Book & Author Mailing Party

In the first of what will undoubtedly be numerous shameless attempts to promote the fundraiser I am chairing, today I will blog about the RAMA Book & Author Dinner - featuring as our headliner: Cokie Roberts! [To be fair, it was actually a big part of my day today.] We had the annual mailing party this morning where we stuff the 3,500 or so invites that go out. In years past this was a multi day nightmare but in more recent times, we have pared it down to a long morning. Tim was not thrilled about the whole thing until he realized that it wasn't at our house. Then he was much more amenable to it. I can't tell you how relieved I was that we had a great turnout to the mailing party (many hands making light work etc) especially since I was on the hook to be there to the bitter end.

We were completely done by 1pm leaving me feeling completely justified in going shopping. 310 Rosemont (remember the land of the $200 shirt) was having a 75% off sale which puts many of their items squarely in the range I am willing to pay. It was a bit embarrassing when I went into the store and couldn't seem to find any sale items. I was too sheepish to ask - not that they were fooled into thinking I, decked out in my TJMaxx gear, was a regular shopper. Then a very polite salesperson came up and asked, "Are you looking for the clearance sale? It's next door."

But I was quickly able to recover from my outing as a cheapie-skate when I encountered the massive bargains awaiting me! When I called Tim to let him know I would be longer than I anticipated I told him, "I am going to spend a bunch of money." To which he replied, "Get whatever you want" making him an instant hero with the other female shoppers. In my defense, I did get him several very cool shirts.

When I returned home, I found that Eion was sent home early from school sick AGAIN. While I certainly not discounting the fact that I have managed to avoid all this illness, I have had enough. Looks like tennis will be a no go tomorrow.

Oh and one last thing (today was a busy day,) I dragged my a** out of bed this morning to attend the 5:45 (yes AM) Extreme Training class at the gym. Ann, who routinely get up and goes in that early, asked me what I thought. My feeling is that it reminded me of two things: having a job and having an infant child, neither of which I was particularly fond.

Surprise!

Yesterday we went to dinner at the Shenandoah Club to surprise Kirsten for her birthday. Now this sounds fairly straightforward: Tom contacts us, we meet up for dinner, surprise! But in fact it involved several layers of subterfuge. First off, Ann & I had arranged with Tom to give Kirsten a girls weekend as a birthday gift. Sounds good. But never willing to leave well enough alone, we decide that we should first give her gag gifts that could be interpreted as (bad) real gifts before springing the actual gift.

While that was great, I realized that she had no idea that we were going to dinner and no idea that we had two layers of gifts planned. So I had to drop off decoy gift #1 so she didn't spend the day thinking what a rotten friend I was. Now I am not sure the item we ended up with accomplished that as it was a rather cheesy floral arrangement. I went to buy some flowers which Maggie insisted on picking out. I was going orchid but she found this $100+ arrangement. (Who knew Kroger could be so high end?) I love you Kirsten, but there is only so much I shell out for decoy gifts. Maggie shunned the orchid and picked out another bouquet mainly based on the fact that it was purple. That was our horse.

Anyhoo, Kirsten was indeed surprised at her unexpected dinner guests. I was just the tiniest bit miffed that she was not more put off by our gag gifts - did you really think that was our style? :) But we all had a great time. Almost a good enough time to join, if we can only work on the boys only poker game they host......

Please, please be well

Ok, if he is not better today, we will be on day six of one or more children sick. I have watched all the Wonder Pets and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I can without permanent damage. The girls were able to return to school yesterday but E had to stay home. I didn't hear as much coughing last night so I'm hoping that is a good sign. I have TONS to do this week and having sick kids at home is seriously derailing my plans.

Maggie was glad she went to school yesterday as it was finally her turn to bring home Buddy Bear. It is this stuffed bear who, along with wardrobe, games and book, goes home with a different kid each night. There is a notebook in which you are supposed to document your adventures with the bear. I really want to know how you are supposed to do anything substantial when she gets home at 2 and goes to bed at 6. Our entry was very exciting along the lines of "And then we went to the bank." But Maggie felt this was a great privilege so who am I to argue.

Happy Birthday Kirsten!!!!!!!

Now that you a 21, ditch that fake id and get a legal drink.

My Little Sickies

Friday did not produce an ice storm but it did render all my kids sick by the end of the day. Morrigan came calling around 4am with a fever. Both she and Maggie seemed like they would benefit from a day off so I kept them home from school. E seemed ok so he was off to school. That afternoon they all crashed.

