But when sick, it’s hard to know one is hungry, because smell and taste are linked so closely; even a growling stomach feels muffled to some extent. Tonight I was able to taste my dinner. It was lovely.

I can mostly breathe, smell, and taste again. Almost 100% back to healthy.

And here is Claire, pretending to be a fire-breathing dragon. She’s become much more cooperative with the breathing treatments, especially if she has her father’s fancy phone to play plinky-plink on. Tomorrow we switch to the treatments being twice a day instead of every six hours.

Yes, perhaps I’m irreverent, but when you spend all day with a two-year-old I think there’s an explanation.

The conception of two people living together for twenty-five years without having a cross word suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep.

–Alan Patrick Herbert

Oh no. My child won’t be ready for kindergarten! (Never mind the fact that I never went to preschool, and I did just fine.)

1. Your coworker has 8 body piercings and none are visible.
2. You make over $250,000 and still can’t afford a house.
3. You take a bus and are shocked at two people carrying on a conversation in English.
4. Your child’s 3rd grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze.
5. You can’t remember…is pot illegal?
6. You’ve been to more than one baby shower that has two mothers and a sperm donor.
7. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown and can taste the difference between Sumatra and Ethiopian.
8. You also know which Brentwood restaurant serves the freshest arugula.
9. A really great parking space can move you to tears.
10. A low speed pursuit will interrupt any TV broadcast.
11. Gas cost 75 cents per gallon more than anywhere else in the U.S.
12. A man gets on the bus in full leather regalia and crotchless chaps. You don’t even notice.
13. A woman gets on the bus with live poultry. You don’t even notice.
14. Unlike back home, the guy at 8:30 am at Starbucks wearing the baseball cap and sunglasses who looks like George Clooney is George Clooney.
15. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
16. The gym is packed at 3 p.m. On a work day.
17. Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, the woman who delivers your mail is into BDSM, and your Mary Kay rep is a guy in drag.
18. It’s sprinkling and there’s a report on every news station about “Storm Watch 09″.
19. You have to leave the big company meeting early because Billy Blanks himself is teaching the 4:00 Tae Bo class.
20. Your paperboy has a two-picture deal.
21. The three-hour traffic jam you just sat through wasn’t caused by a horrific nine-car freeway pileup, but by everyone slowing to rubberneck at a lost shoe lying on the shoulder.
22. The weatherman talks about the weather in other parts of the country, as if we really care.
23. You pass an elementary school and the children are all busy with their cell phones or pagers.
24. It’s sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour or two early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
25. You and your dog have therapists.

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing.

–Phyllis Diller

It’s a Sisyphean task, but someone’s gotta do it.

Lately I need less and less stuff for Claire. And frankly, I’ve gotten much less concerned about things like carrying a diaper changing pad or the entire contents of my refrigerator. Most places have changing stations and disinfecting wipes can clean off the surfaces just as well. As for food, she’s able to get by on crackers and fruit if she needs a snack while we’re out, and since she has almost all her teeth now, she can eat regular food with the best of us.

So when I was out this evening running errands (which is what often sadly qualifies as “me time”), I happened to wander down an aisle at Walgreens and saw small tote bags. One was all pink and girly, another was black with pink lips all over it, and then there was the cute little ladybug bag. It was $5.99, and on a whim I bought it. Someday, when I’m done using it as a diaper bag I will — if it is still in one piece — use it to tote knitting projects around. For now, it’s much lighter and smaller and yet still carries the essentials. But really, the main thing is that it cheers me, and I feel less like a ox with a yoke.

Husband used to carry the diaper bag, but you can bet that won’t be happening now! It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.