This Dog Knits

The Message

I woke up this morning to find a message from one of my near and dears:

"I dreamed of your daughter last night friend! And then today I was all teary thinking about meeting her. Gee whiz, she's turning me into an emotional girl already!"

I love knowing that our daughter has such love & support surrounding her already. She's going to have some fabulous aunts, that's for sure.

In With The New

Oh my. Another busy day in a series of oh so busy days. I went to exchange moolah for keys this afternoon & tonight my mother in law came to help us move a couple loads of boxes over (to make tomorrow's moving a little less hectic). She also came bearing a Dark Terry's Chocolate Orange which might actually be my most favourite kind of chocolate (ever). I know that the whole orange/choco thing isn't for everyone but it is certainly for me! So, since I know that she reads my blog -- thank you very much for the chocolate & help this evening. I've definitely lucked out with the whole mother in law situation.

I was so excited to visit the new apartment this afternoon & get my key! My friend & neighbour (and her poor broken-in-three-places ankle) came with me to visit my new neighbourhood. We also scoped out the nearest cafe/pub called the Ritz Deli North. It's in the bottom of an older renovated house & is absolutely charming. The atmosphere is fabulous, the waiter was so sweet & the food -- oh my word. We both had reubens with a side soup (ie. big deli sandwich, generous bowl of soup & pickles on the side). The price is even great -- all of that for about $12 total. Excellent. I'm so glad that there is such a nice spot just a block from our new place. We have been very spoiled living directly downtown (and I mean directly) so the fact that our new place is actually 5 blocks from downtown makes it seem like going downtown will be an epic journey. Pathetic, right? The Ritz also has a really decent selection of beer which will come in handy in a few months when I'm able to partake in such events again. The boy will be happy with beer so close by as well.

I suppose that is all for now, ladies & gents. I have diligently packed up all of our food, dishes & cutlery, so it looks like we might have to forage some dinner from a restaurant for our last night downtown. Sigh. I've lived in this same one block radius for the past two years & I'm going to miss having these cafes, restaurants & shops just mere steps away. Both of my jobs are only a block from where I live now (which means I can leave my house almost at the same time as I'm supposed to open the shops). This will no longer be the case since being about 5 or 6 blocks away (and waddling, as I fear my eight months pregnant body may be doing these days) will seriously increase my commute. Ah well! 'Tis a fair trade considering the fact that we are going from a one bedroom to a four bedroom (with only a very meager increase in cost).

Bliss, I say. Bliss indeed.

Have a lovely evening, friends. Time to shower & find some grub. Peace.

ps. It wasn't Thanksgiving for us this week, but happy Thanksgiving to my friends to the south. I hope you all had fabulous meals with friends, family & love.

One More Day

Busy, busy. Tomorrow is the last day for packing & Saturday is the big moving day. I feel as though we've been waiting so long for this apartment & after one more day it's finally ours. I am going tomorrow to give the landlord our 1st & last and to pick up our keys. I can't wait to see the apartment again.

Things I must do to make this move go smoothly:
♥ finish the last of the packing
♥ call the PUC to switch over the hydro
♥ remind boy to switch over the internet
♥ change address where necessary
♥ purchase a brew of some sort as a thank you to those who are helping us move
♥ make sure the pets are ready to move (perhaps bring Winston to my gramma's)
♥ don't panic
♥ remember to breathe

Time to tuck in, enjoy a few episodes of It's Always Sunny & snuggle down with the boy. Guten nacht.

Wednesday Love

♥ cafe date & errand running with my big sister/godmother this morning
♥ decaf lattes from Natas
♥ pierogi (cheese, bacon & potato) done up with onions, soy sauce, curry paste & a little maple syrup
♥ Boy's reaction to dinner: This is amazing. Only you could think of this.
♥ packing up about 75% of the apartment
♥ being treated to dinner by a good friend
♥ my little one peddling around in my stomach all evening
♥ new purple & white tupperware storage containers
♥ seeing a friend today who I had thought was out of the country
♥ orange juice
♥ hot chocolate (of course)
♥ watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia while packing this afternoon
♥ playing fetch with Winston & Lydia (independent occasions)
♥ Kitten & her soft tummy

What are your Wednesday loves this week?

