31.January

Woke at 4:15 to the rain pelting the windows and the wind howling. When I let Neko out at 4:30 am it was a balmy 58 degrees.   All the snow was nearly gone.

Paul called at 6:00 am. His connecting flight from Newark to Manchester at 9:00 pm had already been canceled.  He cannot get a flight home until 6:30 tomorrow morning. 

I spent the morning cutting over thirty mustaches for Alix's bday party.  I'll hot glue them to dowels tomorrow.  While cutting I watch the movie, New York, I Love You.  This has been in my Netflix queue for months.  I'm so glad I finally watched it. 

Wind continued to be ferocious. Neko's barking alerts me to the basketball hoop that was knocked over in the driveway across the street. He really doesn't like things that are out of place. 

Lucy invited me over for lunch - grilled cheese and tomato soup.  

Hair cuts scheduled for Alix and Chance.  The road is closed and we have to take a detour.  When we arrive the salon has no power.  Alix really wants her hair cut before the party so our stylist moves a chair close to the window and trims away.  Chance opts to reschedule.  


Year to Date Count:
     books read - 3       
     loads of laundry -29      
     movies watched - 7       
     kid sleep overs - 3         
     dinners given - 2
     dinners attended - 1

30.January

Day starts with a two-hour school delay because of icy roads.  I'd be OK with school starting later every day.  Alix woke up on her own at 8:00 so a no-nagging morning.  

The fog stays with us all day.   

29.January

Lunch with Paul at the Masa Japanese restaurant before his flight to Philadelphia.  He'll be home late Thursday night.

Quiet evening with the kids.  BLTs for dinner.  One West Wing episode and in bed by 9:00ish to read.

28.January

I finished reading The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Anaya Mathis.  Hmmm, it was not as spectacular as I was expecting.  I'll be curious to hear what others think.

Year to Date Count:
     books read - 3       
     loads of laundry -27      
     movies watched - 6       
     kid sleep overs - 3         
     dinners given - 2
     dinners attended - 1

26.January and 27.January (Fourth Weekend)

Saturday

While walking Neko, after breakfast, we ran into our neighbor, Jennifer, who accepted our invitation to walk with us and then come back to our house for coffee and conversation.  

Paul and I had lunch at Dos Amigos Burritos and then shopping at LL Bean where we scored five pairs of pants and two dress shirts for Paul for less than $120.

Alix came home in the late afternoon and Chance had his friend Jordon sleep over.  Paul and I watched Woody Allen's latest movie, To  Rome with Love which I won't recommend.

Sunday

Coffee at Jon and Diane's after kidnapping Mesa for a walk with us.  Afternoon show at the Capital Center for the Arts as guests of John and Lucy.  In gratitude we invited them for dinner.  Paul made roasted vegetable and salmon salad and John and Lucy brought venison stew.  Joel, joined us as well.  Such a fun evening of food, guitar playing and singing, and talking.  They also stayed to watch Downton Abbey.  So not expected that to have that happen on the show.

Year to Date Count:
     books read - 2         
     loads of laundry -25      
     movies watched - 6       
     kid sleep overs - 3         
     dinners given - 2
     dinners attended - 1

25.January

Friday night.  Alix is sleeping over Mari's.  Chance is watching televison.  I'm tracking Paul's flights home and realizing he'll miss his connecting flight in Baltimore because his plane in Raleigh had to be de-iced.  Who'da thought there would be snow in Raleigh*.  Neko is eagerly waiting, waiting for the familiar sound of Paul's car to pull into the driveway. 

*On average it snows 1.7 days in Raleigh.  I guess Paul hit the jackpot on this trip.

24.January

And the cold continues.  The best thing to do is hunker down, pile on the layers, and bump the thermostat up a degree or two, stream the final episodes of season one of West Wing, or if your a cat find a cozy spot to nap the day away.

23.January

It's been cold here.  Really cold.  Below zero without the windchill cold.  Not at all a good time to get a call from our tenant saying she has no heat.  The heating repairman pronounced the furnace dead.  The good news - a new one could be installed immediately.  The bad news - it was a going to cost a chunk of change.  A chunk of change we were not counting on having to spend.  So while the team of professionals disassembled the old furnace and installed the new highly efficient one I tried to do my little part in keep them warm by supplying hot coffee and warm out of the oven baked goods.  

21.January

Today was the first day I was truly glad to have cable TV.  I settled down on the couch for a good part of the day watching the Inauguration.  The president's inaugural speech was fantastic.  Richard Blanco's poem was a highlight for me. 

A and C were home from school for Martin Luther King Day.  In the afternoon I heard them upstairs playing Uno and Chess.  I am always hoping for more interactions like that.  

Chance assisted Paul in making one of our favorite dinners. 

 

 Year to Date Count:
     books read - 2         
     loads of laundry -20      
     movies watched - 3       
     kid sleep overs - 2         
     dinners given - 1 
     dinners attended - 1

19.January and 20 January (3rd Weekend)

Alix and Chance were whisked away Friday after school for an unplanned weekend at Waterville Valley with their friends Nikki and Evan.  Alix and Chance donned skis for the first time on Saturday.  From the reports I received they were naturals, advancing from the bunny slope only after three runs. 

