Book It Day or a butterfly emerges from it's cocoon. Which is symbolic of hope and maybe some kind of metaphor for triumph in the face of adversity.

 So I've been in the hospital. For a week. This is actually the second time I've been hospitalized in three weeks. But I've been ill. For about three months. Not "I'm a dumbass because I won't go to the doctor so now things are serious." kind of ill but, several tips to urgent care/emergency room, scary antibiotics, ill.

 There is nothing like lying flat on your back for days on end, with iv antibiotics running through the central line they jacked into your neck,  to help you realize that you are a complete loser for not finishing your daughter's Book It Day costume.

 If you are unfamiliar with the Book It Program, it is an incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut that encourages children to read. Our school takes it completely seriously, asking the kids to dress up like their favorite characters from books and having a parade in the gymnasium.

 This year we had a theme: Eric Carle. And although I like Eric Carle's books, he is not one of our favorite, favorites. I do however really love the beauty of his artwork. So when Wub said she wanted to be the Butterfly from The Very Hungry Caterpillar I decided I was going to make her a long tunic style dress with huge butterfly wing sleeves. I was then going to airbrush the dress to mimic Mr. Carle's gorgeous artwork.

 Best laid plans....

But I had to do something. It was so hard on Wub and MHM worrying about me while trying to keep everything just turning over at home. MHM would get up in the morning, get Wub ready for school, head to school and work, pick up Wub from the sitter, grab something to eat and head to the hospital until it was time to go home and get some sleep. At some point he also picked up an upper respiratory infection so that was nice. She was such a trooper, I couldn't let her miss out on the fun of Book It Day too.

 So I sent him to the Dollar Tree to pick up poster board, green duct tape, colored pipe cleaners, and red sock hat. With crayons and a few supplies from home we got started.

 Using the book as a guide I cut out two wing shapes from the poster board. Then I lightly traced the major areas of the wings. Then we colored and colored and colored some more. It took the best part of three evenings and most of one very long day to color both wings (front and back). To be honest, it probably would have taken less time if we hadn't been using a hospital floor and tray table respectively to color on. Also if I had been slightly less doped up.

 After finishing the wings we used the green duct tape to join them together. Four elastic loops were held in place with clear strapping tape and we had ourselves a pretty rockin' pair of butterfly wings.

The head was made by lightly, tack stitching a circle of green foam on top of a circle of yellow foam to the hat brim and repeating on the other side. We then threaded a green pipe cleaner through the top of the hat, centered it making each side equal length. Then curled each side around a pen to form the antennae. I think she made a pretty adorable butterfly.

It definitely distracted us for awhile from scary allergic reactions to antibiotics and scary words like Lupus. They still are not sure what is wrong with me. Pathology points to an infection but it also points to an autoimmune disease such as Lupus. I hope that is not what it is. I won't know the answers for a while because the rheumatologist doesn't have any openings until May. No matter what the outcome. I will make do.

Hell, I hope that I can do better than make do and that I can make a butterfly.