OMG, so it snowed here last week, 5 inches, no problem really, we shoveled that, and then it started sleeting. Who cares, right, it's just sleet? Well, it turns out that when the temps are way below freezing, sleet actually accumulates like snow
Who the heck knew that? Not me, for sure
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| Gratuitous photo of my completed January socks |
But sleet is three times heavier than snow (another fun new fact for moi), so our 3-4 inches of sleet was the equivalent of shoveling 9-12 extra inches of snow, and there was one point on the second day when I thought, OMG, Larry and I are going to die out here, because not only do we shovel our front steps and our walk and the sidewalk fronting our townhouse, we have to shovel ALL THE WAY to where our cars are parked (3 times, we did this, THREE), and THEN we dig out our cars and THEN we shovel all the parts of the parking lot that the plow company claims the plow can't do.
Did I mention there was a lot of chopping involved because that top layer of sleet was just solid ice by Monday? By the end we were using garden spades to hack away at the ice, and the kids were building snow forts out of all the blocks of ice we were tossing to the side, and OMG my shoulder hurts and my wrist hurts and maybe we need to move.
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| Great snow fort material, though |
Larry and I each spent at least 3 hours both days shoveling, and then we would come in and eat cookies and potato chips and dip and let me tell you, those were just the right things to stock up on before a snowstorm. I never did get around to the cinnamon rolls, because I was too tired to knead dough on top of all the shoveling, so those will just have to wait until next time.
Silver lining: all this ice made for some magnificently dangerous sledding on the golf course behind our house -- Larry went down the hill with Olivia on our plastic toboggan and they looked just like one of those cartoons of Calvin and Hobbes on a sled, just flying away, so hey, I guess it was all worth it.
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| Snowman by a budding Picasso, apparently |
It has stayed cold (not complaining there, no mosquitoes are biting me when I walk outside), so the ice and snow still haven't melted, and maybe all the cold weather in the country has encouraged people to knit a red hat, because OMG we've raised more than $250K on this one $5 pattern alone.
I'm proud of my fellow knitters, is what I'm saying. I didn't own any red yarn myself, despite having an entire bedroom filled with yarn, so I had to make a trip to the yarn store Saturday for one skein of red yarn, which was less than $10, but somehow I managed to spend my entire $100 Christmas gift card from Larry while I was there. Yarn stores are weird that way.
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| Unexpectedly expensive $8 yarn, but hey |
Theo and his wife (blog name? Not yet? Okay, Cathy), who generally work remotely, were missing their childcare this week, so they came to my house for three of the days to work while I played with Olivia. I knew I had to be ready, so I pulled out the old toys I saved, prepped some activities and games (turns out I still remember how to make homemade playdough!), and lined up all the fun books. I was prepared, I'm telling you.
[Shoutout to this lady on Instagram, she's a genius, by the way, for amusing young kids with cheap, easy-to-set-up activities]
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| Color-sorting fun for the win - she loved this |
I mean, I thought I was prepared. But this past week has made me realize I've never hung out with "just" a two-year-old. By the time Theo was two, there was also Baby Anna and life was all about survival; after that, well, there were older kids running around to keep the little one amused while I did stuff. I have never, ever had to full-time amuse a two-year-old. Let me tell you, it is nonstop and tiring, OMG.
So, even with all the fun activities, I had to call in the cavalry (Rachel, the cavalry was Rachel) in the afternoons to take over while I held her baby Sissy. The cousins did somewhat interact, but mostly to pounce on the same toy at once and fight over the same square foot of floor space, which brought back lots of memories of my days/years spent raising kids, but really? I am finding it increasingly hard to believe that I was ever a mom. HOW DID I DO ALL THAT?
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| The one toy to rule them all, if your baby cousin is playing with it |
Old, that's how grandchildren make you feel, very very old. Also? Shoveling ice, that makes you feel old, too. In one week, I've managed to age about a decade, so I guess watch this space for more tips on how to feel prematurely decrepit, I'm an expert now.