That left Paul and I forty-four hours without kids.  Friday night we had in impromptu dinner at our friends house around the corner. Saturday we ran some errands, grilled some steak tips and watched  George Harrison and Friends Concert for Bangladesh.  Sunday morning was a quiet breakfast, grocery shopping, and book finishing before A and C arrived home around 1:00 with tales to tell.

Year to Date Count:
     books read - 2         
     loads of laundry -16      
     movies watched - 3       
     kid sleep overs - 2         
     dinners given - 1 
     dinners attended - 1

8.January

Milder temps this afternoon got me outside chopping ice along walkway to the back door.  Neko and I also got some rope-swing playing time in.  He loves to grab the knotted end of the swing while someone sits on it and drag the rider around.  It can be a little intimidating having that sharp-toothed, growling mouth so close to your butt.

After school there were some tense moments when a printer wouldn't print (out of paper) and laptops locked up without documents being saved.  This prompted a roll-your-eyes, loud voices, you-just-don't-understand discussion about waiting until the last day to complete a project.   This sadly set the tone for the rest of the evening. 

I fell asleep watching some program on the History channel.  Oh, and Paul did call to cancel the cable that we've only had for three weeks.  He was told it's cheaper to keep the cable for the next six months because it's bundled with the internet service and that's the promotion Comcast is currently running. 

 Paul pointed out this shadow to me.

7.January

Enjoyed my unexpected lunch date with Paul at In a Pitch Cafe following an appointment he had in town.

Things I should try to get done this week included:

• Calling to rent the hall for Alix's birthday party in February
• Canceling our old phone and internet provider
• Canceling the cable television before the one month trial ends.  Within days of having it we realized there is really nothing worth watching that we can't already stream through Hulu or Netflix.
• Excavate the growing and teetering pile of paperwork on my desk
• Try to spend at least 15 minutes a day putting things back in their place in the basement.  I was slightly embarrassed when friends went down there with Paul to look and learn more about our composting worms.

 Year to Date Count:
     books read - 1           
     loads of laundry -7       
     movies watched - 2       
     trips for groceries - 6      
     sleep overs - 1          
     dinner party - 1

5.January and 6.January (1st weekend)

Warmer temperatures ::  It felt so good to get out for a longer walk on saturday  ::  Ice at Rollins Park :: Paul washed his car ::  Alix, Chance, and friends had lunch at Milano's by themselves :: Dinner guests :: Late night  ::  Sunday bed-in (must do this again)  ::  Downton Abbey

Year to Date Count:
     books read - 1           
     loads of laundry -5        
     movies watched - 2       
     trips for groceries - 4        
     sleep overs - 1          
     dinner party - 1

4.January

A very quiet day.

Year to Date Count:
     books read - 1
     loads of laundry -5
     movies watched - 2
     trips for groceries - 3
     sleep overs - 1

3.January

We woke up to below zero temperatures.  The laundry detergent poured like molasses.

I am loving the new old way of making coffee.  Better than with the french press.

I had the back of my hair trimmed to try to keep it even with the short layers on the sides.  The growing out process sucks. 

Chance had his annual physical.  He is 2 1/2 inches taller and is nine pounds heavier than last year.  He still falls in the 25 percentile. 

Paul cooked this Cooking Light recipe for dinner.  He substituted flank steak for the boneless sirloin.  Yum, I'm glad there are leftovers for lunch.

Year to date count:  loads of laundry-3

2.January

It was a  hustle-bustle morning with Alix and Chance back to school and Paul back to work.  I am happy to report there was no yelling and no threats of "we are going to be late".  

One change to the morning is I am back to making Chance an egg and toast for breakfast and packing his lunch.  A few months ago I decided he needed to do both those tasks.  He chose to eat cereal and have the hot lunch at school.  It was recently noted by Paul and I that the time has coincided with him acting much grumpier and short-fused.  Perhaps a well balanced breakfast and lunch will curb some of the less than pleasant behavior.

The temperature has dipped to the single digits.  I happily wore my new scarf from Alix and Chance all day.  I love how the striping is vertical instead of the usual horizontal.

I took advantage of the peace and quiet and finished reading Erica Bauermeister's book, Joy for Beginners.  It was what I was expecting, a light read with characters I was not emotionally invested in.  I was hoping my expectations would be wrong.  Oh well.  The year is young and I currently have over forty books on my to read list.  BTW, 2012's tally for books read was thirty-four.

Year to date count:  books read - 1; trips for groceries - 3

1.January

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet New Year's Eve.  We couldn't think of a movie theme for this year so instead everyone each picked a movie.  Chance chose Ted, Mari - Moonrise Kingdom, and Paul - Total Recall.  Paul and I skipped watching Ted.  We all loved, loved, loved Moonrise Kingdom.

I went up to bed with Neko a little after 11:00.  Paul woke me up a few minutes into the new year.  Neko chose to continue to sleep.  At 1:00 we made the kids turn in. 

New Year's Day was cold and very windy.  Paul made waffles for Chance and I while the girls slept in.  Once the girls finally made their presence downstairs, the crew settled in to watch Alix's choice,  the incredibly long, The Dark Knight Rises.  I watched the documentary Happy.  

Year to date count:  loads of laundry: 2, movies watched:  2