It's been one year since we moved to Virgina; we had our Virginia-versary last week. Then, ironically, we had
a do-over of our MLK week from last year: a rash of back-to-back snow days. The way it worked last year was this:
We arrived at the house last January on Wednesday. We unpacked and got organized from then through the following Monday, which was MLK Day. Then the kids started school - first day! - on Tuesday. Big news. But short-lived… because Wed, Thurs, and Fri were all snow days. So their 4-day school week turned into a 1-day school week, and we basically had to have a do-over first-day-of-school the following week.
It was hard. The
whole first half of the year was hard, but
the start - what I've been remembering so much this week - was hard too. We knew
no one. Our house and household were barely functional; mess and chaos were pervasive. We had no outlets or community or routine.
I've thought so much about it, because this time around has been so different. So very much better. Such irony that on exactly the same holiday, the circumstances have been so nearly identical one year later. Tuesday it began snowing around 1 pm; school had already been canceled (of course). It snowed 3 inches before midnight. But school has been canceled ever since. They don't really plough here - not much anyway - and there are so many dirt roads. Little has melted due to below-freezing temps. Result: 3 inches of snow, and 4 days off of school. (Schools are still closed today, because there's too much ice on the country roads for buses to run.)
Our homeschool-hybrid follows the town for weather-related closures, so our kids have had the whole week off "school" too. But this time it's been fine. Wednesday we had some local friends over for 4 or 5 hours (two boys 10 and 12, and a 4-year-old girl). Thursday Monkey went over to his fellow cub scout friend's house for the day, and Roo and Goose visited other friends' girls for the afternoon while Mouse napped and I worked. And this morning we had our homeschool co-op, so it was a normal Friday.
I am so thankful. So thankful to have a life and enough contacts and community now to not feel stranded and isolated. So thankful to have a house that "works" and feels cosy and home-like. So thankful for the difference a year can make.
And of course -- the snow has been nice. Beautiful and somewhat fun - though it's been too powdery to build anything (snowmen or snowballs), and too shallow to dig into much. We don't have sleds, and they sold out fast in town, so we didn't do much of that. It's also been so darn cold outside that the young set doesn't last out there very long anyway.
Some wintry pics:
It's been one year since we moved to Virgina; we had our Virginia-versary last week. Then, ironically, we had a do-over of our MLK week from last year: a rash of back-to-back snow days. The way it worked last year was this:
We had a flood... a real flood. Noah's ark over here! Lost power and water (water is powered electrically because we're on a well) during a thunderstorm on Sun night 6/2. A faucet was left open during in-the-dark, no-water evening teeth brushing by children. At 3 AM when the power came on, the faucet started running, overflowing the sink... Till 6:30 AM when we got up. It soaked the floor and subfloor in that room and 4 adjacent spaces and dripped through to the basement. Thankfully, insurance is paying for all restoration related to this "incident."
All kinds of headway and fun happening in these parts lately! We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend in which we picked strawberries at a nearby berry farm and made shortcake for dessert; HF repainted his newly-purchased commuter motorcycle (bought from his fellow gear-head Joe last week) and completed the wiring in the living room (hooray!); the girls and I attended a last-minute family gathering in MD to celebrate cousin Julie's recent marriage; and we hosted our old friends the Johnson for a cook-out-and-play day on Monday. Our combined seven children had a great time playing together; nerf guns were a particular hit for the boys. The cook-out required a grill, which gave us the push we needed to actually purchase one over the weekend - so pleased to have that done. The weather was cool and sunny, and we had a couple of backyard fires too - added bonus.
