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(12/23) I worked a half day from home and am done until next year! We wrapped almost all the gifts and are ready for the kids to come on Sunday. It creeped above freezing today and we're hopeful the roads will thaw enough for them to come. We watched Tron with D tonight. He heard the music playing and came to join us. He's not a big one for movies, so that was a treat.
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(12/24) Happy Christmas Eve! Poor Dad got sick last night (we think food poisoning?). Since the ice had melted off a decent amount, I ran to the office to give my poor plants some water and then stopped for Sprite and our picture order on the way home. Dad felt better as the day went along thankfully. We finished wrapping all the things and lugged everything downstairs. There's gonna be some spoiled kiddos tomorrow!
(12/25) What a fun day! The kids and baby W came over for Dutch babies and Santa gifts. W is bouncing and pulling up to a stand already. He's going to be walking before we know it! Nanan arrived late afternoon and joined us for dinner and Christmas movies. I made it through Prancer, The Polar Express, and gave up partway through Elf. The gift of the year was a dicer/mandolin that Dad bought himself "from the boys." D read the instructions, analyzed every piece and is now fully set to be my sous chef!
(12/26) We all slept in and took it easy on this Boxing Day. I made everyone breakfast and Nanan left in the afternoon. I worked out in the yard a bit, moving things back out onto the porch and finally planting some already sprouting tulip bulbs that I'd forgotten about. Other than that, we hung out at home and then Dad and I watched Maverick after the kiddos went up to bed.
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(12/27) The boys and I packed up and headed for the grands' today. C drove us in his car and did a great job, even when we had to plow through a ginormous puddle! We did Christmas prezzies with the grands, made cookies, and enjoyed dinner together. The boys are missing their cousins this year, but we plan to celebrate New Year's with some of them at least.
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(12/28) The twins were up and ready to make breakfast first thing even though they both stayed up late last night. C didn't emerge until closer to noon, as you do when you're a teenager on vacation. He got to chauffeur the grands around and got lots of driving practice in. Grandma and I took a walk up to the falls and got some talking time in. She and J headed to the rec center for swim this afternoon and J had a ball. This evening was fun! We watched Christmas movies and I may have horrified Granddad with Bad Moms' Christmas. I'm for sure getting the coal next year.
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(12/29) We headed on home mid morning and I took the boys to WinCo for snacks since they were starving. They video-gamed the rest of the day and Dad and I got a jump on our shows that have been piling up.
(12/30) Dad and C took his car up to Rob's to change out the spark plugs and I stayed home and got started taking down Christmas before clocking in to do a half day of work. Dad and C went to the hockey game tonight to celebrate Rob's birthday. The twinsies and I had a quiet night and I caught up on some shows.
(12/31) I put away the rest of Christmas today and we had my brother's family over this afternoon. Dad cooked up some delicious fried turkey sliders for dinner and we had fun playing Joking Hazard while the kids were out of earshot. After they left we watched comedies until it was time for the countdown. We toasted the new year and then headed up to bed.
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(1/1) I slept in this morning and the boys and I had a pretty lazy day. Sarah and I went for a coffee walk this afternoon and then I played Tetris in our garage with our decoration tubs. Everything's all put away and the house is put back together again. I had to dig up our apple trees this year before they got too big and began interfering with our water lines. Thankfully Rob and Mel offered to take them and it was good to chat with them when they stopped by to collect them this afternoon.
(1/2) Today was the boys' and my last day of break. I slept in and went for the last walk with Sarah in the daylight before we go back to our dark-thirty walks tomorrow. Dad went and picked up a senior doggo who will be with us until Old Dog Haven has room for him. Poor buddy got a bath first thing because he smelled so bad I couldn't take it. He seems to be settling in just fine and hopefully will have a permanent home soon.
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(1/3) Back to the grind. I got up early and went walking with Sarah before working from home today. It was pretty rough for the boys to settle back in to the school routine. Hopefully it'll get easier as the week moves along. I worked on organizing my digital photos for several hours this evening (the boys were so wee!) and watched the news of the House trying to elect a new speaker, which was quite entertaining for this news junkie.
