Last night, after the kids went to bed, we received an automated phone call from the school district: "Due to weather, school will be closed tomorrow, January 6th." I told Twirler about this when her little sister woke her up at 3 a.m., so she'd feel free to sleep in after having Princess yell at her in the middle of the night.
What did I hear after the sun came up this morning? "I can't believe they cancelled school! It's not even snowing! I am so mad!" She's been stomping around the house ever since. Twirler, like her mom, does not do well if she doesn't get enough sleep.
Shakespeare and Spot are perfectly happy with the snow day. They have been playing with their toys and eating me out of house and home.
Princess, on the other hand, obviously didn't get enough sleep last night. She's been whining, crying, and yelling all morning long. I wish there was some way to get that girl to take a nap, but she's very stubborn and will fight me on that issue. I can only hope that she'll go to bed on time tonight.
Starbuck spent most of the morning in my bed. I don't think she slept well last night. She crawled in beside me when Sweetie left for work, and a short time later, she was snoring away. I have to admit that I love snuggling with her! Princess was never interested in cuddling; even as a newborn baby, she didn't like to be held very often. Her little sister is a complete snuggle bug, and she climbs in bed with me every third night or so. I admit that I haven't done anything to discourage her from doing this. She's my last baby, and when she stops snuggling with me, I'm really going to miss the unconditional love she's sharing with me now.
A few nights ago, I found some thermal draperies at Target. After an hour or so of frustration, I discovered that I can't drill holes in the walls near the kids' windows. Whatever the builders used to surround those windows cannot be penetrated by my drill bits, much less the screws that came with the curtain rods. I ended up installing 3M's removable wreath hooks above the windows and resting the curtain rods on those. My solution may not look as elegant as the nice metal hooks that the rods came with, but it works quite well in keeping the curtains where they belong. It was definitely worth the effort and the expense. The boys' room used to be downright frigid at night, but it's a lot warmer now that their huge window is covered.
We're expecting another blizzard tonight. We still have a huge pile of snow in our front yard, as well as large drifts in the back yard, but we're due for another 6" of snow today. Following the snow will be arctic winds, bringing the wind chill values down as low as -40 degrees. "At these values...frostbite can occur in less than 10 minutes," according to the National Weather Service. Needless to say, we're not leaving the house after this afternoon. Sweetie is going to pick up some more food at the commissary on his way home, then we are sealing up the house and preparing for the worst. As long as our electricity stays on, we'll be okay.
Sweetie is due home from work soon. I'm going to let him watch the kids while I do homework and get some quilting finished. I wish I could go without sleep for a few days, just so I can catch up on the quilts I'm making for other people. It's really difficult to get time to use my quilting machine. If I'm lucky enough to get Princess and Starbuck to nap immediately after lunch, I only have (at most) three hours to use the longarm before the older kids get home from school. By the time dinner is over, and the kids are put in bed, I'm too tired to drag that heavy machine around for very long. It's frustrating, to say the least.
I will admit that I'm starting to enjoy my classes a little more now. I remember a lot more calculus than I expected, and I discovered that my Japanese history class covers the time period immediately following the setting of one of my favorite novels from high school. I have time to decide whether or not to continue before I'll owe tuition, so we'll see how I feel in a week or so.
Starbuck is asking for cookies. She is so incredibly spoiled! However, it is after lunch, and I usually allow the kids to have a snack in the early afternoon. I think I'll break out the cookie bag in a few minutes, after she stops begging me for cookies. I want to discourage the begging as much as I can. However, our weekend routine features resting time after snack time, so I'll have an excuse to have the kids go to their rooms and read quietly for a little while. That will give me a little bit of quiet time to work uninterrupted, if all goes well. Wish me luck!
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