Sunday, January 26, 2014

Six Quick Snippets

1.  Snow Days.  We have had four already this month, and I have a sneaking suspicion we might have one or two more before the month is out! And here's the thing:  As a stay-at-home-mom, school days mean a little less crazy going on in the house.  The mornings and evening are nutty on school days, but that time between 8-3 is generally quieter and more peaceful, even if I'm just folding laundry and scrubbing toilets (blech).  And yet - I still get that excited flutter waiting to hear if school is called off.  Perhaps it is the fact that I spent 20+ years in school myself, plus teaching for a couple of years that causes me to still feel the thrill of seeing our school listed among the closed (or these days, it's getting a text and email!).  It's a complex thing, my emotional state.  Lots of kids home, loud, crazy and messy. . .but still - a SNOW DAY!

2.  Kitchen Aid Mixer.  If we're friends on Facebook, dear reader, then you already know my extreme euphoria over buying my new mixer.  I launched a two-question post on FB (that garnered more than a hundred responses) about which Kitchen Aid was the best, and what one uses the mixer for.  A day or two later, I have purchased online (with a Kohl's 30 percent off and Kohl's cash of course!) my new mixer.  I received it yesterday and have used it twice already.  I am in love.  It is a thing of beauty, so sleek and stylish, yet strong and utilitarian at the same time.  I foresee many baked goods in our future.  And also mucho weight gain.

3.  My son.  My dear youngest son, last night at bedtime:  I had just finished giving him his blessing and he said "Thanks, Mom."  For what, I asked.  "For taking care of me.  When I want juice, you give me juice.  When I want pancakes, you make me pancakes."  I hugged him close and he continued, "I basically wouldn't be alive with you and Dad taking care of me!"

4.  Downton Abbey.  My daughter and I love watching the story unfold together.  Our British soap, as my dad calls it (who also watches, I might add).  The characters, the sweeping landscape, the accents and the drama. . . delicious!

5.  I was in my hometown this week for a doctor's appt. for one of my children and I had the opportunity to drive down the street I grew up.  I drove slowly, taking in all the houses of people I once knew, the memories flooding back.  My old house doesn't look so good anymore, which makes me sorry.  My parents took such good care of it and it always looked nice - it is now shabbier and sadder looking.  But I pointed out all the rooms behind the front windows to the kids in the car and I could picture us all on the front porch or in the family room.  It has been several years since I had been down our street and I (who am quite prone to reminiscing anyway) really enjoyed remembering all the goodness of my childhood.  So many years ago, yet the memories were so close, so vivid.

6.  Sledding.  True confession:  I have been a parent for almost fourteen years, and I have NEVER, not ever, taken my kids sledding.  Nope, not once.  My dear husband has always taken them while I stayed home with whomever was the baby at the time.  Well, our "baby" is 4 1/2 now, and goes sledding too. . .and I still don't go.  I am not a fan (and by that I mean I HATE) of the cold, and my husband knows this, and always takes them.  He is there now, before the temps drop any further.  And I am sitting on the couch, under an afghan, with the laptop on my lap.

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