Alphabet Chicken soup

Brrrr, it's cold in San Diego today. It was 42 when I woke up this morning and while the outside thermometer has hit 60 already (at 10am), our internal house temperatures are ~62F. I even broke down and wore GLOVES in the car this morning. (What a wimp, FL ruined me!) I had to run to the store for eggs after I dropped Delaney off at school. While I was there, I was inspired to purchase a whole chicken and make some homemade chicken soup. This evening, I'll put alphabet pastina in it and serve it with hot challah bread fresh from the oven. I like cooking chicken soup. The variety in making it is endless and it cooks for hours so the house smells nice and homey. What would make this entire day PERFECT would be a nice snowfall and the kids playing outside and getting rosy cheeks.

Speaking of rosy cheeks...Fifth's Disease is going around Delaney's school now. Fifth's Disease is also known as "Slap cheek" because it leaves a red rash on the face that looks as if the child has been slapped. So far, no sign of it but it can take 10-12 days to show up. 60% of children exposed come down with the disease because once the rash appears the child is no longer contagious! Most times it is mild and luckily, this is one of the ones that doesn't involve vomiting, just a low-grade fever and some cold-like symptoms...and the rash, of course. Bring it on. Get it over with. THIS is why I stay home.

What are you doing this week-end, Shannon? Oh, I'm glad you asked. Tomorrow morning we are supposed to go find a spot to take our annual holiday photos so we can have our cards made and in the mail before it gets too late. The afternoon will find us at a holiday party put on by one of Steve's professors. Should be some nice adult time, but as always, I'm a bit nervous that I won't be able to find much to talk about. I'm sure Sunday I'll be on my own as Steve has a few more papers and a project to finish up. The end-of-semester countdown is on...14 more days to go and he will have 5 weeks off. What the heck am I going to do with him around the house for *5* weeks?! Hope he doesn't break his wrapping fingers before then.