a picture of hers! To my dismay, my Target was OUT of them. Rats, rats, rats. (And I hereby pledge to anyone who is in a Target and finds them and buys them for me that I will not only reimburse the costs but I will send a polka-dottedly happy gratitude surprise.)

But I did not come away empty handed, and I had a grand time strolling around Target. They rearranged this store a few months ago, so it still feels backwards to me and my favorite aisles are no longer where they used to be. It's disorienting, and time consuming as of course I had to stroll around looking at everything.

In lieu of the wonderful patterned pencils, I did find this bargain pack of 24 bright pencils for $3.99.



So, I'm well-stocked for pencils for a while...NOT THAT I STILL DON'T COVET THOSE PATTERNED ONES, but this will hold me. And notice the erasers. Now that I am hooked on Scooby Doo's (or Sudoku, for you purists) I am ALL ABOUT erasers.

And then I couldn't resist these cute dotty pushpins for the bulletin board right next to my monitor.



Being a big fan of RED stuff, I love Valentine's day merchandise. Displays just pull me in. And that's how I found this cute t-shirt for Caroline.



But it'll look even better with this red skort (skirt with shorts in side, vital for 4th graders who like to go on the monkey bars at recess):



Note the cute ruffle on the bottom!

Then, when I was already feeling rather happy about all these finds, I stumbled on these great double hooks:



Now that Roger and I have use of our master bathroom again, we decided to replace the original cheap and narrow towel rack with three hooks for towels. (Won't we be so "Pottery Barn" with our towels hanging artfully on hooks?!) These are PERFECT. Exactly what I wanted. And they were $5.99 each! These are $18 each at Restoration Hardware, people! This was a HUGE score!

I had a great stroll around Marshall...contemplated a Valentine's Day tablecloth, but ultimately left it behind in a disciplined act of "catch and release" shopping.

Then, on to Costco, where I found this on the book table:



I couldn't resist it. I like Rachel Ray's shows on the Food Channel, and I like her... probably because she reminds me of my good friend from law school days, Dori. But I love the 30 minute meal thing, harried working mom that I am. So, this came home with me, and I'm looking forward to trying some new dinners.

And then because I was thinking about how hard it is to make fast and delicious family dinners on week nights, I was happy to see (on the sale table!) a new cookbook by the Desperation Dinner ladies:


Cheap, fast, and good...sort of says it all. I love the Desperation Dinners book...that turned me on to the joy of frozen chopped onions which now are always stocked in my freezer. I haven't wept over an onion since!

Costco also yielded a great deal on chicken strip dog treats for Gemma and my sister's dog Katie. And on the way home, I stopped to get the one thing Caroline had requested, rainbow sherbet.

I came home feeling happy and rejuvenated. And I got home to find Caroline was non-feverish, resting on the couch and happy to get ice cream, and Roger dozing on the other side of the sectional couch.

So, things are looking up. I've got my fingers crossed that Caroline will feel well enough to return to school on Tuesday... it'll be my first day home alone since mid-December!

Not that I'm counting the hours or anything...