Pandas and the Flu

Last weekend, my dad, my Boyfriend, and I headed up and over to Bay City, Michigan. Two of us (Boyfriend and I) brought back the flu. Hooray!

We've been essentially out of commission for the past week. Mostly staying in bed, chugging NyQuil.

It's been frustrating, because I had more projects to finish for the #LoveYourInnerGeekSwap, which I had planned on churning out as soon as I got back from Michigan, but the flu made it not possible. As a result, I only sent the first half of the swap gifts.

Because of this flu, I had to change some of my project plans as well. Some items I'd planned on making will no longer be made, and are being replaced with store-bought items. I'm hell bent on making three though, they're all too far along to give up now. Ah well. I'll post more on those projects when they're more completed.


So... the reason for our weekend trip to Michigan? My aunt passed last month. Cancer. She died on my dad's birthday, which was... hard. I didn't realize it would hurt quite as much as it does - the last death in our family was over 15 years ago when my grandpa died. (not counting dogs) She was a super nice and very kind lady. As a kid, I used to love going to her house, because she was the Panda Lady. She loved pandas and had over 2,000 of them. Panda toys, artwork, figurines, tshirts. Tons of them.

Last year, in the summer, she started giving some of the pandas away. But she never did manage to get rid of them all.

She was cremated last month, and instead of a big service/funeral dealie, there was just a visitation this month, where everyone was invited to come and chat. That's where we were last weekend. And on a table at the funeral home, there were a bunch of pandas. With a note saying my aunt would love for folks to take a panda to remember her by. I took three. And I thought I'd share them here.

 This first panda was the one given to me this past summer. My dad was there, and I guess someone asked him what kind of panda I would like, to which he replied "Something cute". He came back with this mother and child, chillin' together.

 This was the first panda I grabbed off the table. I call him "Skeptical Panda".

 This is the second panda I grabbed. I call him "Exasperated Panda".

 It didn't even occur to me that these two were probably part of a set together until Boyfriend mentioned it. I was just drawn to the both of them individually.

The last one I adopted is "Sad Panda". He just looks... so sad.



The other day, while shopping for the Iggle Sock Swap, I came across some panda socks.

And while I tend to stick to plain black socks, I just couldn't pass these up for myself.