Super Bowl Sunday

While we are Steelers fans in our house, living near Cincinnati means it's been a VERY fun few weeks in the area.  Unlike teams of years ago, the current Bengals seem to be decent human beings and they are fun to root for.  Cincinnati Public schools, and many other schools in the area have closed or at least delayed tomorrow.  Our public school district announced there would be NO delay here tomorrow.  And I'm pretty sure most people at the private school where I work, in spite of being so close to Cincinnati, don't even know much about tonight's game.

Thomas is choosing to stick with his Steeler's roots and is rooting against the Bengals.  I remember rooting for the Bengals in both super bowl appearances in the 1980's, neither of which ended in victory.  Andrew and I are enjoying the vibe of the area, and there is no way I couldn't like Joe Burrow.  I know so many Bengals fans (including most of my family) and I would be very happy for them if the Bengals could win.  Fun times around here (and an unexpected snow miracle would also be awesome)!

The last meet of high school swim

Tonight Thomas is in Cincinnati at his very last ever high school swim.  That means in just a few hours, high school swim will be a thing of the past in this house after eight season (first two were dive only).  Technically, we still have next week to fulfill additional responsibilities, but otherwise we are completely finished.  Another "last" in this house.  I'm so grateful for so many positives that came from swimming for all three of my kids!

Hard not to wish it was last week

I am so grateful that my schedule has adjusted such that I only work until 11:00 on Wednesdays.  Because of that, my extended weekend due to weather began even earlier.  I knew when I left work last Wednesday that I didn't need to work the next day and Friday seemed unlikely which would lead right into a four day weekend with virtually no commitments.  That is such an extremely rare event, and it's hard not to wish that it was this time last week!

Still the best decision I ever made

Today is our anniversary.  Both Andrew and I agree that choosing to spend our lives together was the best decision we ever made.  I am so grateful that I've had him to lean on all of these years.  I'm so incredibly lucky, and many days I don't feel as though I deserve him.

Unfortunately, he is working at a girls basketball game this evening.  He regrets that tremendously, but I completely understand.  Sometimes jobs happen when we'd rather be doing other things, but we are responsible human beings.  It's absolutely okay.  We'll spend some time together this evening, and then hope for a dinner this weekend.

It's been a rough afternoon.  There is a situation at work that may have been from some misinformation, but could literally cost our school tens of thousands of dollars.  Even though it has nothing to do with me,  it makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it.  I came home from work feeling that way, only to be greeted by Thomas who is nearly in tears.  He is very concerned that he won't be able to perform well in the auditions he has coming up for universities, and therefore is afraid he won't be able to get into the music ed programs.  While I understand that music teachers need to be able to play instruments, he isn't interested in performing so this seems ridiculous the level of music performance required.  He is hurting, and of course, I hurt with him.  And then shortly after having that tough conversation with him, I learned that the father of a high school friend has entered hospice care and they expect it to be just a matter of days.  My heart is so completely broken for them.  It was a very tough afternoon.

I know though, that with the exception of the passing of my friend's father, everything else we can work through.  Everything else is going to be okay in the long run.  We'll get through these things, and especially on my anniversary, I am reminded that we will get through them together.

We truly needed this weekend

This weekend has been absolutely wonderful.  Even before the storm, we didn't have many plans for the entire weekend except for a short work shift for Thomas this afternoon.  Adding in two full days of almost complete nothingness, and especially the fact that we knew so early on Wednesday, and it was almost perfect.  We truly, truly needed this time.  I think that would be true for almost everyone in education.  We needed this surprise gift.  The fact that Catherine's work shut down Thursday and she didn't work made it even more incredible.  Although it meant two days without pay, I am so, so grateful for the trade off!

Freezing rain, sleet, snow

This winter storm has had it all!  We had a longer stretch of freezing rain than originally predicted, and our power went out at 6AM.  Fortunately, it was only out for 1/2 hour, and we generally were able to sleep through it.  By the time we were up, it had just started to transition to the sleet.  We had about six hours of sleet, and then it turned over to heavy snow.  The winds picked up also, and it's pretty rough out there.  I had gone out while it was sleeting in order to make sure we could get into the cars.  It was only going to get colder and deeper.  I could get into three of the four vehicles, and we don't need to worry about getting into Thomas's car.

Catherine is here because she is supposed to work tonight and tomorrow.  I'm not sure we are going to be able to get here there, and I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be able to get her home. Her best friend lives right around the corner from her work, and I know they'll put her up if we get desperate.  Many restaurants are closed, and I'm surprised (and a little disappointed) that she still needs to go in.  It would be a perfect evening to just have a family game or movie tonight.  Schools are already closed for tomorrow!

Winter weather coming

We've been closely watching the weather all week.  At one point it looked as though our area was going to receive a crippling amount of ice.  Another time it seemed as though we were going to get over a foot of snow.  With less than 12 hours until the "event" begins, we are looking at a little less than 0.25" ice, and about 6" of snow.  It's supposed to last for about 30 hours.  The public schools closed for tomorrow at 10am.  That is absolutely delightful.  We will be closed also, although the official announcement didn't come until this afternoon.  Catherine is supposed to work this weekend.  Her classes have gone virtual for the rest of the week, so she should be here by 5:00.  We are cautiously optimistic we might be able to get her to work tomorrow evening.  My vehicle as all-wheel drive, so that's our best best. We'll just see how it goes.

I am super excited that it is supposed to snow all day tomorrow.  It sounds like it will be lovely to watch!!