One Day At A Time

Four days til moving day.
Thirty days til Christmas.
Fifty nine days til our daughter is due.

Baruch

Happy birthday, Spinoza.

If Things Go Wrong, Don't Go With Them

I don't exactly know who said that or when, but I'm inclined to adopt their philosophy. Tonight I am worrying two grand worries & though I know this is a useless feat they are creeping around my mind & begging for attention. Solution? Send them out into the blogosphere & air them out a little.

01. I worry that my iron/hemoglobin situation will not improve & I won't be able to have the home birth that I so dearly want.
The last time that my blood was taken my hemoglobin was sitting at a rather unfourtunate 98 (when it ought to be between the 115-160ish mark). The cutoff for having a home birth is a 'globin count of at least 100 so please cross your fingers that the insane amount of liquid iron goop that I've been taking will be enough to pop it up a notch. In a later post I will talk more in depth about my desire for a home birth, but not tonight, ladies & gents.

02. I worry that I won't be able to get everything moved to the new apartment on the 29th & 30th because it looks as though the boy isn't able to get those days off work.
Originally we were going to be moving on the 24th & 25th, but due to a few (pain in the ass) circumstances we've had to push the date back a few days. Unfourtunately the boy had already asked for the earlier dates off & it looks as though his boss made plans to leave town at the end of the month and the boy is the only other employee. Moving an entire apartment myself when I'm eight months pregnant is not only unlikely, IT'S NOT HAPPENING. I know that I have at least one person who can help (and she drives, thank goodness) so I'm not completely destitute -- just panicked.

Phew. It always feels better to get it out of my head like that.

I know that it will all work out, as it always does. I'm also glad that there is always that little voice in the back of my head reassuring me of this.

What are you worrying about today? What are you going to do about it? What keeps you positive?

The Baby Brains

Today at work I tried to sign someone's VISA receipt for them.

They brought their purchase to the counter, I rang it all in, we chatted about holiday shopping & when the debit machine spat out the receipt for them to sign I grabbed a pen & scrawled 1/2 of my name on the line before realizing what I was doing.

I just looked up at them and said, "wow, I have never done that before" and they joked about how I was trying to pay their bill for them. At least they were good humoured folk -- I could see that situation going poorly with a crankier variety of holiday shopper.

Hmm, so tell me -- does the baby brain situation ever sort itself out? Does your memory regain consciousness after that last push, or am I a goner?

Butter Crocks, Holiday Scents & Fresh Starts

I absolutely ought to be packing right now (I've only packed one box in the kitchen so far today, which actually seems like much more of an accomplishment than it is) but I can't stop Etsy-ing these gorgeous butter crocks.


Blue Sky Pottery


Miss Pottery


Pottery Head

We move in about 8 days & I'm already thinking so much about how everything will look in our new apartment. I do love a fresh new canvas like the one we're moving to. Empty rooms, blank walls -- all just waiting for our input & inspiration.

Moving, packing & planning for a new apartment (and this time a home, indeed) is so exciting & exhilarating. Last night we were picking out holiday candles at our favourite house & home shop so that we could start our life at our new home with a fabulous scent that will always remind of us this season. Sappy, yes? Oh well. I definitely appreciate that the boy & I love the same sorts of scents -- all things spicy, warm & essentially, just smells that remind us of Christmas. We are both suckers for this season -- we picked out some candles that smell like crème brûlée & some that smell like egg nog.


We can't get enough of the Yankee Candle line -- we could spend an hour in that section of the store, high on nostalgia.

Hmm, I suppose this has been enough procrastinating on my part -- time to pack up my kitchen, to say goodbye to my dishes & appliances for a week or so & claim one room as finished. I might just watch a movie on my laptop as I do so.

Have a lovely, wintry night, friends. Peace.

In A Nutshell

01. I really want a French butter dish. We've been looking for a butter dish for a while now & can't seem to find anything we really like, but now that I've recently heard the wonders of the French variety -- I absolutely want one.

02. The prenatal classes are not getting any better. There is a good chance I won't be able to drag myself back there next week, although I keep telling myself that I should. I feel as though I need to take everything that the instructor says with a bucket of salt, because a grain wouldn't cut it. Today we learned about how "the football hold for breastfeeding is great because you can cook & clean while you feed your baby". Honestly.