Fortunately, we were hosting poker so we didn't have to leave them and could keep our plans. Based on our poor placement, again, we might have been better off not playing. I'm telling you, this losing streak had better end before our March trip to Vegas! In spite of our losing ways, it was a spirited game and lots of fun.

The kids were all running fevers again today causing us to cancel on any number of events including ballet, Odyssey of the Mind and a birthday party. I felt pretty bad about the last one. When I called and said that E wasn't coming, the birthday girl's Dad told me that when they were choosing a piñata, she wanted a Thomas the Train one because Eion would love it so much. Morrigan did not take it well at all when I told her that she couldn't go to the meeting. She shut herself in her room and cried rather loudly and complained vociferously about how unfair life is and how she didn't get to do anything. We're really looking forward to her teenage years.

So on the whole, we accomplished nothing today. We did get some serious snuggle time in with all three kids though.

The Remains of the Day

After today's questionable start with rodentia in various states of animation, my outlook was less than sunny. In the end, Thursday was completely tolerable.

I think we got a reasonable picture of Eion. He was slated to have his 3 year picture taken this afternoon. Now the boy is not big on wearing anything non-Thomas. I am not big on professional pictures in Thomas shirts. After evaluating several routes of subterfuge to get him in something normal, I opted for "getting dressed while watching Thomas and the Magic Railroad." It was effective and there was essentially no complaint about his (dashing) outfit:

But you see, this route meant he spent the whole morning in said outfit hence a high probability of stain damage. He emerged from school unstained, which was a small miracle. Yet the photographers again proved to be kryptonite for the E. After a fair amount of cajoling intermixed with threats of violence, I think we have a reasonable picture of the boy. Note I wrote "reasonable" not good. It is tough to photoshop him in when he is the only subject on the picture.

Morrigan was sent home from school sick around noon but the good news was she didn't seem to actually be sick. She was running a low grade fever. A dose of motrin later, we were back in business and I was on track to run a million errands including picking up the Girl Scout cookies and going to the grocery store where Maggie insisted on wearing her three-cornered hat. Lovely.
We are expecting an ice storm tonight so probably no school. I'm just hoping it warms up by Friday night so as not to ruin our scheduled poker game!

Update

Mostly dead mouse now completely dead. RIP buddy.

The Return of Mostly Dead Mice

For the faithful readers of LUTBT, you are already apprised of the ongoing battle with mice here. Things have been fairly quiet for the last month with no new evidence of visitors and no recent kills. I think it may have been almost 5 weeks since I had to sterilize the entire kitchen. But it all ended this morning with the return of the mostly dead mice.

As I do every morning, I checked the traps for fallen enemy soldiers. There under the sink was a mouse whose head was mushed by the trap. Tim was at work so the duty of rodent disposal fell on me, a place where I can't say I like it. But I am (sort of) tough so I went to get it and throw the corpse into the woods where it would rejoin the circle of life as a yummy breakfast for some hawk. To my horror, when I picked up the trap, the mouse started moving in spite of the crushed head.

Now I was at an unpleasant crossroads. Do I leave it there, knowing it may escape, crawl into regions unknown in my kitchen and die become the smelly gift that keeps giving for weeks or release the mangled thing to the wild which would require handling the trap in areas much to close to the semi-dead mouse. I actually chose option c: move mouse in trap to the deck where I am hoping he will expire at some point during the day. Sorry animal lovers. I'm just planning to absorb the hit to my karma.

Critical Levels

Ok, I really need to go to the grocery store today. Our refrigerator generally borders on sparse but it is downright barren today. I really had to get creative in packing Tim's lunch. I assumed that Mr. Organic "I won't eat lunchmeat anymore" was going to roast the piece of beef (from the organic farm in Moneta) while I was at a Junior League meeting last night. Where, incidentally, I was forced to make my dinner the snacks (quite tasty ones) they were serving. I fed the kids sausage patties and broccoli - swear to god it is one of their favorite meals- but I hadn't eaten. Hence dinner at the meeting. I am quite sure more than one person there was fairly horrified at my unbridled enthusiasm for the buffet table and passed h'ors deourves. So this morning I had to devise a lunch from the 3 items in our fridge. So if you see Tim rocking a peanut butter apple and a salad consisting of lettuce and bacon, you know why.

