The weather forecasters were predicting the storm of the century, the city of St. Louis crippled for a few days, feet of snow falling after freezing rain.... Yeah right. It was a bad storm, and there has been damage north and west of us; there is power out in some towns here in Illinois. But for us, we got about 1/2 inch of ice, about 3 inches of sleet, and so far, 2 days of school being closed. Now we do have cold coming in--it hasn't been below zero here since at least 1996, and all of the schools around us are closed again tomorrow (because the roads are still icy, we haven't had any plows or sand trucks through our addition, and of course, the cold tomorrow). In some regards I want the kids to go to school, but on the other hand I am fine with them home too.
Today was a rough day. Eric got frustrated with the kids for their lack of contribution to chores around here, and he blew up at them, which resulted in finger-pointing as to who has (or hasn't) done what. Lots of yelling back and forth among our more volatile family members. I took cover in my room with the door shut, after trying a couple of times to intervene (and getting yelled at in the process), so I stayed out of it. Rei helped to an assortment of chores (as much to stay out of the way as to stay in good graces), and Patrick slept through much of it. Eric didn't get much of a nap in before he had to get up for work, and then he left early to be sure the icy roads wouldn't hold him up or make him late. Had to laugh when he called me to say he left his uniform shirt here at home (put his fleece coat on over his bullet-proof vest) and left his cell phone too. Brie graciously ran both to him at work for him while I kept Skye by me. In some regards I am glad she did it and not me--I don't necessarily trust my van on ice, despite the newer tires on it.
We have been enjoying our bird feeder in the back yard, and the suet trap thingy. We have two pairs of woodpeckers that are eating the suet--two larger red-headed woodpeckers, and two smaller ones. We have also had cardinals out there, which I really enjoy, along with lots of little birds of various sorts. Po has taken to guarding the tree when he is outside, and he doesn't necessarily appreciate the birds like we do. Leina could care less.
Skye is working really hard to try and crawl. Today I had to just laugh watching her, cuz she can get her knees under her and her butt up in the air, but her tummy remains firmly on the ground and her hands aren't sure yet what to do. When she is laying flat she does the army crawl, without going anywhere, and when she is on her back she not only rolls over, she also digs her heels in and scoots a little. We never find her in the morning where we put her to bed the night before in her crib. We started feeding her rice cereal on Monday. I made it up and fed her the first time of it because Brie wasn't sure how to do it. It was fun and she did well. Yesterday she didn't eat as well for Brie, and we didn't give her any today. We are taking it slow with her.
I feel like I am starting to catch up on a few things. I have my assignment done for today and I am prepared for Saturday's assignment too. I have to help Eric with some research and stuff for his online class, which I hope to deal with tomorrow. It is a social psychology class, and I am familiar with most of the concepts being taught. He actually had classes cancelled for last night, which was amazing! I can't remember when he was last home on a Tuesday night! He will be missing Thursday night's class because of work though, which kinda sucks, but can't be helped when he is working nights.
Brie is having a bad day with electronics today. She threw her phone and now the screen is broken. She called in to warranty it out and they said her new one would be here either Friday or Monday. She is going crazy without a phone, but she's the one who threw it. Then her laptop is messed up too. It seems like the geek squad never fully repaired it last time she had it in, and she didn't take it back like we suggested repeatedly when she complained about it being broken. Now she has a virus on it that won't let her access her add/remove program files, or her antivirus files, and is basically a heavy paperweight. She has my broken laptop in her room now to do her math homework on for tommorw night's class for her; I told her I wanted to get ready and call it a night soon. I am weary!
There is a part of me that feels guilty tonight that I made it a fend for yourself night for dinner. I started my homework assignment early this afternoon, but when the loud discussions began I couldn't concentrate on anything. Then, Eric was napping, so I worked on finishing the dishes. I went to return to my studies after Eric left, but then he called and needed his stuff, so I ended up babysitting along with doing my assignment. Dinner was near the bottom of my list as I really prefer not to be posting my assignments close to midnight (the deadline). Anyhow, I didn't cook. I made everyone fend for themselves, which they started asking about at around 9:30 p.m. Now Patrick just stopped by my room to say he's headed out for the night--to go hang with friends, at 10:30 at night! Apparently this one friend doesn't work OR go to school, he just lives at home, and his girlfriend does go to school, but whatever... I don't get it. When I was his age I did go out a lot, but rarely was I leaving at 10 pm or later to go out. I must be getting old!
If there is school tomorrow they kids are going to be under special precautions because there was a bomb threat written on one of the walls that said the school was going to be blown up on the 2nd (today). No school due to the weather, so it was (apparently) a non-issue, but tomorrow the kids have been told no electronics of any sort, no backpacks, no instruments, and everything is going to be gone through with a fine tooth comb to gain entry. And it's going to be bitterly cold with below zero wind chills. Fun! The school will be on lockdown all day as well.
I am getting really drowsy, and I still need to call my spouse before I go to bed, so I guess that's it for now. Aurora and the girls bowling team have sectionals on Saturday and we are (I think) planning to be there to cheer for her. It's near Carbondale, so it'll be a drive of sorts, but we have to support our kid! Keep your fingers crossed for them!
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