I had a pretty unpleasant weekend thanks to being double-teamed by the never-ending cold (which I've had since the week before Halloween) and the cold front that came through pissing off my sinuses.

I also learned that if you take a zinc tablet (i.e., the kind that dissolves in your mouth) you really should rinse your mouth immediately afterward. I fell asleep and spent the entire next day with a weird mix of drymouth and everything tasting metallic. Ew.

Vogon and I also had a minor disagreement regarding what I plan to say to Himself about visiting Laurel when we're in Colorado. I don't think I made myself clear and we were both tired, so I'll repeat it here: I did not tell Himself when we would be visiting because I have no way of knowing whether he received the message. (He does not acknowledge receipt of phone messages, e-mail or postal mail.) My father and his mother have both talked to him about the dates we'll be there instead. I would not tell Himself that he can't spend time with Laurel while we're there, but I am going to tell him that he is welcome to come visit her at my parents' on his own time and transportation costs. It's not too much to ask when he isn't paying child support.

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The onset of winter has been a bit rough since the car top won't fully close (even in warm weather, it's been stopping about two inches short and has resisted our efforts to wrangle it down enough to latch shut) and it won't be replaced until this weekend. Laurel dubbed it "a one-horse open Mustang" while riding over to drop me off for my den meeting on Monday night.

Holding the top down while going to pick up Laurel from school this afternoon has been rough. We stopped twice to scrape the sleet off the windshield and if it wasn't for those two stops, I don't think I could have held the top down the whole time. It also drove home that I need to replace my beloved suede gloves. They aren't going to make it through the winter. I feel like I should hold a memorial service for them being the first gloves I've ever owned that actually fit.

Laurel's been wearing a hat and mittens in the mornings for awhile and I've been planning to make her more styles of hats, a scarf and a balaclava out of polarfleece to find what works best for her. She adores going to school, I appreciate having time during the day to get things done on my own, and her speech therapy is done through the school.

It's going to get even colder later this week, so I started doing the prep work for sewing fleece on Sunday. I like to take my time making sure everything's just right before I sew or serge; it's much less frustrating to rearrange and re-pin than rip out stitches. On Monday, I carefully removed the 9" zipper from a fleece pullover, cut the lower front open and basted a 20" zipper in the new opening. I've got one side sewn in place and I'm basting the other side a second time to get it just right before I sew it down.

I meant to finish all that fleece work Tuesday, but we got surprised by the VogonMom wanting to visit so I spent the afternoon cleaning and the evening slightly out of it since I did a shot after spending two hours waiting for the bitchwort to relieve my cramps. I guess it's time to start automatically taking cohosh with it instead of saving it for when I think I'll need it. Bah. Luckily my meeting tonight was rescheduled on account of the weather, so if I can get my left maxillary sinus to quit hurting so I can concentrate (it's making my left eye unfocused which is hella irritating) I'll zip through that sewing tonight.

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Speaking of coats, would any of you like a size 3T leather bomber jacket? It's generously sized, closer to a 4T, and I bought it in fall 2003 for $25 at an outlet store. Make me an offer (at least the cost of shipping) and it's yours. Here's a photo of Laurel wearing it last year.