Slip-Sliding Away. . .

Another no-school day, another blog entry! Aren't you lucky!

The school district posted that there would be no school today late last night. From the kitchen, Jerry heard me at the computer going, "Noooooooo!!!!" The roads here are pretty clear, so there was some hope that there would be school, but the roads in the neighborhoods themselves are still hard-packed with snow, so they cancelled school. It's not that I mind having my beautiful girls to myself for another day, but I keep rescheduling my doctor appointment each time school is cancelled. I think I'll keep today's though. Hopefully by then the roads will be much better, and a neighbor offered to watch the girls, so I'm going to take her up on it. Originally it was to re-evaluate me after all the original tests came back normal, but now I'm trying to get a sinus infection, so who knows what will happen.

The girl's reaction to no school today was the exact opposite of mine: "YESSSssss!!!" with a fist-pumping gesture. I told them, "Well, that clinches it. You won't get out of school until the 28th of May!" When they asked me why, and I told them that for each day they missed because of snow, they added one more day at the end of school, Gracie responded with her one-size fits all answer, "That's not FAIR!" It's just the right answer (for her) for everything these days.

In the meantime, we got outside today with some of our neighbors and had some fun. We didn't have an official snow disk, so we tried out cardboard boxes, Rubbermaid tub lids, and laundry baskets. When our neighbors came out, they had all their mom's cookie sheets (with her blessing) and those worked pretty well. They also had an old-fashioned sled that had belonged to their granddad. We stayed out for a couple of hours and had good fun.

Here's the girls and I:

Sliding down the neighbor's driveway:

And having fun with our friends - they made a snow princess!

Winter Wonderland

Well, we are back into winter wonderland (a.k.a. no school) time. It started getting all slick yesterday around 10:00 AM, and the ice/snow is still coming down. Here's a view out the front window:

And here's one out the back:


Gracie has had a cough and drainage, so yesterday I called the pediatrician and was lucky enough to call right after someone who cancelled a 9:30 appointment. I thought that was great, since I really wanted to be home by the time the nasty weather hit, so I got her from school and we headed off. By the time we left there at 10:00, it was already getting slick - the kind where it drizzles and then freezes, so it looks like nothing is there, but when you step on it, you slide like crazy.


We tried to get Gracie's medicine, but after sliding across some slippery patches and feeling my anti-lock brakes kick in a couple of times we gave up driving around the pharmacy and let Daddy get it on the way home. Gracie and I went home and rested. Still, at 3:30, Maggie was coming home on the bus. I made it about two steps out onto the sheet of ice that was our driveway before I turned around and went back in. I got a leftover bag of sand and carried all 21 lbs with me to the bus stop, walking through the grass, and when I came to a drive or sidewalk I had to cross, I'd sprinkle sand as I went. It took all 21 pounds to get to the bus stop. The bus was 25 minutes late due to the slick conditions, and I stood out there the entire time. By the time the bus got there I was coated in sleet - my glasses were totally coated, and my hair was sticking out every which way. I looked quite a fright.

On the way back home we met our neighbor, Joe, walking his dog, Blazer. You can practically set your watch by Joe. He had some of those spikes that you stretch over your shoes, and they seemed to work really well. I'll have to invest in some of those.

Just in case you think snow days are all fun, the medicine the doctor gave Gracie this morning made her sick to her stomach, after a breakfast of Lucky Charms. Let's just say it gave a new meaning to the phrase, "Technicolor Yawn". I definitely see new carpet in our future in her room. Between the red paint and the new, large, vibrant neon pea green splotch, it's just a matter of time. Someone get that oxy-clean guy over here. He's irritating, but if he can get that stain out, I'll put up with him.

What A Morning!

Whew!

This morning has been unusually active. The girls got up easily this morning, mostly because it is class picture day, and I told Maggie that if she wanted me to curl her hair, she'd have to be more prompt at getting ready than she is most mornings so I would have time.

After the girls ate their cereal I took Gracie into the spare bathroom to give her some mucinex for her congestion before she went to get dressed. She doesn't like the way it tastes, and wasn't paying attention as she went to set her blankie on the toilet while she took the medicine. What she failed to notice was that the toilet seat was up. Yup, she dropped her blankie right into the potty. After a sufficient amount of wailing, we got the blankie into the washer and took the medicine.

Right about then, the phone rings - it's Jerry. He forgot some important papers here at the house, so I got them and read him the notes he had made for a meeting that he was about to go to. This of course, puts us a bit behind, considering I still need to curl Maggie's hair. I do that, but by now we have missed the bus, so into the car we load up.

