Conjunctivitis and Holy Week

I guess it wouldn't be a proper Holy Week without a nice dose of suffering.

Somehow I ended up with conjunctivitis in not one, but both eyes. Ugh. I have a hard time with eye stuff. I don't wear contacts and the mere thought of eye drops makes me squirm. Luckily, I was offered the option of an ointment, but it still freaks me out. It turned out it wasn't just my eyes. Stuffy nose and ears too, which has also been causing me some lightheaded-ness and not-so-good feelings.

Check out the swell on the one on the right.
p.s. I will never apologize for my eyebrows. That's some half-Lebanese goodness right there.

We also woke up to snow two days ago, which was, well, it was fine. Sure, I complained a bit, but at least we didn't have to shovel it!

My husband has been absolutely awesome dealing with poor ol' me. It just so turns out that his 2 days off this week were Tuesday and Wednesday, the two days I felt the most absolutely miserable. He lived out his fantasy of being a SAHD while I woke up with my eyes sealed shut and then stayed quarantined in our room. Because the last thing we want is for anyone else to catch this crap.

My lovely cave. Blurry pic because, well, because I can't freakin' see.

I think if this had to happen, I'm kinda happy it's now. I can focus more clearly on how Jesus suffered so much more than I ever will--and all I can think of is that scene in The Passion of the Christ where a crow starts pecking out his eye after he dies on the cross. (Yuck.) So thank you, Jesus, for your suffering. And thank you, crows, for not pecking out my eyes. (I haven't seen that movie in 10 years, so I hope I didn't make that thing up about the crow. I don't remember mention of it in the Bible.)

I have so many reasons to look forward to Easter, the least of which is my optical issue.

christmas already? it's not even advent!

But I've learned that waiting until Advent to start planning for Christmas is just a bit behind the ball. Especially when I have some coupons to use at the outlets in Foley which expire before Thanksgiving.

Last year, with the craziness we had after the wedding, moving across town, a Nor'easter, B being gone and then back and then gone and then schedules changing (sea duty, I don't miss you one bit!), and me quitting my job and traveling to Georgia amidst all that, we just did not have the chance to send Christmas cards.  But this year, I really want to!  It's the married thing to do, right? 

We'll definitely be doing the customizable kind with pictures, like these from Shutterfly:

Snowman with style. 

How cute is that?  (Too bad I've never actually seen snow on Christmas!)

Christ is King.  Hooray for religious cards!

Another thing I've been meaning to do before the year ends is to make a fun photo calendar.  I always loved looking at the picture calendar hanging in my friend's kitchen.  It told a lot about their relationship and their family.  The calendar we've used this year was cute (it had submarine cartoons, and I bought it to support the Dolphin Scholarship Foundation), but I've already threatened B with a "cute kitten" calendar for next year.  I'm pretty sure he would throw such an atrocity away, so I think a photo calendar would be pretty awesome.  I've actually already started making one using the following template:

Rain or shine.  Simple and elegant.

I also love how you can customize the dates and even put pictures on the date block.  Hopefully we won't forget my mother-in-law's birthday again!

Our only issue now is to get some more darling pictures of the two of us.  I think I need to convince my mother to play photographer when we visit for Thanksgiving : )

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post and I will receive 50 free photo cards for writing it.  The content and opinions are my own.  Bloggers, get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly here.

sunday verse

Straight from the Sunday missal.  13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Liturgical Year C

For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.

But do not use this freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh;

rather, serve one another through love.

- Galatians 5:13

my summer anthem

The band BarlowGirl is very quickly becoming one of my favorites.  I had heard of them, thanks to a song called "Barlow Girls" by Superchick, but it was thanks to the Virginia Beach Public Library that I got a chance to hear their work.  The band is made up of three sisters and is generally classified as Christian rock (I would say more pop/rock).  But don't let that bother you if you're inclined to think Christian music (or Christianity in general) is crap.  Obviously this song is about God, but beyond that it's about optimism and recognizing warmth in your own life, especially after a period of darkness.

This song is the final track from their newest album Love & War.  And on the CD, it actually continues after this 4 minutes and kicks back in with about a minute of a re-vamped ska version of the melody to finish out the album.  I can just feel myself driving to the beach, windows down, blasting this song, and singing along without a care in the world.  Ladies and gents, I give you "Hello, Sunshine"