Unplanned Adventures

Lately it has felt like my stress level has decreased somewhat.  Maybe I'm getting used to the new normal.  It seems like I'm also sleeping a little better - more nights than not right now - which really helps.  Feeling less stressed and more rested was giving me some motivation to make up a to-do list on Friday evening.  So I sat in my relaxin' chair and wrote out a list of 6-7 jobs that I thought I could accomplish on Saturday.

Just as I finished my list and was looking forward to having a productive day, the phone rang.  Christy called to see if it would be ok if she and the kids came down on Saturday to hang out with us while Christian did some tree work for a neighbor of ours.  Since we hadn't seen them since January 1, I gladly said,  "Yes, come on down!"

I was able to get my grocery shopping done on Saturday morning before they got to our house.  Had to make sure there was plenty of food for the troops.   So what did we do all day? 

The kids did exercises with Andy.

They worked on our puzzle with us.  It's coming along.

It started snowing.  We kept ourselves busy.  I read to Claire, cozy together in my chair.

Then someone asked if s/he could take pictures with my camera.  After they left, I was entertained looking at what had been taken.  I won't tell you how many I deleted!

We had lunch together.  Then Christy decided to make some lunch for Christian and take him some water.  She and Andy drove over to take care of Christian but when they got back, they commented on how dangerous driving conditions had become.  Snow was accumulating and not melting because the temperature was so cold.  

By the time Christian finally finished his tree work and joined us, it was late afternoon.  In talking it over, they decided they couldn't drive home that day but would spend the night and drive home in the morning.  The weather forecast predicted warming during the night with the precipitation changing over to rain.  

We ordered pizza for dinner.  I called in the order two hours ahead asking for it to be delivered by 5:30.  By 6:00, the driver still hadn't arrived and we were all getting hungry.  Christian decided to shovel the walkway for the pizza guy.  While he was outside, the pizza deliverer arrived but couldn't find our driveway in all that snow and drove into our yard over a storm drain at the shoulder of the street and got stuck!  So as hungry as we all were, watching out the windows, waiting for the pizza man with growling tummies and salivating...well, we did eventually get our supper.  Another chapter in our adventure!

The family wasn't prepared for spending the night so they had to sleep in their clothes.  This was somewhat traumatic for little Claire, but she was finally ok with sleeping in one of my t-shirts.  The whole family slept in the upstairs attic room.  There's no heat up there, but we turned on two space heaters which did an adequate job.  There are two single beds and we put down five sleeping bags.  It was wall to wall people in that room.  Just another part of the adventure!

Sunday morning turned out as predicted:  the snow had changed to rain and the roads were clear.  Christian and Grace went out and cleared our driveway while Christy and I fed the kids and ourselves.

All too soon that adventure was over and they headed on home.  

Believe it or not after all that excitement, I still had a lot of energy left, so I worked on my to-do list.  Then Andy was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out, so we took a trip to Home Depot for light bulbs (I know - how exciting!), then stopped at Laurel Acres Park for a walk around the lake.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies, sun shining brightly and warmer temperatures - in the 40's!  I know that doesn't sound warm, but when you consider the last several weeks have been in the teens and twenties, 40 degrees sounds downright balmy.

  When I arrived at the office this morning, the office was all in disarray.  A frozen pipe had burst.  Apparently, an inch and a half of water had covered the floor before the cut off valve had been turned off.  Fortunately, someone had been there when it happened and was able to call in people to help move furniture, get out the shop vac, set up fans, etc.  Also fortunately, my computer, which sits on the floor, was not ruined and is working just fine.  

I guess we'll be doing some renovating in the office.

There's nothing like a little excitement to make life interesting.  Our life is not dull, that's for sure!