Not a whole lot going on here today. My brother-in-law is in the hospital, very sick with pnuemonia from the H1N1 flu virus. Say a prayer for him if you're the praying type, he needs them. Terry has been traveling back and forth to the hospital a lot this weekend and everything is thawing out around here. Halfway to a hospital in Indianapolis, he hit a large chuckhole on the highway and blew a tire. There are chuckholes everywhere! He was able to get the spare on and continue to the hospital, but on the way home he hit another hole and blew the donut. In his defense, it was foggy and pouring down rain, so it wasn't like he saw them in time to miss. I'm just glad that he wasn't hurt either time.
Today, he took the car to a guy that another brother of his knows & had a couple of new sway-rods put in for $20. Ultimately making what would have been a nearly $200 fix at a shop (including parts) for $50 by buying his own parts and going to a former mechanic. Seriously, it took "The Guy" 20 minutes to put both of them in. "The Guy" is awesome.
After that, we had McDonald's for lunch and I locked myself away in the bathroom. I noticed that I was looking a bit frazzled when I looked in the mirror, & since Terry wasn't going anywhere, I decided to pamper myself. I have fine, multi-textured, naturally curly hair & if I don't put anything in it (gel, mouse, etc) it puffs out. Hugely. In elementary school, I wore my hair in a braid nearly everyday because of this, and even with all the Freeze-It my mother put on the top of my head, I would have a top hat of frizzies after recess. I still have vivid memories of kids going "You look like Bozo the Clown!!" and the whole class laughing.. but it's not like I'm scarred or anything.. [sarcasm] And my darling middle sister would always call me "MUFASA!" when she brush out my hair.. In fact, sometimes she still does.. Good times. Okay, yeah, back to my frazzled look! So I gave myself a coconut oil treatment, and took extra time to take care of me.
Looking in the mirror again, I noticed my blonde Marcho Grouch eyebrows and gathered my weapons of choice.. a.) eyebrow pencil b.) tweezers c.) facial cleansing wipes for afterwards d.) my daughter's ipad with the Pinterest app open. Weird right? That I needed the Ipad? But I pinned a pinned that solved all my eyebrow worries. My mother has amazing eyebrows. They look professionally done, and she's never had to pluck them. Ever. So it's not like she could show me how to do it. And my middle sister, the same darling one mentioned above, inherited these amazing eyebrows. My oldest sister & I share the special joy of inheriting dad's. They bear a slight resemblance to shrubbery. They're large and bushy. This sister was also friends with a couple of diva's who showed her the tricks of the trade. I did okay, but wasn't usually satisfied. Now, honestly, I'm a little confused to what this website is about, but whatever it is, they give great advice on plucking eyebrows.
That's pretty much my day. I've started working on Roo's Birth Story, so that should be coming out soon, but tonight I'm going to finish watching Dance Moms (DVRed) while I wait for clothes to finish drying. Tomorrow I start a new workout routine. :)
Showing posts with label winter break. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter break. Show all posts
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
And.... It Snowed.
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be in a power outage with a special needs child? Grab a cup of coffee, settle into your chair, and listen while I tell you about my day.
The weather forecasters were pretty off on their timing of the winter storm starting, and I was hopeful that they'd be off on accumulations and temperature drops too. The day started off great. I worked on sanding down my future crafty spot off and on--a beautiful butcher block island that kept oozing a mysterious sticky resin left behind by previous owners & ultimately making it a junk spot. I did dishes, folded clothes & put them away, and as time went on I was feeling increasingly confident that we would keep our power on. So confident that I washed our winter coats. Roo spilled milk all over hers yesterday & I normally wash them all when I have to wash one.
Things were going well. Everybody was doing what they wanted. I proclaimed myself a maid for the day and informed my husband that he was now a manny (male nanny). The sink had just been loaded with more dishes--I'm not lucky enough to have a dishwasher (hired or electric), the dryer was ending it's last cycle, and the coats were in the washer waiting for the dryer. Roo was occupied watching a favorite cartoon and Terry was outside shoveling snow.
The power went out.
...
The power came on.
.....
The power went out again, and this time it stayed off. And stayed off. And stayed off.
Before I go any farther, I need to tell you that my husband is an amazing man. He's the kind of man who pulls over to help people when they have a flat, not worrying that it could all just be a setup. He's the one who takes Roo back to the OR when she needs a procedure, because mommy just can't bear to watch her child be put to sleep, even if it is just anesthesia. Today was not his best day. I often think that he would sleep better/handle certain stresses better if he would take an antidepressant. In fact, I think that if he went on medication, I would be able to take less. ;) regardless of the way this day played out, this is not his typical character.
Roo was stunned, in awe that no matter how many times she flipped the switch, the lights would not come back on. I took out an old bill to report our outage and she brought me my debit card from the desk. The look on her face was priceless, "Pay it, Mommy, quick!" :)) It was awesome.
