Twenty years ago today I met my children

Twenty years ago today, I met my children.  As I explained recently, my children are an adopted sibling group.  We flew across the country twenty years ago today and were to spend five days getting to know my children and their routines and needs.  My children were adopted out of the foster care system, but were not in the same foster home.  Robert and Catherine were together, and Thomas was in a different home.  When we went to the house where Thomas was living, we had been told he didn't like men.  But as we left that day, Thomas reached out and wanted my husband to hold him.  I think he knew Andrew was his dad.  When we met Catherine and Thomas, Catherine stood at the top of the stairs and I'll never forget seeing this little girl yelling, "Mommy, Daddy" when we walked in the door.  It was an overwhelming few days, but the last two decades have been full of so many blessings!

It wasn't overstated!

This storm has been something!  It started snowing at about 5 or so last evening, and hasn't stopped.  I measured early this morning and we had over 9", then when I measured early this afternoon, it was nearly 11".  It slowed down for a bit, but is really coming down again.  The first school closing was mentioned about 9:40am, then our local public schools closed about 11.  My school closed about 12:30 this afternoon.  Given that temps are going to be in the teens with subzero lows (not to mention wind chills), we aren't terribly optimistic about Tuesday either, and we'll just have to see about anything beyond that.

I was finally able to start a puzzle.  It's a Christmas puzzle, but I don't care.  I've decided it's okay to have a bit of Christmas whenever I want!

It's going to be a monster

We've been waiting for the weekend all week, and it's finally here.  Woohoo!  And what a weekend it is going to be.  We are forecasted to receive a monster of a storm.  Most of the weather stations are calling for 8-12", but an online guy I follow is saying 9-15", and he said he may have to bump up the totals after the model runs tonight.  The temps are already brutal and they are going to become more so.  The university in town has already cancelled classes for Monday.  Churches have started cancelling for Sunday.  It is something!  As a snow lover, I'm pretty excited!

More changes

This weekend, Catherine officially moved in with her boyfriend.  If I am being 100% honest, I don't love cohabitation without an engagement, but I understand times are very different now and this is rather normal.  She went through an official application process and has been added to the lease.  Andrew and I are officially empty-nesters, and not just on certain days of the week!  I'm hoping to rearrange some furniture as well, so there are definitely going to be changes around here.  I'm also hoping that decluttering and pitching things is part of this process.  To be honest, it feels a little bit surreal.

Overall, Andrew and I enjoyed our weekend, but January is a tough month.  The church responsibilities are a little out of control, and there are so many this time of year.

On the upside, today the sun is shining (although it feels like negative temps with the windchills), and overall, I'm thankful for this life I am living!

A Monday at school

Today was a school day.  This isn't really notable, as most Mondays of the year are indeed school days!  In our case though, the last four Mondays we haven't had school.  Our Winter break had three Mondays off, and then the Monday before break was a snow day.  And even six weeks ago, it was a Monday where we were pretty sure we might have a snow day the next day.  I'm able to take some solace in the fact that next Monday is another off day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful that I'm able to work the schedule that I work and have days off.  I'm also very grateful that the second semester is much less stressful than the first one.  One might ask how I can judge this on only the fourth day of the semester, but by day three of last semester things were brewing, and on day four I spent nearly the entire day in meetings figuring things out.

I also worked on church things this evening, but I'm happy to report after three hours I was able to submit the final info needed before our annual meeting (my least favorite Sunday of the year).  It's nice to have these things handled.  Now maybe I can actually get Christmas put away and my house back together!

Lunch with Grandma

For the fourth year in a row, we brought pizza in for lunch with my grandmother.  This year, my sister asked me to see if my aunt wanted to join us, and she did!  It's really hard to go see Grandma alone, because she just really doesn't understand what is happening around her, she can't really carry on a conversation, and she doesn't have the TV on so it's either a monologue or awkward silence.  I'm sure my aunt appreciated having us all there and not having to make the visit alone.  I'm sure it's also really hard on my aunt to see her mother that way.  And the fact that my uncle is in failing health is also tough for Aunt Connie as well.  It was nice to have the afternoon all together, and my aunt and I had travel time to chat as well.  We are all aware that this is almost certainly Grandma's last birthday lunch, but it was a nice afternoon.

Relaxing on Friday evening

Today was a working Friday.  That is certainly not at all notable, except that the last three Fridays were not working Fridays.  The Friday before that was a 2-hour delay, and six weeks ago was the day after Thanksgiving.  So, in the last six Fridays, I only had to work a full day on ONE of them.

It was a good week at work.  We are starting this semester with great optimism that things will settle.  I'm not at all sad about that!  It would be nice to not feel the stress and emotions that we felt in the first semester.

I'm enjoying this Friday evening of relaxation.  Andrew brought dinner in for us.  One cat is asleep next to me, one cat is asleep next to Andrew, and Janey, our sweet new pup, is also asleep with Andrew.  Janey had quite a day today!  Andrew arrived home to find that she had completely chewed apart the bed that is in her crate.  Oh my, it was quite a sight!  Overall, we are so absolutely thrilled that Janey has joined our lives.  She has a lot of similarities to our precious Abby, but she is her own girl.  She keeps us laughing and brings us a lot of joy!  I've started taking down our Christmas, but it's quite a process.  Tomorrow is lunch to celebrate Grandma's birthday, and then hopefully I'll get some more Christmas put away.  

I'm grateful for this relatively quiet weekend!