What I did during my "week off"

First, I want to thank everyone for the plentiful well wishes. It really is a pleasure to open email after email with notes from blogging buddies and other friends wishing a girl a speedy recovery.

The first thing I did when I realized that I could not handle the work, was to cancel my little girl's birthday party. :(

It was a blessing in disguise.  i actually got to enjoy the day with my little princess.
My family still came and so I was scrambling, okay walking like an old lady, to get grocery shopping and tidying done. It really is a test of one's priorities. I am glad I did not freak out about my teenager's bathroom. I wanted it spotless and sparkling. No one ever went in it.

I did feel the need to do a few little things here and there to make my house seem less undone after a year and a half of living here.

my library

I managed to hang a few things. I plan on many more things to fill the walls, English country house style. Some of the things here I have bought, but much has a family connection. The odd frames above the lamp and the one from the first image are tailwings from a World War I airplane. Yes, WWI, My great-grandmother's brother flew a plane for the RAF. Think Downton Abbey. The planes were made of wood and canvas and upon Uncle Percival's crashing and ultimate POW status, he took bits of his wrecked plane and carved them to pass the time and make a "souvenier de la Guerre' as one is marked.

In between all of the boring chores there were bits of light and fun and beauty.

We stopped at a great Chinese restaurant on the way to the grocery. I think it might be our gushing praise over the traditional food or our 30% tips but our favorite Chinese restaurant keeps serving us delightful tidbits of cake at every visit.

I painted to take my mind off just how bad I felt. I finished one commission, set up another and sold the small painting above.

I crafted a very pedestrian dinosaur cake for the smaller birthday celebration.

We slept whenever possible but not nearly enough.

We opened fun presents. One of these is a pop up fairy tent that just might be the best toy ever. It is tons of fun and it folds up easily so the room is not toy central all the time.

I also sent my 17 year-old son off to the junior prom. They had fun, I hear.

I guess its not actually funny but our washer died during all this craziness. It was a mess. Luckily, we had a spare but it was quite a project to get it up two flights to our second floor laundry. The "new" machine was my husband's as a bachelor and the capacity is not really suited to a family of five. Last night it started smoking!!!!! I am appliance shopping today. Ha!

I still read blogs and left comments but it was a relief to have one thing less to do.
What would you do if you had a week off from one of your daily activities?