Sunday, February 16, 2014

This has been a big week.

To kick things off, Joseph turned 7.  He chose "Daddy waffles" for his breakfast, though I was allowed to make them (Daddy being gone at work and actually he hates making waffles).  I guess they passed muster b/c there were none left.  For his dinner, he chose Mexican Lasagna (also a Daddy specialty and this time it required Daddy --"Mom, you'll mess it up"-- so we had it last night).  Dark chocolate pound cake with mint cookie chip ice cream (yes, I wrote that right).  He said it was a good day.  Best part:  No school.  (Birthdays are a personal holiday.)  And the 2nd best part:  A birthday movie ON his birthday.  Disney's Robin Hood.  Cards arrived from GG, Aunt Berta (with an awesome puzzle), and Aunt Kathie.  Gramma and Grampa's card came the next day.  I still haven't ordered his birthday book, but he's used to that.

Tuesday we were without a van b/c Nathan took it up north to get some recall work done on it.  It served well that day b/c the missionaries needed an early morning ride to Manchester for a zone meeting.  He passes through Manchester at about 7 am, so they certainly got there "early."

Wednesday Lil'Nathan went sledding with the youth from church.  He had a blast and came home tired and happy, and little cold.  One of the YM advisers gave him a ride and the scout leader gave him an old DVD player to use as a screen for his beloved Raspberry Pi.  And before he left, he made dinner, finishing every last grain of rice in the house.  ("Yes!! No more rice!")  Needless to say, Wed was a great day for our resident 12 yr old.

Wednesday was good for us, too.  We sold the house.  The offer came in late on Tues and by Wed evening it was settled.  The closing is set for the end of March.  The inspection is this week and we need to find a house.

But where to look is our big question.  Up in St. Johnsbury?  60+ miles to Nathan's work, but housing is pretty affordable.  The biggest draw up there, though, is our friends, Rob and Tamara being sooo close and the fact that the kids could go to St Johnsbury Academy.  *sigh*  Or we have the option of staying in West Leb.  Housing is much more expensive, but there is no state income or sales tax sneaking in on top of other expenses.  Plus, it's only 6 mi to work, meaning a LOT less travel time and money.  To say we a torn and caught in a bit of circular thinking would be accurate.

Thursday and Friday were snow days (14+ inches of heavy, wet snow), so Nathan worked from home.  What a mess.  On Friday evening a friend mentioned we were getting a blizzard on Sat night.  I thought she was kidding.  I found she was not.  Suddenly the idea of facing the crowds at the store the next morning (we being out of all food since it was my shopping day) and of shoveling more snow (where are we going to put it?!) made me laugh.  And laugh.  And laugh.  I couldn't stop.  It was so ridiculous--a blizzard!  We had stuff to do.  My mittens were still on my hook.  A blizzard! 

Well, we did  all we had to do and we faced the nutty crowds at the store.  (LONG lines, but everyone there was pretty good humored about it).  There was plenty of milk and eggs for everyone.  It started to snow and the weather channel's predictions got worse as the day went on.  But the storm never materialized they way they forecasted.  It was a pretty easy clean-up for Nathan this morning--light and fluffy, and only about 4 inches.

We're supposed to get more on Tuesday, but it looks like only a little bit.

Yesterday morning the Primary hosted a pajama party at church, complete with games.  The bishopric made breakfast for all the kids--a feast of pancakes (with hot syrup--G'pa was right, it really does make a difference if the syrup is hot!), eggs, and sausage.  (I made a little girl cry.  I snagged a sausage off Charlie's plate and she thought I took it off hers and ran sobbing to her mom, "That big lady stole my sausage!"  I'm not sure her mom believed me--I was laughing too hard.)  During the game of "Duck, duck, goose," Charlie and another Sunbeam jumped up and ran, no matter who was pegged "goose."  When the "goose" jumped up and ran, so did they, all around the circle.  Every time.  Not trying to help, not trying to tag anyone, just running.  One mom laughed they were "taking everyone's turn," but I seriously doubt they had any thought of the kind.  The game was clearly about jumping up and running and, by golly, they could do that as well as anyone else.  So why just sit and watch?

My deadline for finishing my wool blanket was on Fri.  I told myself earlier in the week that it was an arbitrary deadline and nothing of any consequence would happen if it remained unfinished, so no need to stress out about it.  With motivation like that, is it any wonder the day came and went and the blanket remains unfinished?  New arbitrary deadline:  our anniversary at the end of the month.

Important lesson learned:  Dr. Bronner's Soap, one drop at a time on a dry washcloth and scrubbed in straight lines will remove bright green dry erase marker from a freshly painted wall.  Nothing else works.  Hiding all the markers high up on a shelf well out of reach of the baby may prevent repeat learning experiences.  

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