And then she went back, for a little bit more

I have vegged to the max for the past two hours, and suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I had to make the homemade Almond Joys I saw a few days ago on Food52. Almond Joys have long been one of my favorite treats. I'm not much of a candy eater (hard-candies? jelly beans? Skittles for crying out loud? fuh-gedd-about-it!), but chocolate plus almonds plus coconut? That is right up my alley. Always has been. Almond  Joys and Mounds were some of my prized Halloween scores. I'd make trades with my sister for Starbursts and SweeTarts, pretending I did so out of love for her but selfishly knowing the truth: this was a win-win situation. You might recall my Almond Joy-Cardamom Ice Cream a few months back. Awesome, and a definite homage to my longtime love.

Now, it is extremely rare that I buy a candy bar these days; maybe once every 18 months or two years. I don't even pine for my kids' Halloween goodies. Something about age and the sweet factor and recognizing that little in these "treats" is real. But a from-scratch Almond Joy? Hells Bells, folks. I'm on it. I saw this recipe a mere 4 days ago, and despite the ludicrous hamster-wheel of a day I had, making these sweets just for me seemed a fitting tribute to it.

And so, I did. Delicioso!

unsweetened coconut, coconut oil, honey, vanilla and almonds

NIK_3151

I'm not fantastic at tempering or dipping in chocolate, but decided to heed the advice of a friend, CLJ, and just go for it, no judgement. My hands were slathered in chocolate and these aren't as pretty as in the pic, but you know what? They taste damn good!

Almond Joys, from scratch

Whew: have hit wall, thankfully

Oh.my.gosh. What a day, y'all. Despite some major roadblocks, everything went really smoothly and well today, but about five minutes ago, I realized how seriously tired I am right now. I had just settled in with my half melatonin last night when I decided to check on Oliver. As I walked in, he opened his eyes, looked at me and started hacking this awful, raspy, clogged-throat cough. I had a moment of Mom-terror, scooped him up and brought him into bed with me. He was thirsty. No problem. His tummy hurt- "I might frow up." To the toilet. Like a weary partier, he pulled the potty seat up, set his hands down on either side of the porcelain bowl (keep in mind he's wearing Batman PJs, complete with cape), sighed with resignation and settled in. No throw up but as he's a hurler, I was glad he wanted to take precautions. Advil, lots of rocking and songs, lots of cuddling and kisses and then I got him back into bed.

My melatonin had jumped the shark at this point but I said goodnight to T and hoped for the best. At 5:50 this morning, I awoke with a start, certain I had forgotten to do something major for the luncheon today. In fact I had prepared extremely well, and wasn't that wise because, as I mentioned earlier today, Ol woke up with a fever, a slew of aches and pains and, as such, school was a no go.

Can y'all even imagine what my morning would have been like had Tom not been able to work from home, take Ol to the doctor, and help me out like this? It is in moments like these that I have an even more profound respect for single moms, unsupported moms, all moms just trying to do/be something other than Mom, whether because they need or want to. I mean seriously, what would I have done this morning? I had a full lunch plus dessert for 50 people in my kitchen, clients waiting for me. I had scheduled things down to the minute. All of this was based on the assumption that both kids would be at school. I was to deliver everything at 11 and then head from the Capitol area back up to Jack's school in Bethesda by 12:30p to set up the snack spread for the faculty meeting. In the meantime, T had to catch a flight to Boston. Mother.of.god. Like I said, it all worked out; I even managed to get make-up on and don a cute outfit. But enormous thanks to my very good husband for making much of this morning possible and good.

Ol helped me set up the faculty goodies, and then he and I went to the market to get stuff that looked palatable for a slightly yukked-up tummy. Then to pick Jack up, then to interview a potential sitter. And then, finally, two short hours on my own. Thank you babysitters and the money to pay them. I finished painting our guest room -if you're looking for a lovely, soothing gray, Smoke Embers by Benjamin Moore is terrif- tidied up and then just could.not.go.another.bit. Thank goodness my physical self shows limits; obviously my energizer bunny brain doesn't.

I've got a glass of rosé (now empty) on my left, Percy is snoring on my right, the babysitter is here for 28 more minutes, and I've got some nice leftovers for dinner. A bit more wine -hey! I rocked today!- and then to bed. Oliver calls!

P.S.- Just checked on Ol, and he said, "I love you more than I ever have." Dying right now, dying.