Yesterday afternoon was not a pretty sight at our house, as the children tested my patience time and again. When Keven came home, he took them to their rooms and away from me for a few precious minutes so I could recover myself (while folding the laundry and making our bed - I mean, I wasn't sitting on my butt while performing my recuperating mommy act). But this morning - despite how the girls woke me up THREE different times last night for various sleep emergencies - I'm feeling optimistic. My reasons:
Over night, we had the first appreciable snow of the season. It looks to be about three to four inches, so I think this will be a good day to get the girls acquainted with the wonders of snow pants. Now if only I was so suitably equipped for extended snow play.
I must say that this snow is different from that which I've been used to over the past... um... 22 years. When I lived in Northern Indiana, most of our snow was lake effect off of Lake Michigan. The snow is almost always thick, heavy and wet. The temperatures there, on occasion, can get very cold, but most of the snowfall takes place when the temps are closer to 32F. The same can be said for snow that falls on the regions of Ohio in which I lived. Columbus, Cincinnati... they are a bit more southern, and the snow is, most memorably, heavy and wet.
THIS MADISON SNOW... is certainly NOT lake effect (despite the lake I can practically see from my house). THIS MADISON SNOW... is certainly not the heavy, wet snow of more southern climes. The snow literally showered, which I witnessed overnight on each of the three occasions when the girls woke me up. It was (and is) powder-fine, sparkling, and bloody cold. It just keeps coming, slowly and so gently, but steadily accumulating more and more on the ground. And I'm seeing a pattern here. Snow on day one; wind on day two. Later today the winds are supposed to pick up and top 25mph (40kph).
Ok, I'm finished with my weather digression. (You can tell I'm new to the area because only new residents talk at length about the snow. Everyone else just kind of ignores it, like in Fargo.)
The second reason is that Keven got his monthly stipend payment today, and I was able (in about six minutes) to pay off all of our Christmas shopping bills. On the first of December. How cool is that? Not only is all of my shopping done, but it's paid for too!
The third reason I have to be optimistic is that Keven will be home after lunch. That means, while the girls are napping, he can hang out and look after them while I do our grocery shopping. The freedom of being able to do such a basic task - unencumbered by small things - is a freedom that, I believe, only other stay-at-home-mothers can really understand. I'm going to have a nice time, and I might even be able to sneak over to a toy store to pick out a few things for Ilsa's birthday (later this month).
And finally, I get to go out tonight with a Chinese friend of ours. She, too, is an MBA spouse, but she is also a statistics PhD candidate so her obligations (and time contraints) are different than mine. A Korean friend of hers recommended a film called OldBoy, which is playing at the union for free this evening. We rearranged some of Keven's obligations so that he'll be back from his late afternoon class in time to watch the girls for me. I'll post a review of the film tomorrow.
Now it's time to prepare for extended deep-sea diving. For those of you in the loop, I'll be sending pictures along later this evening.
Painting: Snowfall by Paul Kozal © 2005
Over night, we had the first appreciable snow of the season. It looks to be about three to four inches, so I think this will be a good day to get the girls acquainted with the wonders of snow pants. Now if only I was so suitably equipped for extended snow play.I must say that this snow is different from that which I've been used to over the past... um... 22 years. When I lived in Northern Indiana, most of our snow was lake effect off of Lake Michigan. The snow is almost always thick, heavy and wet. The temperatures there, on occasion, can get very cold, but most of the snowfall takes place when the temps are closer to 32F. The same can be said for snow that falls on the regions of Ohio in which I lived. Columbus, Cincinnati... they are a bit more southern, and the snow is, most memorably, heavy and wet.
THIS MADISON SNOW... is certainly NOT lake effect (despite the lake I can practically see from my house). THIS MADISON SNOW... is certainly not the heavy, wet snow of more southern climes. The snow literally showered, which I witnessed overnight on each of the three occasions when the girls woke me up. It was (and is) powder-fine, sparkling, and bloody cold. It just keeps coming, slowly and so gently, but steadily accumulating more and more on the ground. And I'm seeing a pattern here. Snow on day one; wind on day two. Later today the winds are supposed to pick up and top 25mph (40kph).
Ok, I'm finished with my weather digression. (You can tell I'm new to the area because only new residents talk at length about the snow. Everyone else just kind of ignores it, like in Fargo.)
The second reason is that Keven got his monthly stipend payment today, and I was able (in about six minutes) to pay off all of our Christmas shopping bills. On the first of December. How cool is that? Not only is all of my shopping done, but it's paid for too!
The third reason I have to be optimistic is that Keven will be home after lunch. That means, while the girls are napping, he can hang out and look after them while I do our grocery shopping. The freedom of being able to do such a basic task - unencumbered by small things - is a freedom that, I believe, only other stay-at-home-mothers can really understand. I'm going to have a nice time, and I might even be able to sneak over to a toy store to pick out a few things for Ilsa's birthday (later this month).
And finally, I get to go out tonight with a Chinese friend of ours. She, too, is an MBA spouse, but she is also a statistics PhD candidate so her obligations (and time contraints) are different than mine. A Korean friend of hers recommended a film called OldBoy, which is playing at the union for free this evening. We rearranged some of Keven's obligations so that he'll be back from his late afternoon class in time to watch the girls for me. I'll post a review of the film tomorrow.Now it's time to prepare for extended deep-sea diving. For those of you in the loop, I'll be sending pictures along later this evening.
Painting: Snowfall by Paul Kozal © 2005
1 comments:
I agree--grocery shopping alone can be a treat. No crackers or wipes or crazy placating songs.
Sounds like a great day! Payday is always nice. :)
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