Two Day Streak!

Good morning! So far, so good! Here’s to hoping for a good one until the end.

It has been rather chilly here as of late with the exception of Sunday when we got up to the low-mid 40’s. Yesterday morning about 9:00 it was 29° and was supposed to only get colder. I think that was pretty accurate. Snow was not in the forecast, however, and we had a little flurry about 1:00 in the afternoon. That didn’t last too long; I think it was too cold. In the next ten days the highest temperature we can expect according to weather.com is 31° with the lowest low of -9°. Today, when the expected high is 17°, we are supposed to also have a 60% chance of snow showers. How on earth is this possible? I know—it’s because New England is special like that. I think I’m going to start tracking temperatures for other areas (and humidity) and see how this special place compares to other special places. I’ll keep you updated.

Our Christmas present attempting to give Cedric a big one! I was going to get some birthday pictures for Cedric and Amena but none of them really are all that great. I might take a more critical look tomorrow and have some for you or you might be stuck with more from Christmas.
 

Yesterday Laura, Seth, Joseph and I went to Leominster. Laura needed a pair of real snow boots and wanted to look at patterns and maybe fabric. The pattern selection for what she wanted was awful. The fabric selection for what she wanted was even worse. I don’t know what’s happened to Joann’s in the last six months but it isn’t good. The pattern I know we can work with. The fabric selection I’m not hopeful for.

Yesterday, since the chimney didn’t get closed the night before, we had a couple of burns in the morning before we left to go to Leominster. That helped immensely and made it easier to start the fire up again for the three we did in the afternoon/evening. Today I’m not sure what we’ll do but I sure do get tired of being so cold all day long and with such lovely cold ones outside, it’s hard to keep inside very warm. Right now the bricks are still warm and the inside temperature is 57°. I can handle that although 60° would be really nice. Much  better than yesterday morning which said 54° but felt much colder.

Laura stuck around to take Seth to scouts because I was going to the Round Table in Lancaster. I may not interact with people much there (too many people that I’m beginning to recognize but don’t really know yet), but I can certainly see the value of going. They’ve got all the current information, they’ve got good ideas, and they’ve got a very good appreciation for Star Wars. You really can’t ask for much more. I’m not sure how scouts went for Seth because I didn’t get home until after 9:00.

Once Laura came over yesterday, I went out to do my 2 miles and, like two days before, I was dripping when I got back. Saturday I didn’t really want to go out because it was so cold. But I did. And I’d already decided to go up Birches all the way, down (or up, I’m not sure which) New Templeton, across Cross, and down (this is down because it’s all downhill from there) Ragged Hill to the middle of Birches and home. It was something like 3.77 miles and I was really dripping after that. When I went to put my mittens on later to go to church, they were still very damp and cold on the inside.

This morning we are still doing well. Amena did not miss the bus although the driveway is so icy in spots she almost did. Cedric is up and ready. Seth and Joseph are still abed as is Paul. I had a hard time getting to and staying asleep last night. My feet were cold and my nose was cold. I’m thinking if my feet are that cold again when I go to bed, I’ll heat a rice pack up for them. My nose I can just keep under covers. The reason my feet were cold is because I was wearing shoes yesterday. Always happens. I should have known better.

Today we should have a fairly low key day. Just scout stuff to work on, a walk to go on, recess, Legos, and tonight at 7:00 a scout leader meeting.

I have signed up for a LOT of doula shifts the rest of this month. They are all night shifts and the reason I did it is threefold. One, women who go in in the middle of the night are usually serious. Not always, but often. Second, I much prefer working with women who are not being induced and if they go in in the middle of the night, they aren’t being induced. They might get some Pitocin augmentation, but they aren’t induced. There is no way a doctor is going to schedule an induction for 1:00 am. Third, Laura is here this month and if I need her to come over to keep an eye on the boys and help them with their work, she can. So, win, win. And in the meantime, I helped make a nurse supervisor very happy.

And now I think I am going to go. There is much to be done and I’m ready to get on with doing it. Have a wonderfully splendiferous day! And stay sufficiently warm.