Maggie's New Gig

Not sure why this came about, but Maggie's latest phase seems to involve hands in the air. After I take her picture, she looks at it on the camera to verify that her hands are indeed up. Let's hope this doesn't last too long.

Fair Warning

This post will serve as fair warning to any and all reading: we really know how to overstay our welcome. Friends Karen and Damon had us over for dinner yesterday, complete with kids. We'll never know for sure but I imagine the conversation after we left was something along the lines of:

"Good god. Those people never leave. I thought you said their kids went to bed early!"
"Well that's what they said. Hope they had fun because I'm not sure we want them back!"

Our endurance aside, Damon will have to shoulder some of the blame. My meager and half-hearted attempts to get home earlier were rebuffed rather quickly: "Leave now? Don't be silly - here's some more port" and "The kids look like they are doing great and besides I just opened this champagne!"

We did have a great time. I was worried at the outset of the night. They had friends over earlier (See "On Notice" post) and Maggie had gone to a high-energy birthday party that afternoon.

But the kids played together well and my children were inexplicably drawn to toys they ignore at home. We have a play kitchen that they completely ignore yet they were fascinated by Lennon's. At least they were being good and let us enjoy dinner which was really tasty. After they tired of toys, I set the girls loose with the camera. In addition to some unflattering and therefore unpostable pictures of the adults, they came up with these gems. Maggie took no fewer than six pictures each of her pants


and this balloon.


The baby was also prominently featured in many pictures but that made more sense - he's pretty cute.

They are doing well today for having gone to bed at 9:30ish (way past their bedtime) but the day isn't over yet!

On Notice

So Hanserelli, as you may have already assumed, you are on notice. Tim and Hans are doubles partners for the current Club ladder competition. They have a match today and Tim really wanted to arrive early to warm up and practice. So he told me Hans could only do that if I watched his boys. Although I was not thrilled as he took all of my darling husband's money at poker the night before, I figured I could take one for the team. My only request was the boys bring their Wii controllers as my game plan was to park them all playing it.

So in strolls Hans with the boys at 11:45 having forgot the controllers and oh by the way, they haven't had lunch yet. So after feeding the whole crew, I have spent the last hour mediating Wii turf battles. Certainly you are far from dead to me Hans but you are definitely on notice.

On a side note, Eion is cracking me up. When Hans got here, E marched up to him and asked "Where's the Mommy?" He does love his Dr. Ann. Then while the kids were playing some sort of skeet shooting game, E starts yelling "They're cho-ing! Cho! Cho! Cho!" [Cho being Eion's personal battle cry.]

All I have to say is they had better dominate at tennis!

Girl Scout Cookies

I have finally managed to find a Brownie troop for Morrigan. This was not an easy process. Morrigan had been badgering me about this for months. I was so desperate indeed that I was willing to LEAD a troop. I went so far as to fill out the paperwork for a background check (which I passed thank you very much - guess that Parisian arrset didn't count) but I couldn't get anyone at the local council to return my calls. I had just about given up when I discovered that some of Morrigan's Odyssey of the Mind cohorts were in a new troop. They had more room and mercifully, the girl scout quest was finally at an end.

So far it is reminiscent of my days as a Camp Fire Girl (we didn't have Girl Scouts in Osceola, Indiana.) We bought Morrigan an official sash and she sewed her sit upon. She is well on her way to earning her first badge for selling cookies. Ah sweet Girl Scout cookies. I LOVE those things. Granted, they are not what they used to be. I will forever mourn the passing of Samoas - don't let the Carmel Delites fool you. Those of us who are GS cookie connoisseurs remember the brief time when there were both Carmel Delites and Samoas. Sadly, they lower fat and not as tasty Carmel Delites won out. A friend of ours once challenged Tim to a blind taste test claiming he couldn't tell the difference between the two. Silly girl. Never question Tim's knowledge of cookies.

Anyhow, I am pleased that I have an in with the cookies. No more hoping to find some being sold at Kroger. Lord knows no one is coming up to our house selling them. If you need a fix, we're taking orders!

Valentine's Dinner

A few weeks ago, Ann and Hans told us that friends of theirs, Erryn and Ginny, were going to host a dinner at Tony Pope’s on Valentines Day and told them to invite a few couples. What made the whole thing really intriguing was the fact that none of us, including the hosts, were going to have to pay for it.


