This past week has been a complete and total bust in terms of work and home productivity. Every time I start a new job around a new set of little kids (which seems to have happened much more than I’d like the past couple of years), I get sick like two weeks in. I caught a cold which turned into a make-Jackie-so-dizzy-she-can’t-drive sinus infection and ended up home the entire week on my doctor’s orders. All I can say is, at least this time it’s being fixed before turning into a marathon fight with bronchitis. I’m really over those.

Now, not only does that mean all the routines I like to get into when starting a new schedule are topsy turvy, but my lesson plans, fall/Halloween decorating at work and home, and blogging have all fallen woefully behind. This morning Adam left on a 12-day trip with his parents to New Mexico and Las Vegas–a trip I was originally supposed to attend before getting my new job, then was just supposed to attend this weekend before having my balance thrown out the window. So I’ve got this giant house to myself for a while but am still on enough antibiotics to make me just sleep all day today. So now it’s 8pm on a Saturday night and I’m just starting to feel like maybe I can do something interesting. I have major cabin fever but no desire/ability to drive, therefore I am watching qualifying for the Japanese F1 Grand Prix, catching up on about a month’s backlog of blog reading, and looking at cheats for Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise. Adam was kind enough to move our XBox upstairs to the bedroom before he left this morning, so I may be up into the wee hours of the night camping out in bed with video games, fast cars, and crafty inspiration. Not a terrible way to spend a Saturday, if not the most exciting thing I could imagine myself doing.

Let’s just take a moment to get excited about the things I’m finding in my blog backlog. Jen Skelley’s featuring her Victorian Birdhouse print which I am incredibly intrigued by. I love her shop, and I’m debating whether I have enough magnetic surfaces at work to make her Alphabet magnet set worth getting for the munchkins.

Then over at Sweet Fine Day I saw this amazing-sounding recipe for Parsley and Hazelnut Pesto. As I will probably be living on pasta until Adam returns and I can cook for 2 again, I may have to investigate this one.

More and more I’m discovering that the traffic-induced brilliance I thought was my Bianco/Rosso Bag has been done over and over before. So now I want this Orange Stripe Double Carafe from Pony Party. It just looks like it should be fun storage here in The Orange Room.

Angry Chicken had so much good stuff going on since last I read that I can’t go into all of it here. But Amy has turned me onto 2 new sites that look incredible and 2 children’s books that I will have to check out, including one by the ubiquitous Cynthia Rylant. But the most exciting thing I found on Angry Chicken was the Spoonflower Beta. I joined the waiting list for this very cool service to custom design fabric, and I can’t wait until my spot comes up and I can check it out.

Then, of course, there is the library world. Which is currently buzzing about Anita Silvey’s article “Has the Newbery Lost Its Way?” There is a lot of interesting discussion, which I’m still reading through, about the Newbery’s relevance to children and children’s lit professionals. Worth checking out.

I am also editing my Blogroll here at The Orange Room, so keep an eye out for big excitement from the right sidebar.

And Lewis Hamilton just took pole! The Fuji Grand Prix airs live at midnight, maybe I should just stay up and watch the race. I can play Viva Pinata unti then.