This last day of January sure held a lot of emotion

Today is the last day of January, and it always the day we celebrate becoming a family.  I will forever be grateful to have been a mother to my three kiddos.  For the first time, I'm not sure we will actually have an opportunity to celebrate it as a family, but that is probably okay.  My kids are adults, and looking to the future and starting their own families.  I miss having little ones, but I'm so grateful for the adults they are becoming.

I also learned this morning that a school mate had passed away after taking his own life.  Ryan and I met in second grade, and we were Mutt and Jeff according to many.  I'm just under 5', and he is over 6'.  We could fight like cats and dogs, but we were friends.  I hadn't seen him in over 20 years, but saw him again last February when we attended the funeral for another classmate.  His daughter went to college here in town, and I kept meaning to reach out to his parents (who I've seen many times over the years, sadly, mostly at the funeral home) to get his number so we could visit sometime when his family was in town.  I never did though, and now I can't.  I'm angry at him for taking this route, and I'm angry at myself that I didn't make more of an effort.  And I'm so heartbroken for the family and loved ones he left behind.

I'm very grateful today is Friday.  Sleep isn't coming easily tonight, and I'm glad I can sleep in tomorrow.

The "grands" came to visit

Thomas's girlfriend has three young nieces.  They are sweet girls, and we've enjoyed the few times we've seen them.  Earlier this week, Thomas asked if he and his girlfriend could come visit us this evening.  Of course we said yes!  Then he let us know that they would have the three girls.  Of course we are still happy to have all of them!  I told them Andrew had to work until late afternoon, and he said they'd come by as soon as they picked up the girls.  And then yesterday, he texted to let me know that they'd be here right after lunch.  This meant they'd be here for hours, and most of the time Andrew wouldn't be here.  Not exactly how I expected to spend my Saturday afternoon, but okay!

We had a few toys that we've kept over the years that are easy to pull out for young kids, and we did exactly that.  We also got out some books.  I had apples that could be cut up for snacks, and I love string cheese so there was plenty of that!  All-in-all, they were here for over three hours.  I think they wanted to stay for dinner, but the girls were starting to get a little fussy.  I couldn't blame them.  We decided to give the kids money for dinner and they were on their way.  I'll be honest, I was absolute exhausted.  As much as I enjoyed spending the day with them, I wasn't overly sad that they weren't involved in dinner.  Andrew and I decided to have a dinner out before the students return (tomorrow).  We hit the local Mexican restaurant, and kind of laughed at the irony that we were seated next to a large group which included some very loud children.

I look forward to they day when Andrew and I will actually have our own grandchildren, but I'm not in a rush.  My own kids need to grow up a little bit themselves. 😊

Cold doesn't really begin to describe it

On Sunday, the temps really began to plummet.  This morning when we did carline, it felt like -3.  By this afternoon at dismissal, it felt like -8.  It was brutal.  I couldn't get over the difference even in just a few degrees.  Tomorrow morning it is supposed to feel like -12, and I'm very grateful that we are on a two-hour delay.  By the time school begins at 11, it will be "better" at -8 (feel) again.  COLD.  The public schools were on a delay today and again tomorrow as well.  Even sitting in our house, it just feels cold.

I was especially jealous of the public schools this morning as last night was the OSU/ND National Title game.  I really thought I would be fine with whomever won, but that isn't really how I felt.  I was rooting, unapologetically, for Notre Dame.  I would root for Ohio State against literally ANY other opponent.  As it turned out, OSU won, and I just didn't feel like I could really enjoy it or be happy about it.

I was grateful for our extra day off this weekend.  I was able to get so much accomplished around the house.  I was able to really get some things organized and cleaned up.  It was very pleasant to come home today and enjoy my uncluttered house.

I'm tired and looking forward to extra sleep tonight!

It was a long week, but at least we also have a long weekend

This week has been something.  We had a classroom hit with a respiratory virus, and out of 20 people exposed, 17 showed some kind of symptoms.  This particular virus tends to hit adults harder than kids, and all three teachers were really sick.  Tuesday turned into a bit of a triage day as we sent six students home during the day, and we ended up having to close the classroom for both Wednesday and Thursday.  Because of the numbers, we contacted the county, and with an official "outbreak" we have to take rather severe mitigation measures throughout the school.  It was a bit exhausting.  Between the illnesses and the weather, I kind of feel like we have really hit the ground running in 2025.