03. I think I might have a little bit of a crush on Shutterfly.

04. We are moving in nine days & I cannot wait to get into our new apartment. Tomorrow I am going to go over & measure the rooms to make sure I know what will fit where. Pretty, pretty.

05. It's rather late & I'm rather hungry -- must rectify this & then get some shuteye. Au revoir, mes amis.

Fives

I was tagged by Margi over at Between Loads of Laundry, so here it goes:

5 things I was doing ten years ago:
♥ reading a lot
♥ enjoying all of the pets we had
♥ living in a more rural area
♥ helping take care of my baby brother
♥ hanging on the cusp of my childhood

5 things on my to-do list today:
♥ do groceries with the boy
♥ go out for coffee with my neighbour
♥ go to screening of Tropical Malady
♥ laundry (which didn't happen)
♥ smile at the fluffy new snow

5 snacks I like:
♥ nachos with lots of olives, jalapeños & cheese
♥ rye toast with butter
♥ apples
♥ chicken wings (only since I've been pregnant)
♥ ketchup chips

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
♥ pay off all of my student loans & debt, along with my mother's debts & mortgage
♥ start up some savings for the babe
♥ live in the country & own horses (once a horse girl, always a horse girl)
♥ buy lovely camera equipment for myself & sexy guitars for my boy
♥ a lot of crafting

5 places I have lived:
♥ I haven't exactly lived in five places
♥ I've lived in Ontario my entire life
♥ sometimes in the country, sometimes in the city
♥ we live in town right now & someday we hope to live in the country again
♥ there's a chance we won't always live in Canada, but we're staying for now

5 jobs I have had:
♥ waitress/dish bitch/cook at an Indian food restaurant
♥ camp counselor and youth program director for the local YMCA
♥ relationship consultant (aka worked the night shift as a peon at a call center for a cell phone company)
♥ pita wench at the local Pita Pit (aka made food for drunks while being harassed & hit on for minimum wage)
♥ purveyor of soap & bath/body goods at a local shop which makes all natural products on site (aka one of my current jobs)

That's all for tonight, mes amis. Good night & sweet dreams.

It's Hard To Be A Photographer Who Cries At Weddings

A little while ago I was the photographer for a friend's wedding in Toronto. The boy & I made a fabulous weekend of it (ie. we enjoyed our delicious king sized bed in our swank hotel room watching the Olympics, which we couldn't have done at home because we don't own a television). The wedding was very sweet & today I have put the finishing touches on their wedding album. So, since I've been gawking at their photos (such pretty folk!) I thought I might share a few of my favourite.











Ah, yes. I absolutely always cry at weddings (even when I don't know the people getting married) and it's a bit of a nuisance trying to focus my lens while my vision is blurred. Thankfully I've mastered the "No, I'm not crying I'm just blinking repeatedly with my eyes REALLY WIDE" technique.

Have a good night friends -- I think our plan is to watch The Big Lebowski before bed, which sounds just fine to me. Muah.

Perhaps He Requires A Knitting Lesson

I have been knitting my little heart out these days & I've started to collect all sizes of circular knitting needles. So far I have a handful of metal needles and one lovely pair of Clover bamboo needles (which I used to make my very first cowl).



Unfourtunately, this is all that's left of my boor bamboo needles after a certain Boston Terrier got a hold of them the other day. I held them up for him to see & he put on his ohIamsosorrymommay face & pouted for quite a while.

I'll forgive him.

I'll start keeping my knitting in a Winston proof safe.

Iron Woman

This is the lovely cocktail that I am relying on these days to bring my anemic being out of it's near catatonic state so that I may be a healthy girl & have enough energy to go about the world (without falling asleep every few hours).

I have been instructed to take 2x the regular dose (aka the dose that someone who isn't anemic & pregnant would take) 2x a day. It doesn't even taste so bad when I mix it up with some orange juice.

Cross your fingers that it works it's magic quickly so that I can get to packing up our apartment. Feeling less dizzy at work would also be a bonus.

I hope you're all healthy & well, friends. Peace out for now.

ps. Liquid iron is a much kinder form of iron when it comes to your stomach.

For The Love Of Tea

I keep coming across gorgeous tea pots on Etsy & wanted to share some of my favourites.


