Hello blog, it's been a while. I'm not sure how to get back started. Dive right in, I suppose. March was a hard month for me/us. I'm glad April starts tomorrow so I can turn the page and MOVE ON! The biggest plague to our joy was literally PLAGUE. I was sick the whole month long and seemed to spread it around like soft butter on warm toast to everyone I know. My sister and mother (who live in Colorado and Florida respectively and I rarely get to see) came for a visit this month that turned into the trip from hell because everyone got horribly sick. Especially my poor sweet niece who was laid so low by a double ear infection I contemplated hiring a priest to come in for an exorcism. Turns out she only needed antibiotics.

So, march was a wash.... and really right now I just want to crawl in a hole and knit. So, that's what I am going to do. Any on-line time I've been devoting to cataloging my brief three years worth of knitting projects on Ravelry. (I've only got up 2011 stuff up so far). I always thought I'd make myself a little scrapbook filled with notes on projects along with photos and thank you notes from gift recipients, but that has never materialized. This shouldn't surprise me as none of my children have a baby books and I can hardly find the time to blog. Anyway, it is far easier to throw a few pictures of each project on Ravelry (I'm Rebeccawing) and call it good. As long as they never go out of business (impossible to imagine) or the Internet doesn't cease to exist (catastrophe) I think my purpose will be served. Sure, future generations won't be able to pour through my cute little scrapbook and wonder who Great Grandma Becca was... but then who knows, maybe the Internet will some how prove to be as much as an archaeological goldmine as my dusty old attic ever could.

Here is some march snaps for posterity:

My Nephew CJ and Lola hit it off.

Actually, CJ gets along great with EVERYONE.

Dora socks from Aunt Cake.

Birthday corsage for my mom... knit while she was here, and a month overdue.

All the pictures of my sister show her comforting a sick child.

a rare moment between cousins

Morgan, hours before the illness set in.

The last snow?

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, wonderful moment. A moment that expresses a special feeling, time, or place. (A tradition inspired by Amanda Soule)

I want you to know without question, hesitation, or reservation my favorite food is bacon. And if and when  I die I want to be commemorated with bacon. Meaning, when I kick the bucket, I want the party  after the funeral to feature bacon. Bacon wrapped hot dogs, bacon wrapped dates, and BLTs. I want you to gather round and tell stories about the wonderful meals I made for you featuring bacon. (Like the bacon, guacamole, and tomato sandwiches we just enjoyed for dinner.) As I type this I am smelling Lola's hair and  drinking in the heavenly aroma of a baby who sat in her high chair eating pieces of guac as her mother fried strip after strip of crinkly browning pig fat. I LOVE BACON.  My husband and I just split a pound of bacon, and though I know it makes me a glutton, it also makes me joyful beyond words. Because, I LOVE BACON.

That's all. I am seriously just logging on to tell you I LOVE BACON. What do you love like that?

As for presents, Georgia made out like a bandit thanks to everyone but Smoochy and I. This doctors kit from Grandma N was a super big hit. It was an even more timely a gift because the day before the party the kids and I spent the afternoon in the pediatricians office trying to determine if the spots that almost got Normy sent home from Pre-K were chicken pox of not!  (They were not).

Lola: massive double ear infection, sinus infection (snot everywhere!), horribly red butt from antibiotic-induced diarrhea... Of course, yesterday we felt her first tooth had broken through. Poor girl. She's in surprisingly good spirits. Probably riding on the high of learning how to efficiently climb stairs two days ago. (Welcome back to the land of tension gates.) Nine months old and ready to take on the world! As soon as everything stops hurting, anyway.

Every indication points to Spring. It is on my mind constantly. With the arrival of my honey bees scheduled for less than a month now, much of my free time goes into reading about how to care for the "girls". (Did you know all but the drones were female? I find it completely unsurprising that one of the most highly organized, complex, and industrious of all societies in the animal kingdom are comprised 85% of females). I've logged a good bit of time watching YouTube videos of folks managing their hives. Thank goodness for this information age that we live in, because despite the fact that I've never seen someone work with honey bees in real life, I still feel amazingly confident that I will be able to do this:






No problem. 


I'm feeling especially confident today because my dear sweet hubby finally put pencil to paper and then wood to saw and actually knocked out the main body of my first top bar hive!!! This makes today an auspicious day for my personal honey bee adventure. I am radiant with excitement. 











The kids and I struck out this morning and tramped around our woods to find the prefect spot to set the bee-boxes. It was thirty degrees out and sunny. They ran around like it was eighty or hotter despite the tell-tale pink to their cheeks and breath visible in the morning air. It was cold. But, we found the perfect spot that gets plenty of winter sun, but will be shaded in the summer. A nice little bit of brush will provide some protection from the west wind... in short a perfect place for hives. 


It really is nice to have something to be excited about. Come on April 2nd! I can't wait to meet the bees. What should we name the queens? Eleanor of Apiculture for sure! (Get it? Apiculture the practice of keeping bees meets Eleanor of Aquitaine as in Henry II's wife and Richard the Lionheart's mom?!) If anyone can come up with another one let me know...  Queen Bee-tifah? Queen NeferBEEti? There has to bee something better out there. ;-)

How much do I need to survive?
Sleep?
Caffeine?
Sugar? (None. I know.)
Vegetables?
Friendship?
Intimacy?

How much do I need to thrive?
Sleep?
Creative space?
Physical space?
Quiet?
Music?
Laughter?

I tell you, when the baby is sick this whole balancing act goes out the window. I know a family who faces real and horrible health realities for two of their children, and I can't imagine how they continue to function day after day. Their life must feel like it is in free-fall. Lola has had sleepless nights since Monday due to a double ear ache and sinus infection and I feel like my threads are frayed and unraveling. I can't imagine something worse, something antibiotics and garlic oil won't cure.

My husband asked, "What happened to daily posting?" And right now all I can think is, it wen't out the window with daily showers...

I hate to come here and just whine. So I don't come at all. (Except of course now I am.) Especially when I can't justify any time in front of the computer. In the last two weeks I have only been on Facebook in order to fire off a few quick personal messages. I have no idea about the cute things your kids have been doing or what you did over the weekend. And I miss you.

I DO KNOW however, that I feel lonely for community in real-time. I wish we were closer to folks who popped over unexpected and stayed for supper just because we were all having so much fun. That happens sometimes, right? I wish we weren't so disconnected. (and anti-social)

Is it just busy schedules that stand in the way? Today I'm supposed to take Norm to pre-K, go to the grocery store, then the library (over-due books), then back to pick him up. After naps we shuttle off for a special speech therapy social group he participates in. In between is lunch and naps and chores and dinner... Multiply my schedule by your schedule, divide by sick kids and it's no wonder I only see other women in highly planned two-hour blocks here and there amidst the crazy weeks.

I hate to be a drag. So, I'm going to go read about honey bees and snuggle my sick baby who WILL NOT let me put her down. The sun will come out tomorrow. And as soon as I have two hands again I will post cute pictures of the kids. Because even if I'm grumpy, they are still awesome.

Above, is all I could manage to write here last week. Now I find myself on the other side of Georgia's third birthday. With a little bit of time, a little bit of peace, and a whole lot of mess. But, the mess is kind of beautiful in that way that the piles can build up a bit as there are no guests expected to see them, and they aren't doing anyone any harm. In fact, if we don't bother them they won't bother us...







Really, in the morning light the clutter ALMOST looks beautiful.