Honestly, it seemed too good to be true. But who am I to turn down free food and drink! Admittedly, I was a tad concerned when the ringleaders of this event were an hour late. But the proprietor kept the wine flowing while we waited which was wonderful if a bit problematic as I normally eat dinner with the kids between 5 and 6. So several glasses of wine on an empty stomach and dinner starting at 8 led to, well, let’s just say Tim referred to me as “drinky pants” on the way home. When we left at 11, the party was still going strong so I am thinking I was not the only one! But it was a fun night with great food, friends and conversation.

Happy Valentine's Day

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth as my long silence would seem to imply. But it has been a challenging week. Saturday, if you remember where we left off, was clearly going to be unpleasant what with the martinis Friday night and all. But as it turned out, it was even worse than I could have anticipated. I had forgotten it was visitor’s day at ballet. Since Tim was working, it meant I had to keep Maggie and Eion quiet in a crowded studio while we watched Morrigan and her dancing cohorts. Not an easy task. The instructor did not take kindly to his additions to the program.

Then we picked up Morrigan’s friend Katherine who was joining us for a sleepover (obviously arranged pre-martinis.) We went to the Science Museum where Eion made it his job to try and keep other patrons from the horseshoe crabs. One boy walked away complaining to his pregnant mother that E was annoying him. She told him, “Well you had better get used to it. That is what little brothers are like.” Super. My son is being held up as a textbook example of obnoxious sibling behavior.

Sunday started out much more promising most likely due to the marked absence of martinis Saturday night. The day turned bad when we lost power around 3pm. There was a huge windstorm and most of the neighborhood was without electricity. The kids seemed to think it was all a grand adventure – like living in olden times. We were fortunate enough to regain power on Monday morning but school had been cancelled due to massive outages and wind damage. We had several friends and their families over for dinner and had an impromptu storm party. School was back in Tuesday but we lost power midday for about 6 hours. Luckily, it was back on by dark.

After playing catch up for a few days, we are back in business for Valentine’s Day! I had to work in the morning but took Maggie & Eion with me in the afternoon to Morrigan’s party at school.


The kids all seemed to have a good time with their favorite activity being the “find your partner” game. They each pick out of a bag the animal they are supposed to be. One other kid is also that animal. They had to find each other by making the animal’s sound. It was a riot and the kids really loved it.


Tonight Tim & I are going out to dinner with Ann, Hans, Kirsten and Tom to a fantastic restaurant in the neighborhood, Tony Popes. Full report out tomorrow!

President's Ball

While I am generally a believer in self determination and personal responsibility, I am completely not taking the blame for my condition this morning. Who then is at fault? It is YOU Jennifer! Allow me to elaborate....

We went to the President's Ball, which a perfectly nice fundraiser, hosted by the Medical Academy every year. While always nice, it is generally an early home kind of evening with no chance for serious shenanigans. Knowing Jennifer was going solo, we offered to drive her and her "date" Olivia (also sans husband.) As in years past, it was a, well, fundraiser and went as expected. Perhaps I should have seen danger when as we were getting our coats to leave (at this point on track to be home by 10:30.) Olivia, Tim and I were talking to a doctor he knew but we did not and Olivia introduced herself as Tim's wife. Even better, Tim just went with it.

So as we are leaving the Hotel Roanoke (where pretty much all the fundraisers in town are held) and the corruption begins. "It is so early. Let's go out for just one drink" Jennifer says. And while I had the foresight not to order a second pineapple martini, I cannot claim such intelligence when someone (Jennifer) just makes a second sweet, wonderful, frothy drink come my way. So please pardon me as I curse your name as I am driving to ballet being peppered with questions like "Why is ice slippery? and "How are metal fences made?" both certainly inquiries that can be answered under normal circumstances but clearly not by me this morning. But I will say, it is the best time I’ve had to date at the President’s Ball!

Hand-Me-Down Karma

All my kids seem to be growing at exponential rate these day. Maggie put on this dress this morning and we couldn't even button the neck without screams of protest. Looks like size 6 it is! Good news for the recipients on my hand-me-down chain. I am a big believer in the karma of passed on items. I have several friends who have children all older than my own. They are kind enough to give me clothes knowing I can never reciprocate. (Kirsten and Leigh Anne - you know I love you!)

There are other friends who I've formed with whom a symbiotic relationship like Jennifer. Her son is older than mine, my daughters are older than hers. Lovely exchange benefiting all. (Naturally both parties reserving the right to cherry pick items for resale on eBay. I do have to occasionally justify my children's clothing budget to Tim.)

