There may still be plenty of white stuff on the ground, but we have had EIGHT consecutive days of school (excluding weekends, of course). We’re all getting back into the old routines and we’ve even had some sunshine and a couple of balmy days in the 40s. Life is looking good!
Back in the Seattle days when Gavin and Arwen spent a couple of days a week with Chad while I was working, they did all kinds of fun things together like hanging out at the fantastic Mountlake Terrace pool and sharing Grand Slam breakfasts at Denny’s. Last week they had a bit of a blast from the past on the way home from school. After-school time tends to be strictly business with me, but with Chad at the wheel one afternoon they pulled off on the way home, trudged across the frozen expanse of a nearby park, and tried the ice on the edge of the cove. I found some pretty excited kids when I got home from class. (This semester it’s a senior seminar in Economics titled Women and Work – fascinating stuff.)
Friday night through our end-of-the-week haze we managed to agree on a fun family activity and found ourselves peering at each other over the Scrabble board. We’d never played all together, and I quickly decided I could see us doing this together for many years. Unfortunately, despite Chad’s family’s dedication to games he and I are wired for completely different varieties – he thrives on strategy games which make me cringe, and the literary-based games like Taboo that get me excited are anything but relaxing for him. Besides being a fantastic compromise of our individual gaming preferences, Scrabble gives Gavin and Arwen a chance to stretch their literacy skills. Plus, family nights tend to end well with ice cream with chocolate sauce on the menu.
With a high proportion of the snow days as well as a sick day and the dental visit having fallen on Tuesdays, I had missed hanging out with Arwen’s class. I usually go in for the last half hour of the day and sit in “bunch” with Arwen on my lap and a kid or two snuggling up to me to listen to Ms. Sarah read a story before helping the kids pack up to go home. Last week was the much-anticipated 100th day of school, and the kids were sporting their 100th day headbands. Arwen elected to put hers together at home that afternoon. I was impressed by how studiously she sat herself down at the table with markers, scissors, and glue and stuck to the task till it was done. Poor Gavin is discovering that third graders have little time for such celebrations. Oh, the woes of growing up!
For Valentine’s Day we pulled out the collection of paper hearts I cut out to decorate Chad’s apartment 12 years ago when we were dating. Once they were stuck all over the dining room we had our second annual dinner of bruschetta, minestrone, and stuffed shells with a couple of additions. I’ve managed to hook everyone here on zucchini lately by sautéing it with butter and plenty of garlic. We also dusted off a chocolate truffle torte recipe initiated a few years ago for Chad’s mom's birthday. While it as all very festive, I find myself struggling at times to strike a balance between making the holiday special for the family and maintaining personal sanity. All you who are as hooked to holiday hoopla as I am, please let me know if you’ve figured that one out.
Hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day!