Ralph Nuara -- So much love went into this beautiful pot. The colours are fantastic and it makes me think of cozying up with a good book, in a comfy chair on a fall day.


JMN Pottery - Black, white & red are always a winning combination in my books. I'm also a sucker for the sugar bowl & creamer. I actually have a very small collection of sugar/creamer sets which I'm hoping to expand.


Dragon Cat - Clever & classy. The gold accents & Holmes silhouette are just beautiful. Tall teapots just have a certain unique charm.

All so pretty & ready to be filled with the finest Organic Earl Grey. I'm off to enjoy some tea myself, some Rooibos & Vanilla, with my neighbour. Guten nacht, mes amis.

The Irony Gods Are Mocking Me

I am too weak to open my bottle of iron.

I spent $30 on a bottle of fabulous liquid iron goodness & now I have to wait for my boy to come home to open it for me.

This might be the most pathetic moment of my life. All my bitching about heteronormativity has me stuck, glaring at a huge bottle of iron & waiting for my boy to get home from work so he can wrestle it open (since I'm pretty sure if I tried any harder I would break my hand).

Sigh. I think I'll snuggle in bed with some orange juice & read some more of Good Grief. Two of my friends just finished this novel & said I would like it, so I'm giving it a whirl. The author's last name is also the same as my dog's, so I figure that's a good sign.

Have a good night friends -- send energy and strength my way this evening.

Edit 12.08am: When my boy got home it actually took both of us, working together, about five minutes to get that lid off. I don't feel quite as weak now.

Session One

Tonight was our 1st of five prenatal classes and I can't say we're overly impressed. I'm not sure what I expected, but the class was incredibly heteronormative (to the point of near sexism) and since we're somewhat alternative, I suppose you could say, we felt as though most of the teachings were not parallel to our beliefs & desires.

At the end of the class I spoke to the instructor & asked if things like natural birth & home births would be spoken of and it seems like these will be covered, but perhaps not to the extent that I was hoping. I'm starting to realize that paying extra for a few private classes may have been more up our alley -- but since we were trying to save the cash, the group sessions at the local health unit seemed like a good idea (at the time). I just hope that the class on labour & the class on breastfeeding are informative enough to make up for my disappointment in this first session.

For those of you with children, did you attend any sort of prenatal class? What was covered & what did you wish was covered? Did you do group or private lessons? I'm sure these things differ depending on where you all live, but I would love some insight.

At least there were cookies & cheese at break time.

Holiday Love

I am almost 30 weeks pregnant, I have low blood pressure & it turns out I'm also anemic.

No wonder I'm so tired & dizzy.

At least I'm feeling a little less like a wimp now, knowing that there are actual medical reasons behind why I am feeling useless at work & have to constantly take little 'sitting breaks'. Sigh. It's incredibly difficult getting used to having to do less in order to stay upright. My one boss has terrible anxiety about me fainting. She worries like a mother & is so good to me -- bringing me snacks to work & making sure I drink enough fluids. I'm so fourtunate to work in two places where I'm treated so well & have great relationships with my employers. They are both fully accommodating & know that there's a chance I won't be able to work until the very end (especially if my blood pressure is this low, or if I for some reason can't get my iron up, heaven forbid). They are also incredibly flexible about when I come back to work (and I can even bring my daughter to one of the jobs when we feel up to it).

It's so nice that my work situation is one thing that I certainly don't have to stress about.

I really hope that I can stay at both jobs through the holidays because I LOVE CHRISTMAS and I really love working during the holidays -- there is just so much going on: the shops get so busy, (most) people are in a happy holiday mood, xmas music (love!), hot chocolate, ribbons, sparkling lights, egg nog, cookies, gingerbread... ah!

I can't wait to move & decorate our new apartment. I'm sure our xmas tree will be the 1st thing we unpack.

Have a lovely evening friends (and if you have any extra energy, please send it my way). Guten nacht.

No Smoking

Meaghs & I -- just for a laugh.

Monday Love

♥ enjoying a few old episodes of Sex & the City before going to work this afternoon
♥ decaf English breakfast tea with honey
♥ maternity jeans (it's like wearing cozy track pants all day & no one else knows)
♥ having a job that I love & a fabulous boss
♥ thinking about the future
♥ knitting my 2nd cowl (a blue one this time)
♥ cooking dinner for my boy
♥ heading over to my neighbour's soon for tea and more Sex & the City action
♥ snuggles with Winston & the cats
♥ reading blogs & being inspired
♥ daydreaming about our new apartment

What are you loving on this fine Monday?

