Quarantine Journals - Snow week, energy crisis, holy moly, Part IV

Oliver had a rough day, Wednesday and Thursday. He was devastated that Richard was trying to work in the study, but he was also just unusually EXHAUSTED and took long, early naps both days without much fight.  Penny hasn't wanted to stay in bed by herself either.  Richard and I are effing exhausted, and it's easy to think that the kids didn't mind it all, but I think these are clear signs that it was stressful for them too.  We all need some grace and rest to recover.

Today, though, the kids were very upbeat and energetic.  They were playing well together and having a blast, back to their old shenanigans. After breakfast, we went outside to play in the snow before it all melted away.  It was already 32 and some of it had started to melt, which actually made for the PERFECT snow balls!  We spent half an hour or so making snowballs and putting them in bins, and then we had a big, family snowball fight. It was so much fun and the kids spent over an hour afterwards playing games in the snow.  Richard had gone back to work, but I watched them create their own little pretend world with Mario and Bowser and snow castles... until finally I dragged them inside after easily 2 hours in the snow. It was amazing how WARM 32 degrees felt after this week.

The kids spent the rest of the day playing while I did a little work.  They played video games together and then we all watched Wanda Vision while we ate dinner.  Oliver has been reading us bedtime stories before bed; he takes turns with Penny.

I'm exhausted and starting to feel the stress of all the things I need to do but haven't done, like filing this lawsuit and finishing this website.  There is always so much stuff on the list, and Richard and I are trying to spend more time together in the evenings which means less time for me to work.  It's always a balance that never feels balanced!

Anyway, that's the catch up.  There are still probably 60K people without power, lots of people without water or under boil notices... this is far from done.  But grocery stores are restocking and the snow will be all but gone tomorrow, I think.  Within a few days, we are scheduled to be back up to 70 degrees.  Just wild.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quarantine Journals - Plumbing Saga Continues

Image
I really want to try to go to bed at a decent hour, so I'm going to try and make this quick and snappy. The diggers came out and spent 8 to 5 digging the tunnel underneath the house. They told us that they would cover it to prevent the rain getting in, but they just threw a piece of plywood on top of it. The plywood isn't even as big as a whole, and I felt very angry that they didn't do what they said they were going to do by topping it. Also, no one ever sent me a picture, that picture that I saw was the one that Richard sent me when he went over to the house. We went back-and-forth about whether or not he would still go because it was so late when everybody finished digging, but it turns out they flipped the breaker in the front yard which meant that the freezer in the garage was off. So we had to go over there to turn everything back on, and he also got some more food and then brought over two Aerogardens and the tomato jars. Meanwhile, we had multiple conversations back...
Read more

Favorite things 2024

Okay, I'll give it my best shot! Favorite Treats for Both: Chocolate, Donuts, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, baklava, M&Ms Favorite Treats for Oliver: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Oreos, Hot chocolate Most candy, honestly Favorite Treats for Penny: Smarties, Skittles, Starbursts, Hershey chocolate bars, Kit Kats Favorite Calming Activities for Both: Sensory swing, fidgets, Legos, diamond painting (Oliver enjoys the stickers, Penny likes medium size projects), Kinetic Sand activities/kits Favorite Calming Activities for Penny: Slime (butter texture), Audiobooks, Baths, Dig Kits Favorite Calming Activities for Oliver: Slime (thick & glossy texture), Showers, Baths, and Water Play (sensitive skin so he doesn't do great with some bath products) Favorite Characters for Both: Pokemon Penny: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson Oliver: Super Mario, Spider-Man, Spidey & Friends Outdoor Activities for Both: Finding gemstones, exploring nature trails, exploring creeks, scooters, bik...
Read more

Quarantine Journals - A letter to the contractors, therapy vent

It has been a month since you told me this job was finished. A month of driving back and forth multiple times a week to review work only to find more errors. You told me you were done, and the fixtures hadn't even been installed.  Nothing had been cleaned—we couldn't even see the damage through the dirt. There was paint in the wrong finish, damage to my new mirror, a leak under the sink with standing water and water damaged paint in the vanities.  There were chipped tiles and damage to the grout on the floor in both bathrooms, and lines drawn in permanent marker on the floors.  There were multiple cracked and scratched tiles in the shower. The carpet had come loose in the hallway and the study.  The tile on the bathroom shelf had been redone 3 times and the grout was unusually dark.  The shut off valve did not work.  The bathroom door would not close.  The towel bar was falling out of the wall. And there were a slew of careless mistakes made with regards to painting and caulkin...
Read more