It's Chili

Good morning! Well, I got more sick on Friday. f*ck!!! Went through a box of Kleenex...I'd moved on to the "head cold" portion of the flu with the watery eyes, nose, etc. PLUS my beloved cough. Spent the entirety of the weekend on the couch unable to move or do anything at all. Last night filled with asthma attacks. Today, I'm just back to having the cough and almost deaf ears. The whole thing is a sonofabitch. All with hives covering 90 percent of my body; thanks to my flu meds aggravating my normal batch. So the insane all-over itching tended to be a factor of the weekend. I just try to remember it could be worse...it always could be worse. On to the topic at hand; my husband made me my favorite chili last night for dinner. Not just ANY chili; THE chili. My favorite food dish is the chili at Charlie Beiggs Restaurant in Windham, Maine. It's won many awards and whenever I'm in Maine I beg to go there just so I can have the crock of chili (which they bake to melt the cheese on top and put a bunch of scallions and such on the top). They make it with pulled pork (smoked) and special bbq sauce and such. It's got the most amazing flavor. I've been obsessed with it for years and I don't try to hide it. For Christmas Eve dinner (since I don't eat seafood...I'm shamed) my Dad drove all the way out to the restaurant just to pick up the chili for me (they don't do takeout). He convinced them to put it in a container for me and I gratefully ate my chili as the rest of the family ate their lobster rolls. Thanks Dad! It was a nice surprise. And so sweet to drive all the way there just for me. Knowing my love for this stuff, my husband has taken on the task of trying to emulate the recipe. Yesterday morning he set up the crock pot and started in with cooking the pork. He spent all day lovingly preparing all the ingredients. He toiled and slaved over each vegetable slice and sprinkle. And when it was ready and smelled so delicious he put it into crocks and baked the cheese on. He even added the scallion garnish! It was friggin' great! It wasn't exactly like the restaurant's, but it was better. It was his. It was made with love and determination to make me smile. It was perfect and perfectly delicious. And now I have enough to last me the week! He will try to make it again; and next time he'll add a little more sauce. All I know is, it was heavenly and I'm very lucky.

Be well everyone; I will be trying to get through this recovery so I can get back to my life again. Dirty bastard flu!!!

*COUGH*

Sorry for the coughing; I'm covering my mouth...I promise. (waaaaaaa!!) I hate being sick. Well, I was booked to work for my client on Wednesday; and they booked me for yesterday too. So, that was a nice surprise. They wanted me for today too; but of course my creepy cough has escalated to more of an illness. I'm sort of slogging around the house to get where I need to go. I've even used up my DayQuil. And my breathing is that sort of perverted phone-call sound. You know, the guy you hang up on after he asks "what are you wearing?". In all seriousness, we had a guy call our dorm every night at 2:45 am when I was a freshman in college. I would answer and he'd say "What are you wearing" and then be silent. I was always puzzled by this. At first I said "sorry, sweatpants and a tshirt aren't really the most exciting things"...and he hung up. Then, I could hear the phones ring through the walls in other rooms on the floor. He called everyone. I always just told him to get a blowup doll and I hung up the phone. Well, he finally called during the SuperBowl once and I tried to have a conversation with him. I asked him what HE was wearing instead. I said we couldn't keep meeting like this and have it be so one-sided. He finally hung up with anger and he never called again. I talked him to death. With that, I'm off to the couch. I'm sorry no print yet. I'm sad it's not done, but I guess I have to take care of myself first. As soon as I feel ok I'm going to finish it. I'll be sure to put up photos and all. OH! And my potential new client is officially my client! He approved my quote for his project and I'm off to the races! So, I CAN say to anyone considering, that joining the Chamber of Commerce (as a graphic designer) was a good idea and worth it. A fraction of this project will pay for the membership and I might forge new relationships as the networking meetings continue. The trick is to remember that a lot of small businesses simply can't afford big-ticket marketing. So I push myself as professional and affordable. Design on a budget does not have to look bad. Be well everyone!! Happy Friday and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I hope my next post will have photos of my print with the second color (which will be brown). Later!! (Card posted above is on my inspiration board. It's a fabric card by Beaumonde...it's fuzzy/velour-like. I'd gotten it at Anthropologie a while ago. It's cool envelope is behind it. Check out the website; there's a lot of cool stuff there!)