Andrew is working at basketball this evening, so I'm enjoying the quiet and coziness in what seems to be the only room that is actually picked up in the house.  Our family room is a very small room, but both Andrew and I agree it is our favorite room in our house.  Everything about our house is small, and we are okay with that.  I had to work at our church Monday evening, and then I had church meetings Tuesday and Wednesday evening.  Tomorrow, I am meeting my mother and sister at my Grandmother's assisted living to finally celebrate Grandma's birthday, and Sunday I am the speaker at church for our Stewardship campaign.  I am so grateful that we get an extra day off on Monday.  I'm also very grateful that I really like my job!

The end of an early January weekend

Our weekend had some extra hours!  Thursday morning we found out that the public school was going to be closed on Friday due to incoming weather.  I knew there was no chance we would shut down for the entire day because the weather wasn't coming until the afternoon.  Our school doesn't have to worry about buses or things like that.  I was very pleased that we ended up doing an Noon dismissal.  Catherine decided to spend the weekend at her apartment so Andrew and I had a lovely Friday evening.  We received another 4" of snow on top of what was already here.

Another highlight of our Friday evening was the Ohio State victory over Texas.  The dagger was scoop and score by a defensive lineman.  It was a heck of a game!  I didn't think anything could top the Notre Dame victory from the night before, but I was wrong.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be watching an OSU/ND title game!  It's crazy!  It's exciting, and in some ways I can't lose, but I can't imagine rooting against either team.  What I'm really rooting for is some snow to fall overnight the night of the game so we can sleep in the next morning!

Yesterday, I shoveled our walk (again) and tried to get work done at church, but not all info had arrived yet.  I ran an errand, then came home and was delighted that I had no where else to be for the rest of the day!  I was able to get the trees completely undecorated and started to get things organized.  Our evening of watching the Steelers game did not go the way we wanted, but we had a really nice evening with a fire in the fireplace.

This morning we had church and then came home.  It was a fabulous afternoon to really get things put away and cleaned up.  We've watched football, although we don't really care about the games.  I know that I'm going to have a long week, but I appreciate that I've had a productive and yet relaxing weekend. 

The weather and car shopping

The winter storm that came through last weekend was definitely not overestimated!  We received about 9" of snow from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon.  There seemed to be some bursts where some areas received more than others, and we were one of those areas.  We spent hours shoveling ourselves out Monday afternoon.  None of us had to work those two days, although I was required (and did) work from home on Monday.

Tuesday things were clear enough that although there was no school, we were able to head to Thomas and go to an appointment with him.  His work had asked him if he could go into work after his appointment, and he agreed, but first it meant we had to dig his car out.  The neighborhood where he lives had not been touched by a plow or salt truck and it was another area that had received 9" of snow.  On our way home, Andrew and I decided it was our best chance to car shop, but first I need to explain how we got to that point.

Back in early September, my car wouldn't start one morning.  I was able to have Catherine take me to work as it was during the time she was working with me.  I realized something was amiss, at least a bit when it became evident that the interior lights were on, even though they weren't in the "on" position.  Things seemed to be fine though, until a couple of weeks later when the the car wouldn't start again.  This time Catherine wasn't here, and I went to my neighbors and begged for a ride to work (their youngest attends our school but goes in early for extended care).  That was the beginning of it starting to happen more frequently.  It got to the point that I couldn't even trickle charge it and it had to be jumped, and when we would jump it the vehicle would start honking and it was clearly quite a problem.  We finally got it jumped and started and drove it directly to the mechanic.  At first, they had trouble replicating the problem.  Once they were able to do so, they couldn't figure out what the problem was.  All-in-all, they ended up having my vehicle for seven weeks, and because the repair was electrical, it cost thousands of dollars.  Because we hoped to get another two years (at least) out of the vehicle, we agreed it was worth it.  I was thrilled to finally get my vehicle back the week before Thanksgiving.  Fortunately, with both Andrew and I working in town, and with Catherine around during the week, we were able to make things work each day.

You can imagine my irritation when, on the Sunday before Christmas, the vehicle wouldn't start as we were headed to church.  The situation was very similar to the way it went before, and we knew it was time to trade in the vehicle.  I had done some research, and we got a very fair deal.  I was able to get a 2022 black CR-V with low mileage.  Hopefully I will have this car for many, many years.  It's all been some chaos and a bit of stress, but I feel like things have worked out!

My grandmother turns 94 today

Today my grandmother turned 94.  I called her this evening and she sounded very chipper.  She said she'd had a cupcake, my sister has visited, and everyone made sure she knew it was her birthday.  Last spring we really didn't think she would still be here with us.  She made an incredible recovery and is doing well.  This weekend we are going to take a meal into her.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to celebrate her!

Andrew and I were both home today because of the weather, but we weren't actually home.  I'll write another post about the weather and our day soon!