School today. That’s what I wanted. Right?
I was sure there wouldn’t be any school today. They’re calling for snow starting right around the morning rush hour. Last night they were saying we’d get four to five inches beginning around 4:00 this morning. It was one of those compromise situations. I didn’t stay up quite as late as I would have if I’d known I’d be sleeping in this morning but I still pushed the envelope for a work night and was up at midnight. Woke up at 4:45 and decided I’d go ahead and turn on the TV to get the closings. Turns out the snow hasn’t started yet and the district has made the decision to have school. We have a very large school district and things move very slowly. Once the decision to have school is made, it’s hard to change it. Busses are already at the compounds and kids will be heading out in less than an hour for early bus routes. I really hope the snow doesn’t start coming down just as things get going.
Funny how all this stuff works. Once the busses start picking up kids for high school, they have to finish and then they have to pick up elementary students. As far as early dismissals go, once they pass a certain point, they have to serve lunch to all the kids. At our school, lunches start before 10:00 and run through 1:00. I remember one year when the roads were getting really bad but they couldn’t start early dismissal and get the kids headed home until everyone had eaten lunch. Another time, they picked up all the middle and high school kids and dropped them off, picked up all the elementary and took them to school, then turned right around and started picking up all the high school and middle to take them back home before doing the same for elementary. I hope that happens today. I don’t like to make up snow days but I have no problem with early dismissals. We don’t have to make them up.
Still, it’s probably just going to be another regular day with lots of absences from those kiddos who chose to stay home. I swear, we never get over that childish thrill and anticipation of a snow day. Even I stayed up too late. Better hit the shower and try to wake up.
6:20 a.m. - Got out of the shower and the snow has started. In just a few minutes, it’s already covered the porch. Gotta get these boys moving. Looks like the drive to work is going to be exciting.
Brrrrrrrrr….
Did I mention the cold?
I accepted winter yesterday. First day that I actually wore a long, heavy coat. And cami, and shirt and jacket. I would have taken a blankey if I could have. DH went out to the shed and brought the dehumidifier in. We need some moisture in the air. He was scrounging around trying to find the heated mattress cover, too but I think it’s in the attic. They’re calling for snow for the next couple of days. I have a stack of books I bought over Thanksgiving so I can survive if it happens. I looked at the school calendar and the last day of school for the year is on a Tuesday so we can actually have a couple of days before I start getting freaked out. Sure don’t want a repeat of last year’s disaster when we had to make up two full weeks of missed school. There will probably be a bunch of teachers doing a snow dance but I won’t be joining. I’d much rather treasure every day of summer than miss a day when it’s so miserably cold.
I spent most of yesterday evening trying to find a cruise for spring break but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Our spring break is the first week of April and almost everything is priced a lot higher that week. Why couldn’t our break be the second week? Lots of bargains to be had after the first week of April.
Things on the home front are slowly improving. Matthew is getting some feeling back in both his legs and Kim continues a slow recovery from her stroke.
The boys went to school yesterday but we made a deal. After they got home, I told them they could skip chores and take a nap for an hour or so. I gave them both a couple of Tylenol PMs around 9:30 last night and I noticed that the lights went out upstairs at 10:00. Hope they’re back on track after the holiday break.
Today is the first day back for students. It’s going to be hard for them. Steven already came downstairs and told me he didn’t get any sleep last night and wants to stay home. I sent him back upstairs with a glare. He and Andrew have gotten into some pretty bad sleeping patterns over the last couple of weeks. I’ve been warning them to get to bed earlier and get up earlier but I haven’t been here most mornings to drag them out of bed so they’ve been sleeping pretty late.
I’ll call them in another 30 minutes or so and see how Steven’s doing. I really hate to let him stay home just because he didn’t go to sleep but he really did look totally miserable and neither of them miss much school.
Checked facebook and little brother from New Orleans writes that Matthew was able to wiggle the toes on his right foot. Still nothing on the left. The surgeon says it’s a wait and see situation.
