Elk Park Date, Take 1

Last weekend, the hubby took me to Elk Park. I made hot chocolate with marshmallows for the drive through the animal areas. The leaves were changing! Sun shining! Breeze blowing! I was DETERMINED ALL THINGS WOULD BE FESTIVE. It wasn't going to be a date! It was going to be an experience!

Sigh.

Around the time we pulled out of our little neighborhood, I got car sick. I didn't say anything. Because, you know... FESTIVE!

We took the big city road (highway? interstate? Stop judging me! I don't claim to be king of maps and geography!). Then we hit the smaller winding, hilly, roller-coaster-y mess that is the journey into and through the park.

We drove and drove and drove. Up and down and here and there. Not only did I not see any animals, I wanted to crawl into a ball and possibly pass out. But, FESTIVE! FIGHT IT! I AM IN CHARGE HERE, SAYS MY BRAIN TO MY BODY.

My body just laughed like a group of teenage girls. All annoying like.

The hubby and I finally saw several cars pulled over. The park was pretty crowded with hikers and  families walking/chasing their children around, but we hadn't seen any animals yet. This time, people were out of their cars, standing on top of picnic tables, looking down into a ravine. Translation: Something to see!

A large herd of elk! We walked down a little ways to them and watched them for a little while. There were very small calves and a GIANT male with antlers. He was very handsome, sitting in a patch of sunshine.

 

We got back into the car, and although the fresh air and little walk had helped, my husband wasn't having it. He'd figured out I wasn't feeling so hot due to my weird breathing patterns and all the fidgeting I'd been trying to pass off as just really dramatic gesturing. How sick was I feeling? So sick. Ug! Why! FESTIVE! This was supposed to be our quintessential fall date! Exponentially FESTIVE!

The husband drove us towards the exit, where we passed two elk resting very close to the road. I felt a little bad for them, obviously 2 males, no ladies, lonely...

Then I got on some roll about how, hey, maybe it's a lifestyle choice and they aren't lonely! Maybe they are in loves. You go, Elk! You be your own herd! Follow your hearts! Be proud, Elks!

My husband drove as fast as he thought he could in order to get us home as soon as possible, away from the one-woman-elk-gay-pride-parade I was throwing in the passenger seat. Despite how annoying I was being, he was still trying to drive carefully in order to not to make my motion sickness any worse, which was very sweet. Especially considering I was about 3 seconds away from losing my fight with the filter keeping my favorite Cher song in my head and not in the air all around us.

"Baby, it's all or nothing now! Don't want to run and I can't walk out. You're breaking my heart if you leave me now! Don't wanna wait foreeeveeer-"

Sorry. Sometimes I can't stop the Cher. I was able to hold it in inside the car so I guess it's been waiting to escape since then. On our drive home, I just sort of rested my head against the armrest between my hubby and me. While still in a fully upright seated position. No, it wan't comfy. But, it did help to stop the nausea. So, victory!

The park was beautiful despite our less than stellar time there. The lake, the trees, the sky, the colors. I wish I had been able to enjoy it more.

Next time, Elk Park, next time.

Fancy Smancy Cupcake Date

We had experienced the Balloon Race... location.

Then, we explored the Loop's... one restaurant we got an urge to check out.

Finally, we were back in the car and driving out of the city. Dating, we're back! And we went big! We had a lot of day already - don't forget we'd also run a bunch of errands earlier in the morning.

I had a vague recollection of seeing a cupcake place once while the hubby was driving me around. Of course, he's driven me all over the place, and this was however long ago. I did, however, start saying around the time we headed into The Loop that if we passed a cupcake place, we would be stopping. I love cake. I even tried to watch the DC Cupcake show... But even cake couldn't save that mind-numbing masterpiece of a program.

I was pretty sure it was on our way back home after we left The Loop the last time... So, as you can imagine, there wasn't a lot of happy going on in the car then. Because I was too stubborn to even get out of the vehicle and take two steps into The Loop. Ooooo. I was too scared of all the arty people. Which was entirely my fault and completely ridiculous, especially when you consider I used to be all open-poetry-mic-night girl and straight-out-of-grandma's-coolest-closet clad chick. But I was not so disturbed by the experience that I did not notice cupcakes. I could have sworn...

