A boring post about the weather
by Rebecca on 2011-02-14
Even if this post is boring, the weather certainly was not! We had sub-freezing temperatures for four consecutive days and even a nice little snowfall at the tail end to brighten our lives. And then the very next day, the temperature got up to 65 and all was right with the world again. (Aside to you who live anywhere colder which is pretty much anywhere in the US, except maybe Reno: I will remind you that you have heaters and clothes designed for freezing weather, whereas we Texans function best with flip flops and air conditioners. Our poor heater didnʼt know what to do!)
This stay at home mom had to be kind of creative in staving off cabin fever, and turns out, Iʼm not that creative. We read a bunch of books, waited patiently through a series of government-mandated power outages, did some baking, had a morning at the “spa,” and built a fort.
Books: always a hit with Emily. New favorites include Hippos Go Berserk and Yummy Yucky.
Blackouts: Took me completely by surprise and made for an unpredictable morning, i.e. “Do I dare get in the shower and try to dry my hair before the next outage hits?”
Baking: Tried a new granola recipe, which just wasnʼt as good as my mother-in-lawʼs. Iʼll never doubt you again, Ellen!
Spa: I put Emilyʼs hair in a ponytail that lasted long enough for William to see it, and I painted one handʼs worth of fingernails before she scurried off. So much for that good idea.
Fort: Emily wasnʼt quite as taken with the fort as Iʼd hoped. Isnʼt a fort just a huge blanket draped over a bunch of chairs to make a hiding place from Mom? Emily actually had more fun collapsing the fort, so perhaps she has a future in demolitions.
Anyway, here are some pictures from that week.
Couple of things here: See the outfit? It was so cold in our house that I had her in a long shirt, pants, socks, PJʼs and her hoodie all day. Also, see the graffiti on her “house”? We did a lot of coloring while we were house bound. As William said so wittily, “Emilyʼs house is in the bad part of town.”
Hereʼs my attempt at a ponytail. So sassy looking! Her hair is just so soft that it doesnʼt stay put. Any tips?
Best bed hair ever. Sheʼs ready to walk down a runway with that do!
Taking her first tentative steps out into the snow. It was like 15 degrees out there, and as you can see, we donʼt have good clothes for playing in snow. (Chelsea called it “ghetto snow gear” for her kids, and thatʼs exactly what we have.)
Just looking at these pictures makes me cold again. Brrr!
So, the ending of this story is kind of happy. After it warmed up again, we had a weatherization company come out to do some weatherproofing on our house. They were here for about 3 hours and sealed up all kinds of leaks, etc. The next day, the temperatures plunged again, but somehow it didnʼt feel quite as cold to me, so I consider it a good investment. (As I write this, the forecast shows a high of 70 for this week, and Iʼm perfectly fine with that.)