Lastly, there are those to whom I send clothes knowing full well it is a one directional flow. Generally, what Eion doesn't wear out goes to friend Angela or cousin Diane, both having firstborn sons who trail Eion by a few years.

In the end, I think all parties end up happy. I know I have been gleeful thinning out my kids' closets and really feeling that I am getting the better end of the deal giving things away. But then I have also gotten those bags of outgrown clothes and gone through them like a kid on Christmas. I have found that the more I give away, the more comes my way, even if by different channels. Karma indeed.

[Side note: check out how much the glitter Mags has worn off her shoes since Christmas. Now that was $10 well spent!]

Donuts

The other day I had a meeting at my house in the morning. Generally, no one eats at these things but if you don't serve food, people can get put out. So I compromise and save myself the effort of making fruit salad and egg casserole and serve donut holes. Personally, I ADORE donuts. Indeed one of the darkest times in my personal donut history was the three years we lived in France where, in spite of having downright amazing patisseries capable culinary delights we can't seem to duplicate stateside, they can't make a donut. Maybe American influence has spread since the 80's and there is now a Dunkin Donuts in every Arrondisment but back then there was nary a chocolate cream donut to be found. And don't even think of trying to find the unparalled beauty of a hot "oh my god these are so good they must contain crack" Krispy Kreme there!

Tim laughs at me because I am always keenly aware of the location of donut shops nearby in spite of the fact that I eat so few of them. I find if you eat them too often, they lose their magical properties and revert to highly efficient fat delivery systems aimed squarely at my rear end which is plenty ample, thank you very much. But that morning, I would indulge.

I asked Tim if he wanted a donut, personally I was getting a chocolate creme, and he said no. I wasn't really surprised. He's been reading The Omnivore's Dilemma which contains all sorts of horrifying details about the US food industry (including that McDonald's chicken nuggets contain 36 ingredients - would that they were not so tasty) and so he's on a natural food kick. In fact during the meeting, he went to a nearby organic meat farm. After the meeting, there were plenty of leftover donut holes which the kids and I did our level best to polish off. Buy the time the kids went to bed, I had not seen Tim go anywhere near the sweet treats. I found them irresistible and needed no more after having so many I can't even reveal the total so I tossed them into the compost pile (the groundhogs love 'em!)

I have not seen Tim so irritated in a very long time. In spite of my apology, he stormed off to bed. After an episode of Torchwood, I went upstairs too. He was still mad. I told him, "I said I as sorry. What do you want me to say?" His response (naturally) "That you are going to Dunkin Donuts right now!" Clearly, I had underestimated the power of the donut. The next day, all was made right with a 6 pack of conciliatory glazed, chocolate cake and frosted varieties. Never again will I minimize the stature of the donut.

Classics in the Car

Morrigan's piano teacher has a contest going on right now. For different piano related activities, you get points. What I found of particular interest was the fact that you can get a trophy with enough points. Ah ha! A semi-legitimate chance for my daughter to get one. Now don't think I am being too harsh but we know it won't be for athletics. Any and all aptitude the gal got for sports was from her mother which is to say she is screwed. Tim was playing ice hockey at age five:

As for me, I have one sports trophy. I was on a softball team, much to my soccer league founding Father's embarrassment, and Beehler Heating and A/C won a trophy. I don't remember for what place, 1st, 2nd or 3rd. I do remember that there were only three teams. Even at 10, I knew it was a shallow victory.

[In spite of searching high and low, I can't locate that softball picture. I give you this soccer pic of the same vintage for overall effect.]

Back on topic, one of the point winning activities is listening to classical music. My Dad always played classical during dinner so I have been exposed to it for years. And even in the dark teenage years, liked it. But I do admit that more recently, I was likely to be enjoying things more along the lines of Justin Timberlake (it embarrasses me too) and the Foo Fighters. So in the quest for the not completely meaningless trophy, we have started listening to classical music in the car. I have to tell you, it has been wonderful. Not only do I no longer have to worry about content (have you noticed how many songs on pop radio are about strippers?) but it seems to sooth all my passengers as well. Think I may make this a permanent change. I'll have to mix in some jazz too (they are all on drugs but at least they don't sing about it) and maybe an occasional musical (very few I like) but I think we are on the right track here!

BTW - I am front row, far left. A good look I think.

