ugh

So we just spent an incredible weekend vacation in beautiful Brown County, Indiana. We left on Friday morning and didn't come back until Sunday evening, and we set off fireworks at my mother in law's house, even though we'd watched them on Saturday night in Brown county. Then we came home around 10 p.m., and I noticed our kitten was lethargic. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink, and she looked like she'd lost weight.

On Monday morning, my husband woke me up to ask me where my cell phone was (his was dead), because he was going to the ER. He'd suffered through a miserable night with itching and swelling, and he didn't know why. He had been there for about 5 hours before they decided to admit him to find out what was wrong. Turns out he had an allergic reaction to MANGOES, of all things. He'd never eaten one before in his life, and on Thursday he had two (he was completely in love with them), and begged me to buy more. Apparently the same thing that is in poison ivy and poison oak is also present in the skin of mangoes, and can cause the same reaction on skin. so they gave him big doses of benadryl and steroids, and he spent the night at the hospital.

While he was sitting in the ER, my mother in law drove me and the four girls to the animal hospital with the kitten. Turns out she was severely dehydrated, and they didn't know why - all they knew was that if I had waited to take her in, she would probably have been dead by today. :( They kept her overnight and gave her IV fluids, and today she looked good enough to come home, but she is still acting funny. I'm hoping it's just the shock of leaving and coming back.

At any rate, we've had an eventful 24 hours. I baked a ton of sugar cookies today for my niece's birthday party and decorated them all by hand - still need to make more, but I am proud of the ones I got done.





But our weekend was good before all of this stuff happened. We kicked it off with a trip to our local Krispy Kreme (my new all-time favorite doughnut is the New York cheesecake doughnut), then drove to Nashville, Indiana. We had lunch, did some light shopping, and then went back to our cabin. My sister in law and I went to the grocery and got some supplies, and then we all went swimming at the indoor water park (it was in the main lodge, and since we rented a cabin, we got admission with it). Saturday morning I was the first one up and I made breakfast for everyone - pancakes, sausage, eggs, bacon, toasted bagels, coffee, and juice. Seriously, we went through two pounds of bacon in about 10 minutes! We went out and did some more shopping, had lunch at my favorite restaurant in Nashville, did some more shopping, went back to the cabin and changed, went back to the water park, watched an awesome fireworks display, went back to the cabin and ate pizza, and basically had a criminally good time laughing ourselves stupid. Sunday morning I was the first one up again (I know, so odd, lol). I made a few fried eggs, but nothing huge like the previous day, and we were off horseback riding! It was my first time ever on a horse, and I was sooooooooo nervous. It was a 2.2 mile ride, with uphill and downhill trails. My middle baby, who is horse crazy, rode her first horse and is even more in love with the animals than she was before we went out there. She wanted to go back and ride the horse again as soon as she got off of it! I was so nervous... and I had fun, but was so happy to have my feet down on solid ground again! I have enormous bruises on my inner thighs and my thumb is blistered where I gripped the saddle so hard. We did some more shopping after that, then drove home and set off fireworks at my in-laws' house. It was an amazing weekend! I was sad to see it end!

The horse I rode - his name is Patch.

OHHHHHHHHH

OH GOSH I HATE BIRDS!!! Fifi had a carrot sprouting in her pot, and now it's gone. I had tons of thyme sprouting in my pot, and now it's gone. In the interest of saving the five tiny lavender seedlings that sprouted today, I have brought them in overnight. I also brought in Lulu's nine (that's right, it went from one to five to NINE) Chinese Lantern flower seedlings, my two greenhouses (with 144 seedlings in them, combined not each), the pot of corn seedlings, the chive sprouts, and the as-of-yet-dormant rosemary seed pot. I now have 9 pumpkin plants growing in one pot, 6-8 cucumber plants (haven't counted exactly, I just know they're freaking tall), 8 cantaloupe plants, 12 tomato plants, 5 watermelon plants, 10 squash plants, and 7 zucchini plants. We are (hopefully) going to have fruits and veggies a-plenty this summer and fall! I can't wait to use tomatoes, basil, and oregano from my own garden to make my own spaghetti sauce. I plan to can it myself, so we can use it through the wintertime, so if anyone has canning experience and wants to share tips with me, please feel free to!

Around 8 p.m., my husband was walking through the bedroom (you have to walk through our bedroom to get to the family room), and he stopped and said, "How long does it take you to make those cinnamon things?" I frowned and thought for a minute, and then I realized what he was asking about - the cinnamon raisin biscuits I made a week and a half ago for breakfast that my younger two kids didn't like. I made a dozen of them then, and between my husband and oldest daughter, I didn't get one of them! So I said, "The cinnamon raisin biscuits?" And he said yes. I said, "Oh, about 20 minutes, if that." He said, "What would I have to do to get you to make them for me?" So I went in the kitchen and baked a batch of them, and he is eating them as he watches Deadliest Catch on his DVR. LOL!

I watched Oxygen last night, which I rarely do, but they played Sweet Home Alabama and then How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which are two of my favorite movies, so I watched them. Tonight they played the exact same lineup, so I am currently watching HTLAGI10D. He was walking through the room and saw the part with the poker game, and LAUGHED HIS BUTT OFF. I was in the kitchen and said, "Which part are you laughing at?" And he said, "I was reading something - I wasn't watching this!" He's so funny, not wanting to admit he thought it was funny!