As we drove through one neighborhood after another, I kept expecting it to pop out. We were getting closer to the highway. My husband, humoring me as always, assured me it could emerge from the horizon at any second. We were both full anyway from the mac and cheese. It was fine. We'd find a cupcake place someday.

"It'll happen," I said to him.

He nodded, knowing I meant if we ever passed one ever, we would be having a cupcake.

I was too far to see the sign. It was a simple white building with several little businesses in it. But I knew immediately. I started yelling, "There it is! Is that it? Is there a cupcake place there! PULL OVER!"

And wha-la, my cupcake GPS opened like a flower to the sun. We pulled right in, and I clapped with glee.

I told my hubby, "Get excited! We're getting a couple to take home! CUPCAKES!"

Again, I am reminded how lucky I am to have found this man. He just took my hand and we headed into the cupcake shop. I was nervous, as I am when I go anywhere new (the hubby tried to open the door for me at Cheese-ology and I said, "No, you're going in first" because I was afraid of where to go and what to do and being the first one inside). The second we opened the door, a glass case of large, elaborately decorated cupcakes lay before us, and I forgot my nerves. Cure for my nervousness? Found. Check that off the list. Just have cupcakes waiting for me and I am ready to go. Happy perky party Happy Wife has arrived!

We picked out four (two each, no overlap allowed) after much discussion. We knew we'd split each one in half when we'd have them at home, so that we could both try all the ones we were getting. The 4 cost what a psychic reading would have cost the two of us. So, again, it was a good thing we didn't do that. Although, maybe the psychic would have warned me...

Anyway, we headed out, and I asked the hubby to pose in front of the shop. He started to do so, then insisted he take a picture of me there instead, since I was the one initiating all things cupcake in our lives forevermore.

Just as he was about to take the photo, a very nice woman who had also just bought some cupcakes was opening the door to her car to leave. She turned and said she'd be happy to take our picture for us. The genuineness in her voice was sort of staggering. It was very kind of her and unexpected. I have had too many cringe-worthy, lose-all-faith-in-humanity encounters at, for example, The Walmart, so this little interaction blatantly took me off guard.

In other words, this pic is courtesy of someone who made our day.

We came home and split one cupcake before going out again to run more errands. It was the "RazMaTazz" and was a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and a raspberry buttercream icing with chocolate ganache. Not bad, not bad at all.

After supper, we split the "Penguin" because... I like penguins. You got me. I admit that is why I was drawn to that cupcake. Still, chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate sprinkles, and white chocolate ganache. That's no poor man's cupcake. For some reason, though, I could only eat half of my half, if that. But it was tasty! I don't know. I felt a little off but shrugged it away and continued with my evening.

I had visions of us having some cuddle time in front of the tv, or playing a board game, getting out the puzzle... Starting up the ole wii... Then adding the last 2 cupcakes to that activity would be like a little sweet at-home date! Oooooo. How smart I am! Tomorrow, maybe the next day, I thought...

About 4 hours after my 4 bites of the Penguin cupcake, and I'm not blaming the cupcake here, I got massively, horribly ill. I get migraines, and this was the worst one I have ever had. It came on like a flash of lightening, which is weird for me, but that wasn't my issue. My problem was the nausea that grabbed me with both hands by my face and proceeded to antagonize me for the next 2 hours. I was so sick that my husband asked if he could take me to the hospital... Yeah. Not good.

I want to make it clear that I have no idea why I felt the way I did. There were several possible causes. Easiest guess is sometimes I get nausea with my migraines. End of story.

Of course, this nausea made anything I felt in the past feel weak and puny.

It could have been that I still have the bug my husband had, the one that plagued him for weeks and that only moderately kicked my butt in comparison. He still has a weird cough. Maybe I never got over it and it's still playing a random game of tag in my body. You're it, stomach! No, you are, throat! How about sinuses! Boo-yah!