Sip By Sip

Just a little something in my mind today.

Cowl Love

I finished my very first cowl yesterday. It's black & oh so soft. When I started the project (my very first time using circular needles) I thought maybe I would end up with a hat, but seeing as I made the very common knitting in the round mistake of twisting stitches (though I was so careful not to) I knit up a very warm & cozy möbius strip instead. Thankfully it would have been much to large to be a hat anyhow.


The boy & the cowl.

I'm pretty pleased with it & plan on making many more -- trying out different sizes & thicknesses. The funny thing is... I'm not sure how I managed to twist the stitches to begin with so it might be interesting trying to twist them on purpose for my next creation.

What have you been creating lately?

Nineteen Questions

My brain is a little numb tonight, so I'm resorting to a little questionnaire.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find the 4th sentence. Write down what it says: "It varied according to his temperament in this way: if the prophet was cheerful, victories, peace, and things which move men in turn to joy were revealed to him; for such men usually imagine things of that kind more frequently; on the other hand, if the prophet was sad, wars, punishments, and all evils were revealed to him; and thus, as the prophet was compassionate, calm, prone to anger, severe , and the like, to that extent he was more ready for one kind of revelation than for another."

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first? The ring on my desk.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? I don't have a TV, but the boy & I watched the Rifftrax of The Bourne Identity earlier this evening. I'm not sure I have any love for the Bourne series as a whole. It doesn't really do much for me.

4. WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is: 11pm?

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time? 11.14pm.

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? My boy on his computer in the living room.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? At about 9pm we went outside to walk the dog & get drinks from the cafe. The boy got a coffee & I, an iced tea.

8. What are you wearing? Yoga pants, a tank top & my hunter t-shirt.

9. Did you dream last night? If I did I don't remember what it was about.

10. When did you last laugh? A few minutes ago when I was looking through some photos of the boy playing with Winston. Too cute.

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Two movie posters & my framed Pearl Jam print from their Ottawa performance in 2005.

12. Seen anything weird lately? I think that when you live downtown you see such strange things everyday that you start to forget what is weird & what is normal... it's all blending in these days.

13. What do you think of this quiz? Mmm, well, it's helping me with day eight of NaBloPoMo, so I suppose I can't complain too much.

14. What is the last film you saw? Before the previously mentioned Bourne watching, I watched some of Iron Man & some of You've Got Mail this afternoon.

15. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first? A ticket out of debt. Take that OSAP.

16. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? I'd teach everyone to be crafty. I think we'd all be happier if we did more art.

17. Do you like to dance? Absolutely.

18. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? A boy? Our first child is going to be a girl, and you will all know her name when she's born -- for now we're trying to keep it a little hush, hush (& I don't want to decide anything for sure until I meet her). For a boy? Holden, Elliott or Sebastian, perhaps.

19. Would you ever consider living abroad? Definitely. I think it's my dream to live in a place where it is Autumn all year round.

Sleep well friends -- I promise a more intellectually stimulating post tomorrow.

They Make Up For It In Comfort

The French language is making me happy this morning. Apparently my new cotton panties are not only tagless, but lacking proper etiquette.


Sigh. When will they learn?

Enjoy your Friday, mes amis -- I'm off to work.

Salut Ma Petite

Tomorrow marks week 29 of our journey & after that we've just got 11 weeks to go. I can hardly believe how fast these past seven months have flown past.




Here we are a couple of days ago at 28 weeks & 4 days.

I can't wait to introduce you to the world.

♥

Giveaway Love

The always lovely Tsh from Simple Mom is holding a giveaway for a swank Epson Artisan 800 printer. This printer is a beaut, so head over to her blog before November 12th to enter.



Best wishes to all who enter! Peace.

Creativity Love

Hello, hello. Tonight I've been enjoying my hot chocolate and playing around with fonts & colours. I often find myself sticking to photography & forgetting to work with other medium, so this evening I made a few little text graphics -- just for fun, just for a smile. Two mantras & my favourite Spinoza quote (which will most likely end up as a tattoo one of these days).







