Some things that have been on my mind that I thought I'd share

• If you are thinking about traveling abroad, 2009 is the year. I thought tickets were cheap when we paid $720 (including taxes) to go to Italy. I was wrong. On a whim Ryan checked the going rate for our tickets.......$558. Man, oh, man. Woulda, shoulda.

• I am not a great gardener. My main goal with my yard is to not be an embarrassment to the neighborhood (seriously). But somehow, through no efforts of my own, I can grow Peonies. I have blooms upon blooms. If you'd like any to brighten your kitchen, please stop by. I'm giving them away right and left.

• I've been seeing tons of strep and H1N1 (swine flu). I'm not a huge proponent of taking kids to the doctor when they are sick because 90% of the time we can't do anything about it. But if your child has fever with any other symptoms, especially sore throat, cough, aches, vomiting, and just looks sick I would take them in (at least if you live in Utah; I can't vouche for outside the Intermountain West). Swine flu has been relatively mild, but there is a treatment that shortens symptoms by 2-3 days, so it's probably worth the trip.

• Last night Ryan and I celebrated 8 years of married bliss (well, mostly bliss.) If you know me at all you know that there is ALWAYS room for dessert. Last night was no exception. I boxed up most of my meal, but finished dessert. We were introduced to Amano chocolate. Heavenly. One of the best chocolate creations I've tasted. Oh...I'm salivating now just thinking about it. Yum.