My husband came inside from shoveling and it wasn't long before he started panicking. He wanted to go somewhere. He was afraid that the power would be out for days and we would be stuck here in sub-zero weather. I had prepared for this storm. I had a plan. I was not abandoning 2 guinea pigs & a cat, packing up every single stinking thing that my daughter would need somewhere else, packing up everything that he & I would need when the risk of traveling the roads was greater than the risk of staying home. We had groceries, we have a gas stove that doesn't require electricity to stay lit, and with this being a small home, that would probably keep us warm enough. Even the paranoid part of me was okay because being home meant keeping the house warmer than it would be if we left, and the pipes would have less chance of freezing annnnddd I know that there is an increased risk of CO2 poisoning when you heat your home with the oven, but we also have working, battery operated fire & CO2 alarms. In my mind, we were good.
Then my brother-in-law called and said that we could all camp out at his house if we wanted to and that he had a spare room. From a social perspective, this was ideal, but even in fair weather, it takes about 20 minutes to get to his house and the heavy wet snow, combined with the horrible risk of being stranded, didn't make it worth it... to me. Terry was mad. He was freaking out, and mad. I said, give it a couple of more hours. I'm at least fixing supper and then we'll decide what to do.
Roo is ultra-sensitive to emotions. I don't quite understand how she can sometimes perceive a group of happy laughing people as funny one time, and terrifying the next, but we generally just take it as it comes. It sounds stupid, but when I sense her stressing I try to put out a calm, tranquil signal. I must be halfway okay at this because I've been called "the baby whisperer" on more than one occasion over the years. Anyway, Roo is crying because daddy is mad and mommy is irritated and -- ya know what, he was a jerk and I stood my ground. You don't need to know the details, the words that were said.. I'm not airing out the laundry. My point is, our kids play off our emotions, and if we can't hold it together, how can we expect them to?
There were lots of crying spells. Once when I told Roo she would have to take a break from the Ipad because we needed to make sure we didn't run out of battery life. Another time was when I broke down sobbing over the phone with my mother, because I felt like the weight of world was on my shoulders. Another offer was made to "rescue us" --a very generous, selfless, four wheel drive offer-- and I turned it down because we didn't need rescued. Then a state of emergency was declared.. that was the whole purpose of my mom calling and I answered the phone ready to tell someone off because no one was listening to me that I didn't want to go anywhere! "Is it a blizzard?!" I asked my mother. "No," she said. "Then why is everyone freaking out?!!" God bless her, she made me feel so much better. Finally somebody told me that I was doing everything right, that it made more sense and was a good idea to stay put.
A little while later, maybe an hour, the lights came back on. I'm praying and hoping that they continue to stay on, and glad that the snow bit of this weather is over. Temperatures are dropping very low over the next couple of days, making me look forward to that promised high of 28 towards the end of this week.
The weather forecasters were pretty off on their timing of the winter storm starting, and I was hopeful that they'd be off on accumulations and temperature drops too. The day started off great. I worked on sanding down my future crafty spot off and on--a beautiful butcher block island that kept oozing a mysterious sticky resin left behind by previous owners & ultimately making it a junk spot. I did dishes, folded clothes & put them away, and as time went on I was feeling increasingly confident that we would keep our power on. So confident that I washed our winter coats. Roo spilled milk all over hers yesterday & I normally wash them all when I have to wash one.
Things were going well. Everybody was doing what they wanted. I proclaimed myself a maid for the day and informed my husband that he was now a manny (male nanny). The sink had just been loaded with more dishes--I'm not lucky enough to have a dishwasher (hired or electric), the dryer was ending it's last cycle, and the coats were in the washer waiting for the dryer. Roo was occupied watching a favorite cartoon and Terry was outside shoveling snow.
The power went out.
...
The power came on.
.....
The power went out again, and this time it stayed off. And stayed off. And stayed off.
Before I go any farther, I need to tell you that my husband is an amazing man. He's the kind of man who pulls over to help people when they have a flat, not worrying that it could all just be a setup. He's the one who takes Roo back to the OR when she needs a procedure, because mommy just can't bear to watch her child be put to sleep, even if it is just anesthesia. Today was not his best day. I often think that he would sleep better/handle certain stresses better if he would take an antidepressant. In fact, I think that if he went on medication, I would be able to take less. ;) regardless of the way this day played out, this is not his typical character.
Roo was stunned, in awe that no matter how many times she flipped the switch, the lights would not come back on. I took out an old bill to report our outage and she brought me my debit card from the desk. The look on her face was priceless, "Pay it, Mommy, quick!" :)) It was awesome.
My husband came inside from shoveling and it wasn't long before he started panicking. He wanted to go somewhere. He was afraid that the power would be out for days and we would be stuck here in sub-zero weather. I had prepared for this storm. I had a plan. I was not abandoning 2 guinea pigs & a cat, packing up every single stinking thing that my daughter would need somewhere else, packing up everything that he & I would need when the risk of traveling the roads was greater than the risk of staying home. We had groceries, we have a gas stove that doesn't require electricity to stay lit, and with this being a small home, that would probably keep us warm enough. Even the paranoid part of me was okay because being home meant keeping the house warmer than it would be if we left, and the pipes would have less chance of freezing annnnddd I know that there is an increased risk of CO2 poisoning when you heat your home with the oven, but we also have working, battery operated fire & CO2 alarms. In my mind, we were good.
