What a crazy winter this has been.
I can't even remember when the kids have had school and when they haven't, I don't remember when the power was out or when it was supposed to be out, and I can't remember what flippin' month it even is! Just kidding, I know it's February.
Usually I adore February, with all the birthdays (mine, two of my kids, a niece, hopefully my soon-to-be-new niece), Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day (okay, I just like the day off the kids have), and it's all full of love and gifts and surprises and yay!
But this winter has been brutal! It's making February feel less awesome. But I will not give into the sadness!
It's gorgeous today. The sun is shining brightly on my face and the snow is shimmering like diamonds. Wet diamonds. Wet diamonds that are melting. Wet diamonds that are melting into water that then rushes headlong into... whatever. And it's lovely.
Here's a rundown of the last few days or so:
Friday (Vday):
*Kids had no school.
*I helped serve dozens of missionaries lunch at a zone conference thingy. I met several missionaries and I was able to, in the course of dishing up their chilli, find missionaries from my hometown, and other connections, too. So cool!
*On the way to the missionary lunch, I got stuck in my driveway, I stopped at a stop sign and all of the snow on top of my van fell onto my windshield; I had to throw on my hazard lights and get out to scrape it off. Then I came to a place where people were stopping and waiting and taking turns to drive around a large branch that had fallen in the road. As I approached it, I thought, "You morons!" and I parked the van, turned on the hazards, got out, picked up the stinking branch, and threw it to the side of the road. Was I seriously the only person who thought to do this!? Crazy people!
*Friday night, Brandon and I had a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant, came home to watch some Dr. Who, and then promptly fell asleep. Nothing says romance than falling asleep while watching Dr. Who together!
Saturday:
*I hosted two birthday parties for the kids.
#4 had a party with 6 boys from school/church. Brandon got them some paper minecraft shape things (like paper dolls. But minecraft) and we had a pinata and pizza. 90 minutes of fun!
#2 had a Studio C party that included watching Studio C sketches and then playing all kinds of improv and other party games. Cupcakes, candy, and FUN!
*That night, Brandon had to drive some Young Men to a Valentine's dance in Delaware, and I stayed home with the kids to clean up and sigh with relief at the conclusion of the parties.
Sunday:
*I taught Relief Society! I was a sub, but it was a lot of fun. It was a tough subject, because it was on family and marriage --and we have a lot of single women in our ward. I wanted to be sensitive to them, but still teach doctrine.
Just before my lesson, the RS president read the news release from the First Presidency about how Mormon ecclesiastical leaders cannot perform gay marriages, and how they cannot be performed in Mormon churches (or receptions, or ring ceremonies, or whatever).
I was then very, very nervous about my lesson.
But the Spirit was so strong throughout the lesson, the Spirit was there to teach truth, and even though there was some hard doctrine, I felt so much peace with what we discussed and with what was taught. There was one moment when I couldn't even begin to tell you what I said because what I was saying wasn't me. Does that make sense?
I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost! I'm so grateful for prophets! So grateful for eternal families!
*After church, we picked up one of our friend's from the train station in Philly --she was Brandon's classmate at Wharton, and she was in NYC for work and decided to pop on down to visit us. It was so fun! We brought her to our house for dinner and the evening and it was a wonderful to have her in our home. She's expecting her first child, so we talked about natural childbirth and #2 introduced her to Studio C (of course). Such a great time! I love all the friends we made during Brandon's MBA days. Friends for life.
Monday:
*#5 had preschool, even though it was a "holiday." The big kids stayed home and he went to preschool! I helped three other moms with the Valentine's Day party, too (we did it yesterday because they didn't have school on Vday due to snow). It was so much fun to be in his school --the kids are just adorable and so well behaved. And even thought I was wrong about the number of children (there were 12 and not 10) and thereby didn't have enough for the snacks, the other mothers helped me figure out how to stretch and it worked out just fine. But it was not the impression I had wanted to make when meeting these nice mothers. Sigh, sigh, and oh, well.
*The big kids (oldest 5) and Brandon went sledding in the afternoon and #6 helped me make hot chocolate from scratch while they were gone. We were hoping to go to Valley Forge, but the snow has closed down a lot of it, plus the fun things they had planned were in the morning and #5 had preschool, so...
*We fed the Sister Missionaries dinner, which is ALWAYS a great time!
Today:
*Went to an appointment with #2's gifted teacher, her regular teacher, and the principal to discuss her needs and the gifted program. It went very well.
*Called a psychiatrist and set up an appointment. Called a family doctor and set up an appointment. Huzzah for finally getting it done! Huzzah for the Health Advocate company that helped me find them! Huzzah for no more stress on that score!
How was your weekend? Any fun Valentine gifts or dates or whatever? Fun President's Day excitement?
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