Now that we are moving in fifteen days (oh my goodness) I've been thinking more & more about decorating our daughter's room when we are all settled. I cannot for the life of me decide on colours, or a theme or any decor -- all I know is that two of my incredibly talented painter friends will be assisting with the walls & I am hoping all of my other oh so inspired artsy friends will help me embellish the room with their works & their love. I want my child to be surrounded by beautiful, inspiring & motivating art -- always. Don't we all want this for our children? To grow in a space where their creativity is nurtured & their minds are free to explore? Absolutely.

I would also love to see the spaces you have created for your children -- be it playrooms, art stations or bedrooms. Please direct me to photos, or blog posts that you've made in the past (as I'm sure many of you have). I would very much appreciate this.

I hope you're all having a lovely, creative Wednesday evening -- much love, and guten nacht.

Studio Mela

I love when I stumble across an Etsy shop that just warms my heart. Today I found Studio Mela. The artist, from Minnesota, creates the sweetest little pieces of art, all limited edition & all dying to live in my home.







Please take a moment to visit her shop, blog & flickr.

Phew

This hectic day deserves a jaunty point form post.

The holiday season has hit my place of work:
- window displays need displaying
- lights & greenery need untangling
- stock needs making, preparing & wrapping
- labels need cutting & affixing

When work & the 3rd trimester collide:
- I just barely fit through parts of the front window display
- my balance is shot these days
- my blood pressure is so low that I often need "sitting breaks" and my boss fears that I will faint at any moment
- all of that fun pregnancy mucous means that though my cold is subsiding, my nasal fluids are not
- I'm completely exhausted & it's a shameful 8pm

Things to remember:
- we move in 17 days (oh my)
- we must pack up & de-clutter (merci, to the boy who starting packing today)
- our prenatal classes begin next week
- posting everyday for NaBloPoMo
- tea dates with friends to stay in the calm
- move slowly & thoughtfully so I don't faint

Alright. My brain is feeling a little less frantic now that I've got that all out. Sometimes it's good to write (or type) out all the of the little things that are on your mind. It helps put all of those ideas, which can seem so difficult or crowded, into perspective. If you're a visual learned like myself, it can be helpful to see the contents of your mind on a piece of paper (or on the screen) before you. I find it to be cathartic & a fabulous stress reliever.

What do you do when your brains feel all muddled? Hmm, perhaps a nice warm bath with some epsom salts would help -- along with some peppermint tea before bed.

Ha. Yes, I'm thinking about bed this early. Guten nacht friends, sleep tight.

Click

I love doing these photo shoots with friends. They make such fabulous models & it's such a nice way to spend an afternoon. It is also helpful when one of your friends lives in a fabulous loft with excellent lighting.







More photos here.

ps. I'm still so stuffed up. Eating is proving rather difficult, seeing how I cannot breathe out of my nose.
pps. Another tradgedy -- our bathtub backed up after I did the dishes this evening. Plumbing is a miserable beast (which we are unsure how to tame).
ppps. Don't forget about daylight savings time tonight... it is tonight, yes?

Guten nacht (again).

Salut Novembre

Hello November & the first day of NaBloPoMo.

For my first post of the month I'd like to take a peek back to this entry where I told you all about how I won a fabulous contest put on by Joanna Goddard (who just got engaged!) at A Cup of Jo. A few days ago a sweet little package arrived containing not only the print that I'd won, but two little cards which are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much to Joanna & to the artist Sofia Barao. I can't wait til we have moved into our new apartment & I can hang all of my art again.


The photos do it no justice -- this piece is just beautiful.


Adorable little cards.


Gorgeous details.


Are you tired of seeing the same duvet under everything I photograph? Heh.

Who else has taken on NaBloPoMo? I would love to have a group of inspiration around me for this -- especially since this is going to be a tough month. We are moving around the 20th and there is still so much to be done! I'm also not through fighting this (miserable, awful, terrible, disgusting) cold that I've acquired. No fun at all. The good news is that I'm feeling better today than I did yesterday, and I'm thinking I just need to take it one day at a time... and one cup of warm tea at a time.

It will be nice when I can breathe through my nose again. I despise being a creepy mouth breather.

Stay healthy & be good to each other. Guten nacht.