Things I Love Thursday // 2.13.14

Tamiflu ~ Seriously, y'all. On Saturday it felt like I was getting a cold. By Saturday night, I thought it might be a severe cold. In the wee hours of Sunday morning (had I been capable of formulating any thoughts other than, "I'm going to die. My organs are shutting down. I'm going to die."), I would have definitely said, flu. With the nursing of my parents (visiting from Oregon) and my hubby, I managed to survive Sunday. First thing Monday morning, my doctor confirmed I had Influenza-A by swabbing the back of my nasal passage. (Let me assure you, "swabbing" sounds rather innocuous and yet, NO, it is not.) Thankfully, the hubby and the monkeygirls had their flu boosters this season. Apparently, I couldn't be bothered. Lesson learned. The hard way.
Sleeping Queens ~ This is a great new card game that our friends just sent us and it has been so much fun to play (not to mention a life-saver during our 7-hour power outage during this most recent snow storm).
Being taken care of ~ I touched on it already but want to stress just how great it felt (in hindsight) to be taken care of during my illness. In general, I don't get SICK. I get colds, my allergies flare up, I wear eye patches from time-to-time [ha and ha], and I strain my muscles doing things like blowing out my hair and picking up shoes off the floor (wish I was kidding). My point is, that typically, I'm never sick enough to actually "call in sick" and stay in bed. In fact, in the 16 years the hubby and I have been together, we can remember maybe 2-3 times that I've been really ill. Earlier this week, I literally could NOT get out of bed. Thank you so much to my mom and dad for stepping up and filling in--not only with the girls--but nursing and checking-in-on me, comforting, delivering tea and soup and medications, laundering, cooking, packing a week's worth of school lunches in advance, and driving me to and from my doctor's appointment/pharmacy… While I'm certain that G and I would have figured out something, it was such a gift to not have to.
Finally figuring out what combination of drain cover and old-fashioned, rubber bathtub stopper worked to make our ONE bathtub functional ~ It's been a year in this house and we literally just had our first baths. Fun, fun, fun! A good soak can really turn your day around.
Having a sunny week in a tropical local to celebrate another year of my hubby's hard work ~ Every winter G's company sends a ton of people to Cancun to celebrate the top producers. Each employee has an option to bring along their significant other--meaning, it's an "adults only" trip. This year, the company hosted about 1700 peeps. It's loud, festive, indulgent, relaxing (true), and fantastic. Thank you, Company.
The quiet intensity of Olympic Curling and OMG, Norway's team uniforms (I wish this picture did them better justice. They were pretty fantastic.)

{image via Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo}
My new favorite show, Sherlock (Thanks, BBC!) ~ The good news: Each episode is a solid 90 minutes of smart, entertaining, original material. The bad news: There are only 3 episodes per season! (What?!) And only 2 seasons available NOW.
North Carolina Snow Cream ~ I had no idea this dreamy little kitchen concoction even existed until my sweet friend and NC expert, Rebecca Hunter mentioned it on one of my Facebook posts. Yummy!
Having power ~ No, not like a "magical one" or anything… just the regular electric kind of power. Being without it for a whole day during a big, scary snow storm reminds me to sincerely appreciate what I so regularly take for granted.
This amazing team of snowman builders
These super cute wedges I saw on my girlfriend in Cancun last week ~ Yes, I did. ;) AND these other super cute sandals on my other girlfriend. No, not yet… I can't decide on a color!
Cool Cats ~ Richard Parker, especially.