Lazy Snow Day, My (Finger In the) Eye...

The following things were true and/or actually happened today:

--A solid 6 inches (or more?) of snow fell in Loudoun County VA, beginning at approximately 8:30 am.

--Weather.com had predicted a 7am snow start time.

--Weather.com is also predicting below-freezing temps until Saturday.

--I noticed the discrepancy and squeezed in a jog as the snow was beginning, but before it started sticking. GOLD STAR: SKERRIB

--My car had an appointment on account of the "Check Engine" light coming on over the weekend, so after my jog the Littler One and I took it into the shop.

--The government was also closed today, so the Cat Daddy was home.

--The Cat Daddy would've been home anyway because he has been sick.

--He was well enough to hunker down on the couch and hog the remote, and keep an eye on the crazies (sort of) while I attended to errands, but sick enough to make noises and need stuff and ask for comfort food for lunch.

--He was definitely too sick to drive. So Honda sent the Littler One and me home via shuttle while they hooked my car up to their fancy machinery and performed diagnoses and prognostications and whatnot.

--When all was said & done the bill sent a dagger through my heart, but my car was fixed in less than half a day. Normally I'd say it's better than a finger in the eye, but today I'm really re-considering that scenario. Like, if a finger to the eye is just for a split second and doesn't do any permanent damage or sight loss, I'm thinking I might take the pain of that over a dagger-bill for car repair. I mean, I once took a head-butt from a baby that left me squinty-eyed for an entire evening. It was truly disruptive, but the next day it was better, and it didn't cost me a thousand bucks. I could endure that. But maybe that's just me.

--I felt motivated to provide the kids with some mental stimulation, so I made His Highness do some of his regular homework and during that time I let the littles glue stuff to paper and draw with markers.  It occupied them for a solid 20 minutes, so I felt really good about that. Also, the glue and marker that missed the paper came up easily with a wet washcloth, so we were all winners at crafts and creativity today.

--Honda shut down their shuttle due to the snowfall so they couldn't come and get me to pick up my car, and the Cat Daddy was still too sick to drive. We were going to wait until tomorrow, but due to a series of plans (both usual and unusual), we decided I needed to pick it up today. Thankfully a neighbor was able to offer shuttle service, plus good conversation to boot. GOLD STAR: NEIGHBOR SHUTTLE SERVICE.

--The Littler One was in fine form today. My favorite highlight included his using his bunk bed ladder to get to some contraband by hanging it from my closet shelf (the wire kind). Meaning the bottom was off the ground. It is still a mystery to me how he managed the balance of it, but manage it he did--I imagine this is where weighing 35 lbs comes in handy--and I came in to find several things on my closet floor where they had previously been up on the shelf.  Second place was shoveling the back deck in full snow gear, except wearing shorts instead of pants.  Last place was injuring his sister--he's learning some hard lessons today.

--On the way home from picking up the car I decided to grab some things from the store as well as a movie from the Redbox, because why not. This was fortuitous planning on my part, as we have another snow day tomorrow due to predicted frigid temps.

--I arrived home to injury on the part of Tiny E. I'm still not entirely clear on the whole thing, but suffice to say that there was blood involved, and everyone is patched up and safe.  The Cat Daddy performed the initial triage, we conferred and decided that home care would suffice, and I took over with the first aid kit and Bactine. Also, Tiny E barely batted an eye and is therefore the champion of all things.

--You know what the Cat Daddy is also too sick for? That's right, cleaning up blood.  One challenge with small children is that sometimes they try to help by getting a Band-Aid for their sister when the wound is too big for a Band-Aid, so their sister follows them around dripping little droplets until they find their way to Daddy so he can do the triage (and call Mommy to urgently demand that she return home NOW).  And blood somehow always appears greater in quantity than it actually is, so Mommy is left hoping she got it all, lest visitors think the snow day involved some kind of household blood bath. On the upside, it came up well and properly, so I think I'd take that over the finger in the eye.

--One of tomorrow's unusual plans is having our new-to-us piano delivered. This involves meeting the seller at 8 am to finalize the sale and do whatever the piano movers need to help them get the piano out of her garage and into our house safe & sound.  Task number one (I assume) was getting the solid 6 inches (or more) of snow out of the driveway.

--You know what else the Cat Daddy is too sick for? That's right, shoveling snow.

--All the children got dressed and consumed three meals, and the Cat Daddy began eating solid foods again. The day's allotment of laundry was completed (though portions of the putting-away were deferred because ain't nobody got time for that in this house), and bathing happened for at least one child (the Cat Daddy is NOT too sick to handle baths, thank God).  Apple cider vinegar was administered in vapor form to two individuals for the clearing out of sinus and nasal passages, although one balked and chose a conventional steam bath instead.  The dishwasher was run twice, and the toys were left strewn about until tomorrow, for when everyone is yelling and bouncing off the walls, and Mom decides to lay down the hammer and make these children WORK, for heaven's sake.

--And somehow I managed to squeeze in the season premiere of Psych on the DVR. Or rather, I managed to squeeze in one and a half season premieres of Psych, as my children disrupted the first showing and I had to go back and replay about half of the episode to gain understanding of the story. Totally worth it.

--I'm uncertain as to the Cat Daddy's whereabouts tomorrow, but it is no secret that I'm very much looking forward to a return of our normal routine (please God, let there be school on Thursday).  And this is the time of year where I start to dream about escaping to the Caribbean. Someday, it will come true...