Winter

This winter is kicking my ass. There is no other way to put it. Usually I can get through the 3 (or 4 or 5!) months that really constitute the winter season but this year has been an exception, I think for everyone. That ice storm threw everything and everyone in the area for a complete and total loop, making every snowflake, every droplet of ice, every SCHOOL CANCELLATION that much more dramatic. Its like we all are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and just can't take any more. We have the inability to put up with even one more storm. Usually by mid-January if y0u hear of a nice snowstorm coming you say to your friends and neighbors things like, "looks like we might get a good one, I love snow days and being home with the kids for a day in our jammies, drinking hot chocolate and playing games." I've been known to utter these words "I love when it snows, it covers up everything else in the yard and makes everything so beautiful." BUT NOT THIS YEAR. This morning the mini-van got stuck in the side of the yard (I've been parking there, next to the trailer, so that we can keep the driveway clear for the contractor). I kept trying and trying to break it free, rocking back and forth like you are supposed to while the tires smoked and screeched, but to no avail. I was completely stuck, while the kids stared at me and Jack said encouraging things like "yay, guess I can't go to school if we are stuck, whoopee!" The thing is, perhaps if this had been another winter I might have brought us all back into the house, called the day a mental health day and had another cup of coffee. But NOT THIS WINTER. These children are not missing one more day of school and if I had to carry them there on my back they were going. In the end Dennis came out and tried, also to no avail. He had to tie us up to the Subaru and pull us out. The good old Subaru. Always trusty and true in the snow. I must admit that my mini-van has lost some of its sparkle with its disappointing performance this winter, but I still love it. Maybe it just needs some new tires. Maybe the weight of all of the dirt and mud caked onto it is slowing it down.

So winter is kicking my ass, but at least I have an escape. That's right people, I leave at 3 am tonight (tomorrow morning?) for the airport. We are OFF like a prom dress (well, not my prom dress mom & dad) to St. Thomas for our fabulous vacation, a second honeymoon if you will. First I have to get through today though. It cracks me up, Dennis gives me this "gift" for Christmas. He went to a travel agent, handed over our "emergency" credit card and "SURPRISE HONEY" look what I did. OK, OK, I will admit that at first I was not too happy, but then I started to look forward to it and am actually craving my feet not being freezing, my breath not catching in my chest when I step outside. First though I had to arrange full-time child care for Jack and Abbey (this involves an Excel spreadsheet stuck on the fridge). Then print out a list of emergency numbers, figure out how we were going to get to the airport, home from the airport, pack our summer clothes, clean the trailer, do laundry, grocery shop so that kids and caregivers alike would have food, set up who is taking Jack to Cub Scouts Thursday, write directions to Abbey's gymnastics place and then call and confirm with everyone involved 3 times that we all knew the "plan". Oh, and also go to the bank, get money for the trip (tips and so forth), play phone tag with the insurance adjuster, finally get money from the insurance company, write a check for the contractor, pick out new carpets & flooring, get new light fixtures, . . . . . . . oh wait, my head just flew off. Geez, this is a really relaxing present he got me so far.

The kids seem thrilled we are leaving, which I must admit is a little disheartening. It's not like I want them wailing and crying, but maybe a small "oh, I'll miss you" might be nice. Last night they were doing this little dance of joy thing together at the fact that we were going away. I suppose it sounds exciting to them, all of these different people watching them, probably not making them go to bed or eat their vegetables, but I'm sure after 2 or 3 days that will get old. Luckily that is just about the time the weekend hits, Uncle Matt & Aunty Caitlen arrive and the 24 hour video game craft making game playing story reading smorgasbord begins. I just hope that they brush their teeth while I'm gone, at least 3 or 4 times. OK, at least once.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone, it's supposed to be about 7 degrees Friday. Hee hee . . . . .

Warning: Extreme Tempature Changes Ahead

Don't you love New England? Last Friday night it was 60 degrees, I remember I had a sweatshirt on. When we woke up Saturday it was 90, and it stayed that way until today. Finally, the heat wave has broken, but is it good for you body to go from such extremes? A more important question, is it good for your marriage?

In our house we always have a "battle of the thermostat" in the winter and a "battle of the air conditioner" in the summer. All winter long I keep sneaking the heat up, while my husband plummets it to temperatures appropriate for Eskimos. Sure, when we are asleep you can turn the heat down, but to under 60! The kids kick their blankets off all night and I spend half the night checking on them to make sure their lips aren't blue. It's the same thing with the air. The last few nights we have all slept in our bedroom, the only one with air. The kids are all set up on their blow-up beds on the floor and it is like a giant family slumber party. Woo hoo, party on. But in a small bedroom with the door closed and the air cranked it can get pretty downright chilly. I kept getting up and turning it to low, putting the kids fleece blankets back up over their cold bare arms, and my husband kept getting up and putting it back to high. He lays there under NO covers in his underwear and it still not cool enough? What kind of internal heater does this man have? Don't get me wrong, I prefer it to sweltering heat. When I was little I was in the hottest bedroom in the house (mom, you know it's true!) without a speck of air. Sweltering and sweating, tossing and turning in my daybed, certain I had a good case for child endangerment.

But I wonder, if divorce papers had the following option to check: __ severe incompatibility on household temperature control . . . would a lot of people check it?