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(1/4) I had the day off and finally made it back to the gym. Between the weather and everything else going on, I don't think I made it there at all last month. After class, I came home to watch the chaos that is the House of Representatives try again to elect a speaker. They didn't succeed so Groundhog Day will continue tomorrow. The boys had decent days today and I took them to WinCo for their Wednesday treats. D was excited and scored some Runts, which we haven't had in forever.
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(1/6) I woke up at 6:30am to make sure C got off to school, fed and pottied the dogs, and then attempted to get a few more minutes of sleep before needing to get the twins up. After everybody left for the day, I conked back out for a few hours until I felt more human. I drove Nanan back home and got her situated before returning home myself. We watched more of the not-Kevin show until they finally managed to clinch it on the 15th try, and then turned it off to watch something else.
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(1/7) Dad and I went out for an early birthday date day. We went thrifting (because yes we are those people) and then hit Bad Dog to pick up a bottle of one of Dad's faves. Then we went to Elemental Cider for lunch and may have brought some cider back with us. Dad made us a fancy dinner and D was in heaven. He loves ribs.
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(1/8) The boys and I had a pretty lazy day today. Our poor loafie-girl doesn't like to go outside when it is raining, and it rained nearly all day. My phone said there would be a break around 10am so I met Sarah for a walk, but yeah, there was no break. I tried the loaf outside again after we got back and still nada. She just goes around the side of the house, sits with her ears flat out to the side, and acts very put out. I was futzing with my plants today and moved a shelf I hadn't in a long while. I discovered a trove of Otterpop wrappers, all three of Cass' missing balls, and a stack of taco shells (I'm thinking someone thought they would make a good snack?).
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(1/9) Monday sure came around early. We all had had work and school today. When I went to get the boys this afternoon, it was right during a rain/hail squall and we all came home soaked to the bone.
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(1/10) I worked from home today and Dad and the boys were off at work and school. Our foster boy, Chip, was adopted today by an Old Dog Haven home. He was so excited and danced out the door. He's a sweetie, and we'll miss his lil mop face around here. In less happy news, Oma had a bad fall and was hospitalized this morning. She's in stable condition, but is sleeping a lot.
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(1/11) I had the day off today and met Nanan at the clinic for a follow-up visit. We went to lunch afterward and had a good talk. Aging is certainly not for the faint of heart and today was full of heavy. Nanan sent home Christmas prezzies for everyone. She gave me a box of mini succulents and I put them together in a planter. They turned out cute! I'm glad Dad was able to work from home this afternoon and hold down the fort. He did the Wednesday WinCo run with the boys. J has asked to get salads the last few times (along with his candy). Cracks us up!
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(1/12) It was dumping buckets when I woke up for my walk so I went back to sleep for a few more minutes. Toffee, predictably, didn't want to go out in the yuck and waited to do her business all over the floor at the vets when she went in for her annual check-up today. Oh, Loafie... I worked in the building today and knocked off a little early to go donate blood on my way home. There were some emergency repairs done to the highway today which had traffic snarled for hours. I got stuck in the mess for over an hour trying to go less than 12 miles. Dad took the boys for haircuts after school and it took them a half hour to get there, and the salon is in the same city. Craziness!
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(1/13) Sarah and I went for a very damp walk this morning before work. I went in to the building this morning and went home at lunch so I could attend a school meeting, and then I worked the rest of my shift from home. We're back to two days in beginning next week.
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(1/15) The boys and I had a pretty lazy Sunday. Sarah and I went for a walk this morning and J was anxiously waiting to bake brownies when I got home. I've been binge watching The Walking Dead. I had given it up a few years ago, and now that it has ended, I was curious how the show wrapped up. J did NOT like the show and would go through the room covering his ears so he wouldn't hear anything.
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(1/16) The boys and I had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr Day. I got my chores done that I had put off from over the weekend. J even volunteered to clean the bathroom and took a shower without complaint. He's saving his allowance money so he can buy a house once he's done with middle school. I admire the dream, kid.
(1/17) We're back to working in the building again. I left early and Dad dropped the kiddos at school before heading to work. He even snuck out for a few minutes to drive the twins and pizza home.
