Despite the inauspicious start to our day, and a few tantrums by the girl, we weathered our first day of snow pretty well. The boy soon tired of Wii, and the girl and Tab decided that the outdoors was much more inviting than the indoors. All three spent a few hours outside making snowballs and snowmen and snow mayhem. I stayed cozy inside making hallah bread, fresh marshmallows, dough for hamentaschen (Purim cookies), and a turkey stock that made the house smell yummy (I froze the carcass of the turkey after Thanksgiving, and today seemed the perfect day to cook it). Then Beetle and I took a nice walk in the snow, and we had a lovely family dinner. The little ones are in our room tonight, as the wind is a slightly terrifying, but not so terrifying that we didn’t squeeze in a little after-dinner dance party.
Adam worked from home. He had a conference call this morning and I of course had my run, but the kids were still around. We threatened them with bodily harm if they interrupted Adam’s call. Well, not bodily harm. The only thing more scary than bodily harm. We threatened them with no electronics. Adam said, “Do not interrupt me unless the house in one fire.”
“What if one of us goes into cardiac arrest?” the boy asked.
“Fine,” I said. “You can get Daddy if you go into cardiac arrest.”
“What if we break a leg or an arm?” Pie asked.
I thought a moment. “If you break a leg or an arm, leave Daddy alone. Run across the street and get Beetle.”
They were not pleased.
We have enough supplies to get us through a while. Keaton and I stopped at Trader Joe’s after our run, and I grabbed milk (1%–the fat free was completely sold out). The bread aisle was decimated. As was the ice cream bin. Because isn’t that what everyone wants when it’s freezing out? Ice cream? According to our town e-mail list, we were lucky to get milk as most places were completely out. The line at Trader Joe’s snaked around three aisles, except our TJs doesn’t do one line and the frustrated cashiers kept telling everyone to simply pick a lane. Which we did. And we were in and out in minutes. Of course, Starbucks is one long line, and there was nothing to do but wait in it because you can’t have an 8-mile run without a post-run coffee. It’s illegal. Or so I hear.
No valentines were made today. The book report is undone. Science fair project? The topic hasn’t even been picked out. But we’re all still speaking to each other, so I guess we’re doing okay. And there’s always tomorrow.