So, that's been my very active morning. My original plan was to walk the kids with me half-asleep to the bus stop and then get back in bed, but by this time I was very awake. The reason I want to go back to bed is because I didn't sleep too much last night. Ever since I had strep I have been very achy and running a mild fever, so I went to the doctor yesterday. He agrees that something is not right, but as far as what it is, we are into another game of "Stump the Doctor." He thinks it might be some type of strep-induced arthritis, which would pass on it's own, but has also ordered tests to check for things like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. So last night when I woke up at 3:15 AM I couldn't get back to sleep for all the "what if" thoughts running around in my head. If I know that God is in control, and that whatever happens he can work for good, WHY can't I just let it go and move on? Can you? If so, please tell me how to do it!

Accidents Happen

Can you have survivor guilt over a wreck you witnessed?

This morning, on my way to BSF, I was approaching an intersection in the left hand northbound lane and the light turned yellow. I saw that there was a person in the middle of the intersection coming from the opposite direction, wanting to turn left as the light changed. I came to a compete stop, and the person cautiously began to proceed left. All the sudden, I heard from behind me on the right, a engine revving. I knew what was about to happen, but there was no way anyone could hear me yelling, "STOP!!!!" from my car. A person in a full-size truck was racing to make the yellow, and couldn't see the car turning. The truck hit the car at full speed.

I feel awful.

I know I didn't do anything wrong. But I can't help thinking - if my van was shorter, the truck would have seen the car or the car would have seen the truck. If I had run the yellow, they would have seen each other. I know I didn't cause the accident - but if things had just been a little bit different, it wouldn't have happened. I guess that's why they call them accidents.

I called 911 from my cell phone, but before they even answered a police car pulled up. I gave my statement to police and went on with my day - but it took me good half-hour to stop shaking. It just reinforces the notion that things change in an instant, so I better put my moments to good use.

A Slow Start

Well, here we are, a week into the new year, and I have accomplished. . . nothing. Well, that's not exactly true, I have managed to get strep - which explains why not much else has gotten done.

Maggie had strep before Christmas, and when we got back, Jerry dutifully got us back on track by coming down with it. I thought I had dodged the germ, but Sunday night, it struck, and Monday evening I went to the after-hours clinic (since my doctor couldn't work me in until Wednesday) and got my antibiotics. These have cured my sore throat, but have made me sick to my stomach. I've never had problems with this antibiotic before, but these are such a high dosage - and they are horse pills! I have to split them to be able to get them down. Hopefully it will get better like the leaflet suggests it might. On top of that, my little ride in the tractor's front loader bruised the back of my knees, and they are still sore! Anyway, I didn't sleep much last night and I'm grouchy! It's tough getting old!

Actually, we did get a bit done this last weekend. We hit the malls to do some returns, and we went to see the Tale of Desperaux at the theater. At least, Jerry and Gracie got to see it. Maggie ate more than her fair share of one of the big bags of Reese's Pieces during the previews, and consequently, her tummy did a tango during the movie - we missed about 30 minutes of it because we were sitting on a bench in the hallway waiting for the icky feeling to go away. What I can tell you about the movie is that, like the book, it is about a mouse named Desperaux. As far as I could tell, the similarity ends there. We had listened to the book on tape while we were driving for Christmas, and it's not the same at all. I can't say whether that's a good or bad thing since I missed such a significant part, but it is definitely not the same.

We also did some returns at my favorite store, Walmart, and they got me in a snit again because we needed to return something that we had bought online, and had only the order history form to return it with. Although the website said that would be sufficient, the store would not honor it, giving us only a partial refund. To their credit, this time when I contacted the website, they did apologize, issue the remaining refund, and promised to contact the store about the whole matter. This time, principles win out!

We also hit the white sales and got linens for the guest bedroom, so we are mostly ready for company! I say mostly, because when we went to put the new linens on we found that the furniture company had put the daybed together incorrectly. When we took it apart and did it correctly, we found that they most likely did it on purpose, because now that it is together correctly we can't slide the trundle under it without damaging the mattress due to the support rails. We are going to have to get some little blocks or something to raise the bed a couple of inches so we can fit the trundle under it. (Sigh. Principles, strike one!) That, and we still don't have anywhere for people to sit. . . Hopefully the sofa will be here soon. That'll be the next big thing - can't wait to see it!

Oh - and true to our tradition, we made Chicken and Dumplings and Black-Eyed-Peas for New Year's Day dinner. Now that the girls like Chicken and Dumplings, there are not as many leftovers, and Jerry has competition to see who can eat the most. Maggie was determined though, so they decided to arm-wrestle for one of the leftover servings. . .

and Maggie wins!