Then my brother-in-law called and said that we could all camp out at his house if we wanted to and that he had a spare room. From a social perspective, this was ideal, but even in fair weather, it takes about 20 minutes to get to his house and the heavy wet snow, combined with the horrible risk of being stranded, didn't make it worth it... to me. Terry was mad. He was freaking out, and mad. I said, give it a couple of more hours. I'm at least fixing supper and then we'll decide what to do.
Roo is ultra-sensitive to emotions. I don't quite understand how she can sometimes perceive a group of happy laughing people as funny one time, and terrifying the next, but we generally just take it as it comes. It sounds stupid, but when I sense her stressing I try to put out a calm, tranquil signal. I must be halfway okay at this because I've been called "the baby whisperer" on more than one occasion over the years. Anyway, Roo is crying because daddy is mad and mommy is irritated and -- ya know what, he was a jerk and I stood my ground. You don't need to know the details, the words that were said.. I'm not airing out the laundry. My point is, our kids play off our emotions, and if we can't hold it together, how can we expect them to?
There were lots of crying spells. Once when I told Roo she would have to take a break from the Ipad because we needed to make sure we didn't run out of battery life. Another time was when I broke down sobbing over the phone with my mother, because I felt like the weight of world was on my shoulders. Another offer was made to "rescue us" --a very generous, selfless, four wheel drive offer-- and I turned it down because we didn't need rescued. Then a state of emergency was declared.. that was the whole purpose of my mom calling and I answered the phone ready to tell someone off because no one was listening to me that I didn't want to go anywhere! "Is it a blizzard?!" I asked my mother. "No," she said. "Then why is everyone freaking out?!!" God bless her, she made me feel so much better. Finally somebody told me that I was doing everything right, that it made more sense and was a good idea to stay put.
A little while later, maybe an hour, the lights came back on. I'm praying and hoping that they continue to stay on, and glad that the snow bit of this weather is over. Temperatures are dropping very low over the next couple of days, making me look forward to that promised high of 28 towards the end of this week.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.......
Until Tuesday. Tuesday has to be nice so the little redhead can go back to school. :)) Last night it snowed about 5 inches, and we're expecting quite a bit more on Sunday with some daggum cold temperatures. One of my nephews decided to stay the night with us at my mom and dad's last night. It was kind of a last minute decision, and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Roo is used to such strict bedtime schedule, that she's rarely up past 8, and I think he thought they were going to stay up late chasing each other & watching movies. I was so afraid he was going to be disappointed.
I really had to watch how I worded things with Roo, and head off any innocent errors that could have led to a meltdown. We didn't "go to bed," we "snuggled and read books" because "going to bed" is something that's done at home. It's a process that could in no way be something done at grandma's house, and Thank God the "snuggling and reading books" thing worked. And even though the tank running on empty is what put us out there, it was pretty awesome in the long run. After all the kiddos were finally in bed, I chatted with my momma for a long time and enjoyed the adult company. When we got up the next morning, Roo kept on spontaneously hugging me. Out of no where. Like, "Thanks, Mom, this is so much fun!" and that was really great, too. The kids played and had fun most of the morning and the roads were clear enough by 1 pm to take him home and run some errands.
My first thought when we ran out of propane on the first day of the new year was "Oh great, this is a awesome indicator of how this year is going to go," but later I realized that maybe it was more of a indicator of how good things are becoming and that, yes, there will be bumps along the way, but everything is going to be okay. Think about it.. We had space heaters, we had some place to go and a vehicle to get us there, and we were able to afford much more gas this time around and still have money left for food and other things afterwords. We are truly, so very, very blessed. <3
I really had to watch how I worded things with Roo, and head off any innocent errors that could have led to a meltdown. We didn't "go to bed," we "snuggled and read books" because "going to bed" is something that's done at home. It's a process that could in no way be something done at grandma's house, and Thank God the "snuggling and reading books" thing worked. And even though the tank running on empty is what put us out there, it was pretty awesome in the long run. After all the kiddos were finally in bed, I chatted with my momma for a long time and enjoyed the adult company. When we got up the next morning, Roo kept on spontaneously hugging me. Out of no where. Like, "Thanks, Mom, this is so much fun!" and that was really great, too. The kids played and had fun most of the morning and the roads were clear enough by 1 pm to take him home and run some errands.
My first thought when we ran out of propane on the first day of the new year was "Oh great, this is a awesome indicator of how this year is going to go," but later I realized that maybe it was more of a indicator of how good things are becoming and that, yes, there will be bumps along the way, but everything is going to be okay. Think about it.. We had space heaters, we had some place to go and a vehicle to get us there, and we were able to afford much more gas this time around and still have money left for food and other things afterwords. We are truly, so very, very blessed. <3
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