I can't forget also that still, I'm not good when we eat out. It nags me in the back of my mind. And all I could think about while I was in agony was those cupcakes and that made everything so much worse. I had to yell for my husband to bring me the wastebasket because when I tried to get up to get it myself, I couldn't. Then, I was in so much pain that I asked him to just sit with me and talk to me. Distract me from feeling like I was about to lose my ability to breathe. My whole head was one big "You're going to vomit up your organs! Ha! Ha!" evil, sadistic monstrosity and I felt like any second, I was going to lose it. My husband, he calmly rubbed my temples to abate my migraine, and he told me stories about when he was in high school orchestra. He did his very best to soothe my weary, weary soul. It was still horrible but he made it less so.

I ended up in bed for an hour, then on the floor of the bathroom for another hour. Finally, my migraine medicine kicked in and there was some relief. It was a wonderful day and a terrible evening.

We still have 2 beautiful cupcakes to try in the fridge, but there is no way I am going to take a bite of either of them. It is frustrating. The thought right now of the fact that there are still in there actually make my cheeks immediately all vomit-tingly even though I've been okay all day. I'll be sad to send them to work with the husband. But, at least now I can take upscale cupcake establishment off my bucket list.

So my cupcake-framed at-home date will have to be augmented with other snacks. That I can do. And today, taking it easy and just being at home with the hubby, watching a movie that should have been horrible but ended up making us laugh like crazy (She's Out Of My League), was so much better than anything I could have come up with for us to do. I am still the luckiest girl in the world.

I Feel Sorry For The Queen of England

"I feel sorry for the queen of England."

Not a sentence I ever thought would pass from my lips, but there it is.

The hubby has been back at work this week, although his cough still persists. He is convinced I have caught a milder version of what he had and claims many coworkers and their wives have had similar complaints this week. I've been a new kind of beat, the kind where you're too tired to even shower. Not pretty. Literally.

It has taken a lot to get out of bed at all. As horrible as it is to hear anyone else feels less than desired, it is nice to attempt to convince myself that it's not all in my head. It also doesn't help that all I want to eat is cereal and jello (not combined). My get up and go is.. gone.

When the husband returned home from work this week, we've sat together on our oversized basement couches in the darkness, curtains drawn, watching Showtime's The Tudors. I have to admit that it is easy for me to look at the world and think what terrible times we live in... If this show has done anything, it had made me appreciate the good old present day. Holy crap. And how our lives are wonderfully free of drama in this house. How fortunate we are! I think I've had about ten aneurysms per episode. Those historical figures, granted they and their lives are fictionalized partly for the show, still make my brain hurt.

It is also fun to continually cross my arms and mutter to my husband, "Your gender. Oh. My. God."

It helps that although I was an excellent student, I am terrible at all things related to recall, so I never know what happens next. Besides, there were like 20 kings of England or something, right? Who can blame me? It is easier to point fingers considering I had forgotten how Ann Boleyn... Yeah. When the hubby mentioned losing her head later, I yelled at him emphatically, "Why did you have to tell me that?! You've ruined the ending!" It sounded familiar when he brought it up, but I would never have remembered that on my own.

I do hope that if I am lucky enough to age and grow very, very old, that the caverns of my mind will open and instead of general Alzheimer's, I will have some kind of wonderful disease where I remember everything locked away in there. Think of all the state capitals! The whole math thing with the letters instead of numbers! The food pyramid! How to use a sewing machine! What, didn't everyone get that last one in junior high?

Basically, I hope all my doodles on the cafeteria paper placemats are drawings of a map of the world with the correct location and labeling of all the countries.

In those cobwed covered rooms of my mind, I am sure there are many large filing cabinets full of facts about royalty and European history. Perhaps they are there for all the reasons this show dusts off and places on pedestals in the entryway. The plague. The poor and the rich. Oh, the joys of religion. And I know it's Showtime, so it's inevitable, but wow, could there be anyone in the castle the guys were not banging? I suppose it is not so fictionalized. How did humanity even survive until now? We were lucky to keep our reproductive abilities after that time period.

It seemed every storyline with Queen Katherine included me turning to the hubby and asking, "I do not know how she doesn't go all stabby stabby on everyone." The show in general makes me feel "stabby stabby". It is fascinating. And always calming to simply sit, rest, and be with the hubby and our 4-legged kids scattered around us.

As to our next official date? It's coming. Sometime after we get the expired car plates taken care of, the thousand errands ran, and the case of Neither One of Us Has A Working Phone Anymore solved. Stupid technology. But I'll take today over the 1500s any day.