Farewell New Years Resolutioners

After a month, it seems most of the New Years Resolutioners have bid the gym farewell. I will miss them if for no other reason, their comedic value. Before I ramble on, I have to differentiate between NYR and people who have chosen the start of a new year to get in shape. For the latter group, we all (well all the normal people) have been there - let yourself get out of shape, losing baby weight etc. Lord knows I had to work off 40 lbs of pregnancy gain with each kid and it all begins with that first mile. So those people - nothing but love. But my friends the NYR, ah, that is a different story. How can you spot them? It's not too hard...

The Inappropriately Dressed
Nothing says commitment to fitness like showing up at the gym in denim or loafers. You don't have to get a coordinated Under Armour rig but please, leave the jeans at home.

The Lollygagers
Generally these are people traveling in packs of two or three dominating the track with their side by side stance. They progress at a painfully slow rate. While I know that you can't go from zero to 8 miles an hour from the starting gate, you do have to turn it up a notch. If you don't sweat at all, you probably aren't going to reach your goals.

Dumbellina
These are generally women who will tie up any number of machines lifting ridiculously low amounts of weight. Now I am not a "comparer" benchmarking what lift with what others do. You have to do what is right for you. But you won't get those Sarah Connor in T2 arms lifting the equivalent of soup cans.

and last but not least...

The Smokers
While there are exceptions to this rule, there is this one dude I see every weekend who completely reeks of smoke, generally, if you show up at the gym burning a heater, your days there are numbered.

So farewell until 2009 my dear New Years Resolutioners. You will be missed.

Out and About

I was all set for a quiet night in. Tim was scheduled for 5pm-3am. My big plans were pjs on by 6:30 (latest) and then catching up on some episode of Life on Mars (BBC America - only two seasons but really worth checking out.) My plans were derailed by a call from Ann who had a hellacious week and really needed a night out. Admittedly, I was a tad resistant as I was quite attached to the sofa and, truth be told, had a bit more wine than I should have at poker the night before. But being the ever constant friend I am, I called every single sitter on my list, including one who oh so politely informed me she had gone away to college. I was reaching. Shunned by all sitters, I called Ann & Hans to tell them the good/bad news. Hans solidly rejected my failure and proceeded to get me a sitter. Now said sitter couldn't drive and as Tim was at work, I wouldn't be able to drive her home. So basically, Ann and Hans found me a sitter, brought her to my house, drove me to a party and then took my sitter home. Talk about upping the friendship bar!

So we went to a party I can't really find the words to describe. We received an invite a few weeks back from an upscale clothing store in town (310 Rosemont) that promised cocktails etc. I pretty much wrote it off immediately figuring it was an in store event and Tim was working anyway. But Ann and Hans got the lowdown and heard that it would be at Cherry Hill, a beautiful home in the neighborhood, and well populated with friendly faces. We headed over, picking up Tom & Kirsten as well, not really knowing what to expect. Would there be items for sale? A sales pitch?

Turned out to be a really nice cocktail party. They were serving wines from a local vineyard, Valhalla, and had a big spread of food. And as billed, the party was full of friends. There was a brief announcement thanking everyone for coming and encouraging us all to stop by the store. As I munched on beef tenderloin and seafood newburg, I felt the tiniest bit guilty. While I think 310 has really great stuff, the time I went there I just about passed out from shock when I realized the shirt I tried on was over $200. I just don't buy jeans that cost hundreds of dollars and any Robert Graham shirts I have are from eBay. My closet is heavily populated with items from TJMaxx and, when I am feeling spendthrift, The Gap. But to some measure, this sales idea worked. I can say with absolute certainty that the next time I buy a $120 tie or a $200 shirt, it will be from their store.

Greeting from the Legion of Nimrods

I Have Seen the Future

and it involves massive doses of tv for my children. We had and ice storm last night and the streets where we are on the mountain are still pretty bad. Maggie's school was cancelled and E didn't have school today anyway. Morrigan's school was delayed two hours but mercifully, Tim had to go to work at 11am and was able to drop her off. I have a nasty sinus infection and feel really lousy. Rather than venture out into the freezing rain and slippery streets, I plan to let the kids watch all kinds of tv while I lay on the sofa and wait for death, which based on how crappy I feel, must be just around the corner. [And yes, those are still Christmas lights on my deck but in our defense, they are on the back of the house and we haven't turned them on since the holidays.]