Bullet points because I'm swamped (read on, you'll see why)

* Rob is at school which is supposed to end at 4:30 PM except today the prof decides that deadline for an assignment is 6 PM. Yep. Rob, late for dinner -- on Spencer's freakin' 6th birthday. I want to slap that prof.

*Garrett was up last night with an earache. A trip to Urgent Care this morning netted him a diagnosis and some amoxicillin.

*Coming out of the doc's office I noticed Spencer had flushed cheeks, blue circles under his eyes, and was clearly ill. (He looked fine 10 minutes earlier.) So I signed him in and we got another diagnosis and more amoxicillin.

*Yeah. Happy birthday, Spencer, you poor little guy.

*Some good stuff, since life needs balance:

I reconnected with an old friend the other day. Some things she said struck a chord with me and were strangely related to a book I just finished: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Loved it. Amazing. Going to read it again just to absorb. Anyway, as we were talking I mentioned that I had read this book and recommended it to her because of the thread of conversation. So amazing how people come and go in our lives for reasons. This friend and I have known each other 16 years. We are not always in direct contact, but when we reconnect it is just like old times. And we have a mysterious way of connecting that makes me think really spiritual, slightly crazy thoughts. In a good way.

Rob will be home tonight, sometime. Dinner from Nick & Willy's pizza (yummy!) and I think we have 2 coupons for free pizzas. I love free pizza even more than regular pizza. (Don't we all?)

I am thankful today for antibiotics, warm baths, kids giggling in the bubbles of said warm bath, blue frosted birthday cakes, cozy purple striped socks, and the funny ways some of my friends come and go in my life. Oh -- and for my now 6 year old boy, who arrived on a cold January Saturday with the longest fingers and toes I've ever seen on a baby, a wise look in his eyes, and who weighed so little compared to his brothers that I was truly afraid I would break him. (He was 7 lbs., 11 oz. -- perfectly normal, I know. But when you're comparing it to 8# 7 oz. and 9# 4 oz. it seemed tiny.)

Happy birthday, Spencer.