We're in round 5 of sickness here in the Van Beest household.

Since New Year's Eve we have had ... ahem ... stomach flu, then sinisitus, a nasty case of conjunctivitus, then stomach flu (part deux), and now an icktastic cold virus (if I wasn't so sick, I'm sure I could come up with some sort of song and dance number for this list).

Here's the boy at 10 a.m. on Monday:


Sleeping! My crazy, run-around-til-you-hold-me-down-to-go-to-sleep boy has been taking two naps a day because he can't manage a full night of rest, what with the hacking cough and faucet-like nose drippage.

AJ stayed home to nurse us yesterday (it was apparently his turn not to get sick). When I peeked out the front door at about 7 a.m., I saw this:


Ice fog! It coated every little branch with frosty, icy whiteness, and filtered the morning light so beautifully. I almost forgot I was sick, and wanted to run out to snap some pics.

In spite of all the moping about, and hacking, and wheezing, I have had a decent week so far. Besides the goodness that was calzones on Sunday night, and massive amounts of sorting as I put my studio back together, I also received several things that I ordered from Target. The last one arrived in my mailbox today:


Notice anything, um, similar? I'm not sure why, but I seem to get on these color kicks, wherein I collect things in one particular shade. This vase and bowl match the Japanese mugs I keep going on about. Come to think of it, they also match a piece of artwork I did last year for the 12x12 show held by the local arts council. Maybe I'm just lovin' this color.

(By the way, Flea Market Style was just thrown in there to hold up my bowl, but it is new. AJ presented it to me for my birthday. I highly recommend it if you like thrifting, and want to incorporate your finds into your home.)

How has your week been so far?