(1/18) Happy birthday to Dad! He took the day off and we went out for a sushi lunch (don't tell the kids) and to a hockey game this evening. The Tips won in overtime again! I bought a cheesecake sampler for dessert and we all enjoyed.
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(1/19) I worked in the building today and the boys had school. Dad had the day off and went to pick up our newest foster pup, Pita. He was pretty scared of the males in the house, but was so excited to make friends with me. Dad and I went to a comedy show at the Side Hustle this evening to see Andrew Rivers and some of the other comedians that he brought along. We laughed a lot and enjoyed our evening.
(1/20) I "slept in" this morning til 6:30a and saw C off to the bus and fed the puppies. I worked from home today, which was nice but it felt like such a long day. When 5p finally showed it's face, I was more than happy to shut 'er down. Dad made a fancy dinner of ribs and picked up a pie from the Pie Co for dessert. Yummo!
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(1/21) Ugh. I woke up not feeling so hot and decided to test myself. Dammit! Looks like a boring weekend for us on tap.
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(1/22) I spent a pretty lazy day at home. The Chihuahua squad did their best to make sure I didn't float away. I read a lot, watched some TV, and stayed away from the kiddos.
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(1/23) I'll be working from home this week. I'm feeling fine--just a little run down. Poor D had an awful day at school, but we did have some good conversation about how he's feeling about school. Our convo brought out the mama bear and I was all set to have some words with the school. I sat on it though and decided to respond tomorrow. I could not sleep for the life of me tonight. I don't know if it was covid, or my brain trying to work out what to say, or what, but tomorrow is going to require a whole lot of caffeine.
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(1/24) Boo. J came down feeling cruddy and sure enough, he has covid too. I'm glad I waited on the D issue because I definitely only had his side of the equation. I think it's all sorted now. The talk we had yesterday must have helped and D had an amazing day. Woohoo for that!
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(1/25) I had the day off and spent the day at home reading over Granddad's Storyworth stories to get his book ready. I've loved reading his stories over the last couple of years and am excited to have them all in one place! Dad came home not feeling so hot today. His test was negative, but we think we know where this is headed. Harrumph.
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(1/26) I worked from home today, Dad & J were home too and D & C went to school. The nice thing about working from home when you're not feeling well is that you can crash during your lunch break. That was pretty much my day today.
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(1/27) Dad went and got a PCR this morning which confirmed what we already knew. Blah. He can go back on Tuesday. I worked from home today and D went to school. D came down coughing after he'd gone up to bed tonight. Ugh. Looks like none of us are going anywhere this weekend.
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(1/28) D kicked this morning off with a monster nose bleed. He gets them easily anyway and the poor guy is all sniffly today which definitely didn't help. He pulled out the oil diffuser I got for Christmas and excitedly set it all up and found out it changes colors too. I'm breaking out the eucalyptus for this crowd!
(1/29) We were all home today. Dad worked his shift from home and the boys and I had a quiet Sunday. I did get out midday to walk with Sarah. It was beautiful out ~ one of those brisk, sunny days that help break up the dark/gray around here during the winter. I had virtual book club this afternoon and we all really enjoyed this month's read: Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. I, of course, added to my list to read and now just need a few more hours in the day for the next oh about 30 years should do it.
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(1/30) Dad and I worked from home today, J and C had school, and D will be off for most of the week. I took Pita in for his neuter and dental today. I rummaged around and managed to find Noodle's old e-collar for him, and we had one sad lampshade home with us tonight. His breath already smells so much better! Poor little dude though; that was a lot.
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(1/31) I tested negative yesterday and am symptom-free so I went back into the building to work. Dad worked from home and hung out with D. It was nice to see everyone again! Since it was Tuesday, my day was full of meetings and my brain was mush by the time the day ended. Dad picked up pizza as is our usual and he is officially free from quarantine. J's queen ant arrived, so we set up the terrarium and attached the test tube. We will hopefully have more ants in a few weeks. He is SO excited.
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(2/1) I'm off today, and D is on his last day of isolation. Dad got to go in to work today and J and C had school. C drove me to the store to pick up sushi in addition to the normal Wednesdays at WinCo fare.
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