It’s 19 degrees out there and they’re forecasting snow for Thursday and Friday. I hope we don’t get any snow days. I’d rather have those wonderful days available in May and not be sitting at school doing makeup days.
DH may be right…I’ve gotten interested in thinking about taking a cruise over spring break. It’s helping me get into a better frame of mind. He found six possibilities…one for five nights and the rest for seven. Right now a cruise down the Caribbean sounds pretty good. Cozumel, Belize, Costa Maya, St. Thomas, Honduras…
Yeah, I feel a bit more motivated. Today’s to do list. And a committment to get everything done before I take any down time:
Get through the workday.
Go to the bank for ROTC after work.
Go to Kroger and pick up Rx after work.
Go to K-Mart and pick up other Rx after work.
Walk on treadmill 20 minutes.
Wash, dry and fold at least one load of laundry.
Steven just stumbled downstairs again. Time to make a decision…
Can’t believe it’s time to go back to work. Did we have a break? I worked on Macs four days of the break. The first Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then it was Christmas Eve and Christmas day and then we left for Tunica. I worked on Macs again on Thursday and spent all day yesterday preparing for a PD I have to give today. Crazy….
DH is looking at cruises. He said he’d like to take a cruise over spring break. Money is tight so that makes it difficult but he spent a couple of hours on cruisesonly.com yesterday while I worked on stuff for school. It might be just what I need…something to look forward to.
On the family front, SIL seems to be doing pretty well and Matthew went through more surgery yesterday for his broken back. Still too soon to tell about how things went with it.
It’s freezing. I’m not looking forward to going out there. Still…cold is a lot better than snow or ice so I’d better hit the shower and get moving.
I haven’t blogged for a few days. I’ve just been feeling tired and lost. It seems like we take two steps back for every step forward. Like there’s a black cloud hanging over my family and I can’t seem to break through.
We had a good time in Tunica. Just DH and I. I won. He didn’t. Still, we managed to have four days and three nights, lots of slot playing, three buffet dinners and a couple of days lying around the heated pool and spa and got home with $20.00 more than we had when we left.
I was feeling pretty good and then little sister called and told me about how Kim had regressed. She wasn’t doing well at all. Little Sis thought she’d had a couple more strokes because she just looked blank and didn’t seem to see or hear anything for a few days. My nephew, in New Orleans, had to undergo surgery for his back. He has Prader Willi Syndrome and the severe scholiosis that usually accompanies the disorder. To tell the truth, I just felt so burned out with all the problems and stress that seem to be following us these days that I didn’t really get involved with Matthew’s surgery. I know it’s a big deal. His scoliosis is severe and his surgery is extensive. I logged on to Facebook and kept up with it through there.
We got home and spent a couple of days just resting and laying around the house. Doing nothing. Then little sis called and said Kim was doing great. Little Sis is the “medical” person in the family. She’s a respiratory therapist and keeps tabs on all medical things going on in the family. She’s more objective than I am. She feels the pain but is able to do what she can and still deal with being the messenger. She told me Kim had rallied and was talking and writing messages and they were moving her to a rehab center close to home. That was Friday morning.
Yesterday, little sis called and said my nephew, Matthew, was in really bad shape. A totally moronic nurse tried to help him to the bathroom when the doctor’s orders said he was not to be moved without at least two people helping him, he was wobbly and she couldn’t support him. He fell on top of her and broke his back. They discovered this because he seemed okay for a couple of hours and then lost all feeling from the waist down. They did X-Rays and discovered his back was broken. As of last night, my brother and his wife were an emotional wreck and Matthew was headed back to surgery.
I swear, it was just more than I could handle. I broke down and cried uncontrollably for a while and then went to bed.
I’m so tired of all the pain and suffering that’s hit my family. Tired of worrying about DS and the situation with the kids. Tired of worrying about Kim and just about done in after learning about Matthew. There’s got to be a light at the end of the tunnel. DH says I should just be grateful that my kids and grandkids are healthy and we both have good jobs and everything we need to live a comfortable life. I know that and I’m grateful. Truly, I am, but I can’t help feeling so much heartache and despair when we just keep getting hit with one trainwreck after another.
