I was a meme virgin, but I was tagged by Beck (okay, I asked her to tag me). Here we go!

8 Things I’m Looking Forward To

1. Spring – it’s kind of here, many of my plants are starting to poke up. IT’S ABOUT TIME.
2. Having a glass of wine tonight. But then, I’m always looking forward to that.
3. Incessantly watching NYPD Blue reruns on DVD this week. My husband will be away, and I’m not looking forward to that, but it does give me the freedom to obsessively watch David Caruso. (“Tell him John Kelly is looking for him. JOHN KELLY.” Rrrr…..)
4. Eating a LOT of Greek salad this week – another thing I do when the cat’s away. I’m so wild.
5. The Mother’s Day Tea at the preschool this week! Although Jake informed me “I told Ms. Jan I didn’t think I should have tea. But she said I could have juice”. Good to know.
6. Getting the dog groomed. He kind of stinks.
7. Wearing capri pants and sandals, which I’m hoping will happen sometime soon! Rise, mercury, rise!
8. Rob coming home from his week away, and the ensuing – ahem! – reunion. Rrrr….

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. Ate a frozen chocolate Girl Guide cookie. Bliss in a cookie.
2. Walked the dog.
3. Made pasta sauce, which I loved but no one else seemed all that crazy about.
4. Watched 30 Rock and the Office, and laughed a lot.
5. It was warm enough that I picked the boys up from school wearing only a sweater and t-shirt – no jacket!
6. Worked on my drop-backs, thank you very much lovely teachers.
7. Worked on a post about mommy makeovers.
8. Got grossed out reading about labiaplasty.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do

1. Drop-backs – it’s coming though! Soon, maybe.
2. Cook something really delicious that everyone in my house would eat.
3. Not cry when something goes wrong with the car. Especially something stupid like running out of windshield washer fluid.
4. Be able to open the hood of my car.
5. Downhill ski.
6. Eat unlimited amounts of potato chips, nachos, and the like without gaining any weight.
7. Speak another language.
8. Throw and catch a ball.

8 Shows I Watch

1. 30 Rock – best show on TV.
2. Grey’s Anatomy, although I’m a little disturbed by my crush on Dr. Hunt. He’s a wacko! Why do I find him soooo sexy?
3. America’s Next Top Model. I’m slightly ashamed.
4. Jeopardy!
5. How I Met Your Mother – next to 30 Rock, this is the funniest show on TV.
6. NYPD Blue Season One. For reasons previously stated.
7. American Idol – full disclosure, I don’t usually like this show but my husband watches it. This year, it’s pretty good! I’m actually enjoying it.
8. Breakfast Television. Sometimes for a laugh I call it the news.

Meme deflowering complete!

Hey, have you heard of this thing called the “swine flu”? No?

I am having a strange time with all the coverage of H1N1. On the one hand, I feel like there is a teensy bit of panic and fear mongering going on. The reality is that 300 people die of the flu, the regular old flu, in Alberta every year. Currently there are six cases in Calgary, which is a city of over a million people. So perhaps a little perspective is needed.

On the other hand, I am a person who glares warily at people coughing and sneezing at the best of times, and relating to me that your child was up all night vomiting will inevitably lead to me surreptitiously sanitizing my hands at the first possible moment. “Germ-paranoid” is a term that comes to mind.

The thing about the H1N1, which I am using out of respect for pork producers, because although I am vegetarian, there are some serious pork fans in my house (“Pork chops! Yay!!!”), is that there is really nothing to be done in terms of prevention other than the regular old hand-washing and avoidance of people who are infected. Which is kind of common-sense, you know. And one of the great things about the internet and massive media coverage is that there is awareness – so people who are sick have a free pass to stay at home and recover, to keep away from the general public.

(Just writing that, I recall my former place of employment, which completely frowned upon people calling in sick. The guys I worked with would show up in all sorts of contagious stages, hacking and coughing and practically passing out at their desks. I myself once showed up to work with a massive kidney infection, typing away in agony, putting my exhausted head in my hands every hour or so, until I had finished my daily tasks and went home to ingest antibiotics.)

What precautions, if any, are you taking against this flu? Are you canceling vacations? Are you turning into an agoraphobic germ-phobe (like me, although I am fighting this urge in an attempt to seem normal)? Or, are you taking normal precautions against illness like hand-washing, but keeping your perspective?