Rutabaga Dreams

As you can probably tell from reading my recent blog posts, the weather here has been rather stormy and wintery the past week or so.  My husband and I have very different reactions to this display of winter’s might.

Matt:  Looking outside and seeing all this snow really makes me want to get out there and go camping.  I also have this urge to read mountaineering books.  Amber, can you check out Seven Years in Tibet from the library when you go today?

Amber:   Gee I’m glad I live in a real house type place with real windows and a good heating system.  Look at that snow fall.  Isn’t it lovely to look at through the window?  Hmm…  I think I’ll get another cup of tea.

Good thing we’re not one of those couples that feel we must do everything together!

I know, I know, I’m such a flatlander.  But look, isn’t it pretty!  All this has accumulated since about 7:30 this morning (the pics were taken at about 9:30)

The parking lot in front of the apartment.

Looking past the front door, up to the left.

I was supposed to have a midwife appointment at 3 p.m. today, but she just called and said that they’re heading home so they don’t get stuck.  I’m glad, because while I was fairly certain I could make it there (yay Subaru) I wasn’t sure that it was something I exactly wanted to do.

The view from the front door of our apartment

The view from our bedroom window upstairs

We get more snow in town than I expected!  We’re supposed to get a fair amount of snow around here today.  I doubt we’ll get more than an inch at most here, but it will probably be a couple inches up at the property.  That ~800 feet of elevation gain between the two locations makes a big difference!

I’m starting to feel like things are almost kind of normal-ish again, that the whole chaos of the last 8 months or so has settled somewhat and we can do things that other families do upon occasion.  On Saturday Matt’s mom took care of the kids for a couple hours so we could go to a lighting store (ok, so that’s not exactly normal, but hey - we were out by ourselves!) and then we even had lunch together.  That’s the first time we’ve been out without kiddos since…  um…  June?  May?  It has been quite awhile.

Afterwards Matt went off to work on the property and I tried to interest the kids in some activities that didn’t involve throwing things or making gigantic disasters so that I could update Quicken.  I was completely unsuccessful, so I decided to take advantage of the nice weather (blue skies, 50+ degrees, little wind - a lovely winter day around here) to take the kids to a little pocket park up the street.  They had a fantastic time going up the “rock” wall and down the slide (Gregory especially) and once Gregory started to slow down a bit I popped him back in the stroller and we walked a little further into the downtown area.  We visited a used book store (didn’t buy anything - I wasn’t all that impressed with selection or price) and a candy shop (where we did get a lollipop for Gregory and a raspberry chocolate truffle for Emma) then headed home.  Even though we’ve lived here over a month this is the first time we’ve ventured out like this - weather, colds, and busy-ness have kept us either inside or on the move.  I’m looking forward to doing more trips like this though, taking advantage of our closeness to downtown while we still have it!

Today we had a nice, leisurely breakfast as a family then went off to the 11 o’clock service.  Going to an 11 o’clock Mass has taken a little getting used to, but I rather like it now.  It slows the day down and I feel like it keeps the focus of the day more on family, rest, and worship than when we were going to the 8 o’clock service.  The Latin Chant Mass we have been attending has been growing in worshippers and the choir keeps getting better and better.  I’m very pleased with it, and I feel so blessed to be there every week.  It has continued to be a very beautiful and devout service.  After Mass we all had lunch together at home, then Matt went up to the property and I successfully distracted the kids enough that I could do some significant work on Quicken.  I’m caught up on all the important accounts, and with another hour or so of work I should be caught up everywhere.  It is such a relief!  I despise being behind on things like this - I very much like to have my paperwork in order and everything squared away at all times.

I suppose this all doesn’t sound like much (and reading it over I’m realizing that!) but really, the very normalcy of it all is what makes it seem so wonderful to me.  We have a place to live with a real kitchen, a good heat source, insulation, space for the kids to play and we even get to live here together!  We’re not in anyone’s way and we’re not cramped and crabby.  We have good food to eat, projects to work on, and time to work on them.  I sometimes feel like I’m cheating, somehow, by going for the apartment rather than trying to rough it in the trailer…  like I failed a test of perseverance and character somehow.  Other than that nagging feeling, things really are going pretty well these days.

I need to get some little boy dress up clothes.

What do you think?

At times we have to remind Emma that Gregory is not a doll and that he can choose what he’d like to wear (and do and say)…  causing Matt to remark that he’s rather glad he didn’t have an older sister.  As an older sister myself I don’t think we’re all that bad!

This morning Gregory and I got up at about the same time, but Emma stayed asleep.  This happens sometimes, but usually she hears us and follows us down in the next fifteen minutes or so.  This morning, Gregory and I had some breakfast, did some planning and playing and Emma still wasn’t down.  At about nine I sent Gregory upstairs to go wake her up, and while I heard him playing for awhile, I didn’t hear Emma’s voice at all.  At this point I was starting to get a little concerned, because it seems like it would be impossible to sleep through Gregory’s banging around.  I went upstairs at about 9:10, only to find Emma deeply immersed in James and the Giant Peach.  She had worked her way well into the book, and when I queried her as to whether she was reading it or looking at the pictures she answered me in a rather scoffing voice, “reading!”.

Yup, she’s definitely our child - but even still, I really don’t think I (or Matt, for that matter) could have read James and the Giant Peach at almost six.

Matt and I are using some Christmas money to set up DSL and pay for the service for a bit…  which means I am sitting in our apartment, on my computer with fast internet access!!  Yippee!  This is the first time I’ve had internet access where I’ve lived since July. Now to get caught up on my email and *gulp* Quicken.  (Thankfully that’s only about 5 or 6 weeks out of date, but still I’m dreading it)