Skipping Town

Friday evening we went to dinner at the club as a break from our cobbled-together "cooking" from the week, and then Greta met a friend at school to see the Upper School play.  Saturday Lucia was gone all day--from 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.--for a track meet in Spirer, Ohio. She got a new PR for the mile--5:57!--and was exhausted but excited about her events. Greta went to Saturday crew practice in the morning, and Andrew and I went to the Oakmont Bakery after dropping her off. Afterward, we went to Panera for lunch then browsed in Anthropologie. Greta found a cute skirt sale-on-sale and Andrew bought a cute casserole dish, also sale-on-sale. I admired a swan tray that will, at some point, be mine. Later Greta and I watched an episode of Stranger Things.  I forgot to write earlier in the week that Greta won two awards for her short stories! Her teacher had encouraged her to submit two of her stories for the Scholastic Writing Awards, and this week she found out she was awarde...

The workers fixed the heat when the arrived on Tuesday. I guess I should say "fixed," because the only thing they had to do was TURN THE THERMOSTAT UP. They'd turned it down when they worked on Friday so dust wouldn't fly around everywhere. We had no idea the thermostat was still there. "Ha ha, I guess that was an easy fix, we had no idea," I blathered when I saw the guys on my way to the basement. They gave me withering looks (at least they did in my imagination). Tuesday the girls had a two-hour delay and their piano lessons were virtual. Wednesday they were back at school at regular time. It's still not easy getting around, and there are mountains of snow in front of our house, but the roads are somewhat / kind of cleared. Fun New Winter Twist: it's so cold outside that we now have drips of water coming down our chandelier in the stairwell. This, in addition to the drips of water near the window in our bathroom. There must be some kind of ice dam....

We are all excited about the snow. It's been too long since we've had a decent snowstorm, and we were happy to just stay home all day Sunday and Monday. The kids had remote school and Andrew and I worked from home. We played Blokus and Rummikub. Greta and I read some winter picture books in front of the fire in the Long Room. We watched This Is Us. Greta and I worked on a puzzle. The kids went sledding down Wightman on Sunday; on Monday they had a snowball fight in the backyard. Farrah loves bounding around in the snow. When we took her for a walk on Monday, Andrew ended up helping to push a stuck car out of the snow; three people had unwisely ventured out, trying to get to the airport. It took a few neighbors to push the car and dig them out, but they were successful. The only bad thing about these snowy days is that somehow the heat in the basement completely stopped working over the weekend. Saturday was chilly, but by Sunday it was absolutely freezing. Lucia had the good id...

The week flew by rather chaotically. With Andrew in Brazil I had to manage the crazy mornings of trying to get the car out of the driveway so the workers could park there, but also then arrange with the street crew who are tearing up the street right in front of our house, prohibiting parking on our block, then get the kids to school, then park again, then go to work.  There was also a winter storm to prepare for. We have a generator and lots of food, so I went out Thursday just to get some milk and jugs of water.  The insurance approval process continues with a denial of the appeal. Now it goes to a peer-to-peer stage where my doctor has to present evidence and argument to justify giving me this drug. From what I've read in the LGSOC group I belong to on Facebook, some doctors won't even go through this process. So I'm lucky that my care team is doing everything they can to make this happen, but it's still extremely frustrating and nerve-wracking. Andrew got home Frida...

It was so cold today that the kids' school switched to remote learning. Since this is the very beginning of the semester, there wasn't a lot of work to do, so after completing what they were assigned they spent the rest of the day sewing clothes (Greta) and bedazzling things while listening to a Percy Jackson audiobook (Lucia).  My sewing machine may be on its last legs--Greta was having all kinds of problems with it today--and when I looked back on old emails I realized I got it for my birthday from Mom and Dad in 2012. It's 14 years old! I got it that year because I wanted to sew a sleep sack for Lucia's baby doll, which, at 3, she carried everywhere. *sob* It may be time for an upgrade, especially if Greta wants to keep sewing. There were piano lessons and Lucia's tutoring in the evening, and then we heated up a few Trader Joe's meals and watched This Is Us. The house was quiet, a lull between electircal work and continued demo. 

Today was a day off for me and the kids. It was also the day the electricians were here to move an electrical box from the kitchen to the basement. This meant power to a large portion of the house would be shut off, and the entire basement kitchen would be emptied so the new box could go into the closet with the HVAC. Greta was valiantly trying to hand-sew since the sewing machine was not working, and I was trying to clean up my office in uncomfortable dimness. Once Lucia woke up, we decided to just leave the house. We started off with pastries and coffees at Paris Baguette in Shadyside, finding some seats by the front window, and hung out there for a while. After a quick browse at Kards Unlimited, we drove to Target, where the kids were struck by the weird cuteness (?) of mini Fuggler backpack charms. They are strange little plush creatures with realistic human teeth. I bought them each one since the day had the feeling of a snow day--cozy togetherness. Everyone was chatty and in a go...