A toaster strudel and the long, snowy winter

The last few days Finley has been so sick. he has had his first ear infection. the last 3 nights he has run fevers around 104 which has been quite scarey. we are calling him a little toaster strudel b/c his whole little body gets so hot it makes me hot just holding him. I have continued nursing him part-time but during his illness all he wants to eat is "mama milk". and of course I give it to him b/c I want him to take as many fluids as possible so he does not get dehydrated.

this winter has been such a long, hard, cold, snowy winter. we've had no reprieves or nice days in between. during february we had at least 1 or 2 "big" snow storms each week. i am not exaggerating-it really has been a mess.

even tho it is technically spring, we have not seen evidence of that yet until today. it was 47 and sunny. really beautiful but I can't really get out to enjoy it b/c I am sick too. I feel like total crap-fevers and everything. but looking outside has been inspiring to knwo that we are so close to real spring and soon the little flowers will be peeping up.

I actually went out in the yard briefly today b/c i just could not bring myself to stay inside since it is so sunny out. I picked up dog poop and looked around the yard. at this time of year I am always amazed to look around and see so much grey and brown and rot and mud and snow chunks and standing water and dead grass and crunchy plant parts and winter devastation. and then to realize that in exactly 4-5 weeks things will be GREEN and buds will be opening and leaves unfurling and we will be on our way back to wonderful green michigan summer.

last fall we were so busy and there was an early snow fall. so we did not do the fall yard maintenance and put away all of our summer accessories or furniture or Fin's toys or take down the vines or pull out the finished tomato plants or cover the herbs with leaves. we left the windchimes up and the pots full of flowers on the deck and my little garden sculptures next to the pind and the pond full of water and fish. and of course now it is all such a mess. the pots are broken from the swelling and compressing of winter thaws and hard freezes, the toys are probably ruined, the garden sculptures are broken or paint-chipped, the yard furniture is dirty and dusty and I hope that some of the perenial herbs and flowers come back.

oh well. such is life. this spring we planned to rehab the back yard and deck area so I guess we wil ahve no choice now b/c even the deck furniture is a wreck.

one of my best friends for many mnay years, Ellen, had her baby this weekend!!! she had a girl named keely. I am so thrilled for her and can't wait to meet this new person and I hope that Finley and Keely get to know eachother a bit as they grow up.

ten US economy has tanked during the past 6 months or so. the hosuing market is a wreck and we are quite concerned b/c we had hoped to move this year to a bigger, different house, hopefully closer to the west side of Ann Arbor. Obviously the other side of a slumpign housing market is that buyers can get alot more for the money fi they are willign to stay in one place for a while.

when we bought our house here in Ypsi we never thought we would still be here after 4 years and a new child. It is hard to believe. So now we need to evaluate our financial options and determine whether ti makes mroe sense to get otu while we can or stay put and sink our teeth in for a long wait until home values come back up. Bill & I are planning to have one of our heart-to-heart talks soon to start learning what the pother person sees for us in the next 5-10 yrs. I think this was really uncertain and up in the air for so long b/c we were always wondering if we were going to move back to CO. In many ways we would really love to go back to Denver-Boulder area but the reality of our life right now is leaning us toward staying here and really trying to become part of this community. Ann Arbor has almost everything we want in a community and we are startign to make friends with other parents and I think we are just ready to start becomign more a "part" of something rather than always on the fringes and never really "commiting". I am not sure yet and Bill & I still ahve to have our talk but I have been thinkign more and mroe ab out what I want and I think I am better understanding myself and my needs.