Day 30: Back to normal

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Sorry that internet is not cooperating.  We are back in the routine.  I even convinced Illusive Middle Child to paint his Pinewood derby car due tomorrow.

Hope you reach your endpoint soon!

We miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: To shop or not to shop?

Ok, we have emptied the refrigerator.  Now, with another windy weekend, we are unsure as to whether or not we should power shop to restore our fridge, or go day by day to make sure that we do not have to pitch yet more food.

Oldest Child went back to CCD today.  He is all excited about the upcoming retreat day with the Archbishop (He was willing to use his savings if we could not afford).  I guess, if there is one thing that we have done right with our kids, it has been to instill a sense of worship and faith in them… especially in our oldest.

Also, Girl Friday is channeling her inner Martha Stewart.  Either she has done something supremely naughty and we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, or she has become supremely helpful in a wonderful, desperate plea for positive attention.  Today she put the dishes away, set the table, and helped me make breaded chicken strips and tater tots.  Not was asked, but she volunteered.

We have good kids.

Day 28: Week #4, Snow Day #5, & time to Clean Up!

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Too funny that Oldest Child’s school ride never got the memo that there was no school today, and showed up ready to go…with all our kids still asleep.  Today was a cleaning day.  We also paid it forward to MR and helped with their downed trees in the evening.

Glad that you have gotten some rest! Happy 1 Month anniversary.  Tomorrow starts Month #2!

We miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: OCD Me goes postal on the Refrigerator

Ok, the refrigerator did smell like death.  It was scary.  However, before we started to fill it up with food again, it needed a thorough scrubbing. So, I turned the refrigerator off and took it down to its “studs” with bleach and warm water.  The thought of food poisoning due to 4 days of warm food is just not on my bucket list!

We also helped out one of our Cub Scout friends.  They had a bunch of trees come down on their property, and in exchange for dinner and some red wine.  I was more than happy to have my kids help out as slave labor and pay it forward.  Girl Friday cut twigs and hung out with Ms. M, Illusive Middle Child was the primary hauler, but took a break to help cut when we were not fast enough for him.  Oldest Child kept trying to light the fire.  Even I could not light the fire, but that was ok, because I still got wine!

Day 27: Let there be light!

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

We got the power back this afternoon, so we are back at the house.  We even have internet!  We have cleared the fridge of rotten food.  I hope that Kuwait is just like you remember it!

We miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: What does power smell like? Fabric softener.

We woke up warm and toasty in Super S’s house to the news that you had successfully made it to Kuwait.  I hope that you can finally get some sleep.  We had pancakes !

At lunchtime, we trekked back home to check on the cat, the melt out of the freezer, and to pick up some extra supplies.  Oh, and to get a little Jack in the Box.  The town still looked like a war zone, we even passed a downed power line near the Little League fields.  However, *ta dah* we DID have power (by the clocks, it turned on 6 minutes prior to our arrival).

What does power smell like? Outside the neighborhood it seemed like every washer and dryer was going.  The air was thick with the smell of fabric softener.  Inside, however, it kind of smelled like death.  If you have ever defrosted your deep freezer, you recognize that smell.  Yeah.  Four days of no power in the only heated room in the house had thoroughly defrosted the refrigerator and freezer (as if the ice cream soup was not a big hint).  So the task for the evening, was to unload, catalog, and dispose of the entire refrigerator and freezer contents.   Six trash bags later, mission accomplished! (So sad to see all those salmon steaks go!)

Day 15: It’s a B-Ball day!

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

I have my fingers crossed that we have the pay thing sorted out.  Illusive Middle Child started basketball tonight and really likes it.  He is also the tallest kid on the team! I hope that you had fun on the range!  Unfortunately, we created more leftovers.

We miss you!

Love,

Me

Translation: Crisis averted… another on the horizon?

For starters, pay crisis theoretically averted.  Even though Millington told the IAs that they were not going to get paid, they told the bank something else.  We have a payheck coming! Woo Hoo!

Ok.  It is official.  Crisis #2.  Someone somewhere has a sick sense of humor.  Both Illusive Middle Child and Girl Friday are really liking basketball.  I mean REALLY liking it.  Luckily, I love them, and I will support them, and I will attend every game if possible.  However, I am not a basketball person.  I do not understand it.  I guess that is OK.  I do not need to know how it works, I just need to love the players, and hope that they get to play at least half of the quarters.

Also, in a mini milestone, I have taken down Christmas outside the house, and composted the gingerbread houses.  Now, all I have is the inside lights and the nativity left, and we will be Christmas complete!  We are definitely ahead of our St. Patrick’s Day deadline! …I know, I know.  We are not done yet.  However, I am trying.  Oh.  ...and we have the end table clean! Yeah!

Day 13: Hey, He really does play Tuba!

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Happy Sunday!  Hope that you had a relaxing day today and got to sleep in.  Spent the day at Church.  The kids are getting back into the routine of things.  Oldest Child even picked up his tuba for a bit.

Oldest Child is doing his best to conquer the leftovers, but they are still multiplying.

We miss you.

Love,

Me

Translation: Veggie Tales theme song anyone?

Things are almost getting back to normal around here.  Normal in the kids’ minds is homemade breakfast on Sundays.  It does not matter that we have fruit mini muffins and leftover breakfast pizza (which I prepared for them and instructed them to make when they got up super early to get their Xbox fixes). Noooo.  They waited patiently for me to get up and shower and emerge.  They were waiting for pancakes.

After pancakes, it was CCD time.  Then it was the Parish Gathering.  Then it was dinner with garlic bread… mmmm garlic bread.  Now, it is back to coaxing the laundry fairy out of hiding…and a new episode of Once Upon a Time!

Day 7: Clean Up

Dear Fabulous Spouse,

Hard to believe a week has already passed!

I guess that means that it is time to clean up and do laundry then!

I am glad that we finally figured out the Skype.  It was good to see you!

We miss you.

Love,

Me

Translation: Where is a Laundry Fairy when you need one?!

Well, it seems like both months and hours have passed since you left, but we have hit our first official milestone! Only 52 or so to go!

Seriously though.  I would give just about anything to be a cobbler with my own horde of brownies and a laundry fairy or two.  Oldest Child and I did watch Hoarders: Buried Alive though, and he assures me that we are nowhere near that threshold.

However, motivated by scary floor to ceiling clutter, we decided to get Christmas put away and the tree out the door before school got back in session.  The kids enjoyed taking the ornaments off almost as much as they enjoyed putting them on.  So, tree down, stockings down.  Just inside and outside lights and the nativity left to go!

We also had laundry to muddle through.  To be honest, a missing spouse, or household laundry fairy, was scarier back when the kids were younger and could not fold their own laundry. Luckily, Fabulous Spouse has done a good job training his junior fairies, so even that went by rather well.  I guess that leaves the kitchen…and the freezer in the garage (which I am currently ignoring).

I can do it.  I can. No, seriously. Stop laughing, Fabulous spouse.  I can attain clean. Maybe...