I woke up at 4 a.m. to use the bathroom and my husband was still awake and downstairs. He was trying to use a kitchen knife to sharpen a pencil so that he could finish his accounting homework. He had been at it all night. I offered my pencil sharpener from my eye pencil to help out.

Then I gently suggested he go to sleep and take the day off tomorrow instead of trying to get through a 16 hour day on 1 hour of sleep. Stubborn as always, he said no.


But when I woke up again this morning at 7:45 he was still here. Reason had won out, and what is paid time off good for if not for desperate moments like these? He spent an hour or so this morning doing more homework and then when it came time for him to go to work I started begging him to stay home for the rest of the day.

Because despite taking shooters of store brand cherry Nyquil every 4 hours for the last 4-5 days, I still feel really really bad. And I think Holden may be getting sick—but the idea of a sick mommy trying to take care of a screaming, sick Holden is just too much. Thus the begging.


My dear husband acquiesced, sensing my desperation when I said,

“I don’t even care if it’s a paid day off. We can live without one day of pay…”

That and I was begging him not to go to class either, which he doesn’t like so that was a pretty easy sell. He did go to the office for awhile because he had something that needed to get done today, but he did promise to be home shortly.

I have an extremely annoying habit of storing leftovers in containers not meant to store leftovers--like mixing bowls—or pretty much anything I can find. I’m sure this annoyed the hell out of my roommates in college because they were all very neat, orderly people.

This habit originated when I was younger and didn’t feel like transferring things to a new dish (because why have to wash another dish?). It has continued because I buy Tupperware, use it, and then leave it in the fridge so long that rather than open it and gag I just throw it out. So there is a constant shortage of Tupperware at my house at all times.

I have a point.

I have some antique Pyrex nesting mixing bowls in primary colors that are probably worth about $60 for the set. I got them from my mom and I LOOOOOVE them. Last night I was desperate for a storage container so I used the orange bowl to store leftover chili and covered it with saran wrap, placing it on the top shelf of the fridge.

This morning while I was rummaging around on the top shelf for some cottage cheese for Holden’s morning snack I knocked the bowl off. It was one of those comical, slow-mo,

“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!” moments.

I ended up with chili in my hair, but the bowl was intact. Another lesson learned.