the awkwardness of silence...

So thanks to my amazing allergies, I now have a sinus infection and laryngitis.  It all started Monday afternoon while I was at work when my voice first started to go out.  Since I was the only teacher that day, one of the kindergarteners asked "Do you think you lost your voice because you were yelling at all of the kindergarteners?" as she smiled.  Of course I had to laugh because I knew that I hadn't been feeling great all weekend thanks to the amazing allergies and because duh... that's just cute.  Thankfully it didn't go all the way out so I could finish the day because let's be honest... me alone with 11 kindergarteners with no voice would not have been the best combination.  It wasn't until I woke up Tuesday morning that I realized I couldn't talk at all.  All I could muster was barely a whisper.  Ever since then, my voice has come back a teensy tinsy bit but the doctor told me to "rest it" so it will come back all the way.  This has led to two days of silence on my part. 

This is what you learn from two days of silence:

• I don't talk to myself.  I was a whole lot more okay with not having a voice until someone else showed up.  Then it became annoying.  I guess the whole not talking to myself can be a good thing though.
• You become a great listener.  Granted it's your only option, but you're great at it.  And it works out well because my roommate loves to chat.
• You automatically can't go anywhere.  It wasn't even because I felt bad either... think about it.  Drive-thru?  Nope.  Coffee with a friend?  Nope.  Even checking out at a store? Maybe, but you look kinda weird when you just smile and nod to the lady.
• It's incredible how many episodes of Friends you can watch when you have absolutely nothing else to do but lay on the couch and not talk.
• The phone is impossible.  My sister called and I answered and pretty sure immediately freaked her out.  Thank goodness for text messages (and as much I LOVE texting) it's just not the same when you're bored and let's be honest... want to talk.
• Watching three really good TV shows with friends seems like it would be easy with no voice... but it isn't.  Never realized how much we all loved to share our opinion about every single outfit the characters wore, every single thing they said, and how much we loved to guess what happened next.  Not fun to just have to sit there and nod my head if I agreed or shook my head and waved my hands if I didn't or even when I tried my hardest to whisper loudly so they could hear something I really felt passionate about.  I'm sure they didn't appreciate always having to pause it so they could hear me when I felt the need to do that.
• It's really easy to not be apart of a conversation.  When you lose the capability of speech, chances are you just sort of become invisible.  Now to be fair, I quit putting up effort too.  First of all, who's going to say "Now what do you think?" to the person they know can give them no response.  And chances are the person that can't respond quit listening five minutes beforehand.
• People can sometimes forget I have no speech and think I'm ignoring them.  Good thing I haven't been around very many people.
• It's also super easy for people to misunderstand me... and sometimes it's just too much effort to correct them.  Especially on the phone.
• I read that laryngitis "comes on quickly and lasts no more than two weeks."  Great... the good news is that chronic laryngitis (more than 2 weeks) may be because of the way you talk or sing and require speech therapy.  At least I'm not that girl.  And yeah... I've obviously been bored.
• Apparently doctors offer to write notes for people's jobs to let them know that they're not supposed to talk.  I told them no thanks because I have full confidence in the people that I work with that they'll believe me when I hoarsely tell them the doctor told me to "rest my voice."  It makes me feel oddly sorry for the people that NEED that letter or else their job will make them talk. 
• And during it all, the biggest thing is that I just plain ol' miss talking and having conversations.  Who knew I liked to talk so much!

So yeah, thanks for listening.  You're the only one that has since Monday.

it's all about the diamond club...

I received a phone call last week from my very excited sister exclaiming, "GUESS WHAT! I have 4 Diamond Club seats to the Houston Astros game on Sunday!  Can you go?!?!?!" 

If you don't know what the Diamond Club is, please let me explain....
You park in the top VIP parking lot right next to the door of Minute Maid Park.  While everyone else walks upstairs, you walk downstairs into the Diamond Club area where there is a banner welcoming you back.  You are greeted by a hostess that is welcoming you into a 5 star buffet brunch full of Sunday's pot roast, scalloped potatoes, full out salad bar, steamed vegatables, fried chicken, on and on and on.  But don't forget the baseball type of snacks such as hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, cracker jacks, ice cream, on and on and on.  You grab your Astros logoed plate and fill up. 

You have a seat in the dining area where you may see other guests such as George Bush Sr. and the owner of the Astros, Drayton McLane. 

When you finish up, you walk through the tunnel that enters into the stadium where a hostess shows you to your cushiony seat. 

That is located right behind home plate. 

Your waitress appears to ask if you would like to continue enjoying the refreshments from the aforementioned 5 star buffet.  You enjoy the Astros play the opponent sitting right next to the dugout and with a fantastic view of each player warming up to bat. 

I obviously told her I was busy.

gotta love some holiday fun...

I absolutely love holidays.  This could be because I just love any reason to celebrate.  I love buying ridiculous decorations.  I love being able to see family that I don't usually get to see as often as I'd like.  I love all the yummy food or candy that usually gets packaged in holiday colors.  (Major love to Reese's eggs!)  I love the reason of the holiday (most of them anyway... still don't really understand Arbor Day).  More than anything though, I think I love the traditions of holidays... may they be old or new. 

Take Easter for example:
When my sister and I were young, my parents would take us around town to find the absolute cutest flowers we could find and let us pick them (with the exception of Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes, of course).  We would get a huge assortment and take them back home.  We then proceeded to make our own individual "nest" of pretty flowers.  After we were proud of our masterpieces, we would go to bed and awake the next morning to our Easter baskets being perfectly placed on our flower nests.  Oh that smart Easter bunny... always knowing who's was who.  It was a super fun tradition that my sister and I absolutely loved but obviously don't take a part of anymore... but it will definitely be fun to pass on to our own kids one day. 

This year my sister and I decided to mix it up a little and do something a little different.  Granted, I'm not saying that it's going to be a tradition by any means.  It definitely isn't as sweet as the flower nest but it certainly made us laugh a whole lot more!

We made a.....

BUNNY CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!