Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The Week So Far

It was a quiet Sunday in the nursery. Michael, Stacia and I were happy to play with the sweeties at a ratio of 1:1. LOL 

Michael has been working on the logistics of creating a float for Colony Christmas. Krista has been working on manning the float....a bit of candy is coming in, people have been volunteered, and after church costumes were selected. 
Backs purposefully chosen....as I didn't get permission to use the photo of minors
 Josiah stopped by to pick up a costume after which we headed for lunch and home. Jamin took advantage of the cute puppies to attempt cute footage for his business channel.

Puppies aren't supposed to be upstairs, but Benny has taught them to climb the stairs....who can resist a cute puppy?

A good gal friend and I were able to fit in one more "coffee date" before Christmas. Michael drove me and took my van to get the tire repaired. Her husband brought her and ran errands....the bottom line being we even snatched time for all 4 of us to visit. Win win.  OH! Two screws found in my tire. I have no idea where they came from.

Two things of note have happened to change this week's plans. We had another windstorm - which brought with it warmer temps. Our snow is gone again....with the exception of this little start of the sled hill. It's beginning to look like a BROWN CHRISTMAS. We are set to have the warmest winter on record....evidently the 51* in Anchorage is the warmest day EVER on record for this time of the year. Odd year.

The other thing of note is some silly bug in the basement....Benny woke with a fever on Monday and Arielle came down with it Tuesday. My theory is it hasn't gotten cold enough to KILL THE GERMS.

When Arielle is sick, Stacia gets to go be a nanny in her place. The spot is 30 min from my home....that takes 2 hours out of the day to drive her there and pick her up. It IS a beautiful drive. She enjoys the time and $.

Look who made it up the stairs again? 

Michael and I decided to leave the table as it was at the tea. We don't usually need 8 seats at the table, and it may be easier to put the tables up for extended family with the table oriented this way. We'll live with it a bit and see what we think.

Michael entertained us with Advent wreath tricks after dinner. From Facebook comments I discovered this is a common Advent trick for Dads everywhere. LOL  Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't like the length of the video....which may be another vote for actually starting the YouTube channel again.....in my spare time. 

Tuesday dawned bright, warm, and windless. Carl and Michael took the panel outside to spray paint it....

Earlier, I drove Stacia up beyond Norman St.....Arielle sent a text as I drove, "Be careful. Miranda's area is extremely icy." 

Hmmm....it wasn't too bad - or so I believed. I pulled up behind that little car and slid back down...twice.
 
The roads were pretty good except for the 1 1/2 miles of gravel road ....off  Norman....sheer ice.... I made it to drop Stacia off.....and then I had to go BACK to the main road - UP a sheer icy incline. I learned the van has all sorts of bells and whistles to let one know they are sliding. I pondered WHY car manufacturers would believe one needs the DISTRACTION of those bells and whistles whilst sliding.  I made it. By the time I got to the "main road" - which is really two or three streets from the Glenn Hwy - which is THE MAIN ROAD -  I was all prayed up and had discovered myself to be quite demonstrative in prayer when  properly motivated.

Michael drove out to pick Stacia up and I took these photos. He agreed it was bad...but pointed out they had put a gravel strip all the way down the shoulder and even if I did start to slide off the road, it would have stopped the van. Or so he believes.....I didn't notice it.

Bre had invited the girls and I to a White Christmas tea. We would watch the movie and enjoy some refreshment....Arielle was sick - we skipped the movie, I grabbed Dad, and we met at Bre's for tea and goodies.

I made some sugar free cookies - which were good. I tried some peanut butter/cream cheese truffles that I'm not so sure about. I'll dip them in the sugar free chocolate before making a final decision. I suspect they are keto fat bombs as they are very fatty and not so sweet. LOL  Anyway - I had a couple of sugar options for Dad and I. He does not avail himself of the sugar free options - though other family members DO like the cookies so all is not lost.

Sugar coma? No, Gideon does this at every meal. 

I got home and found the trailer inside the garage (a feat in itself) and Michael assembling pieces....the wind put us a day behind schedule so no lights yet....

We were all VERY tired after dinner and went right to bed. LOL  Early this a.m. we heard that Miranda's little one is throwing up....so Stacia doesn't have to work today. She is happy. I am happy. We're all happy!  Just a normal Wednesday.....

I had planned to have some moms with preschool kids over to decorate sugar cookies, but this close to Christmas with this bug running through the house, caused a change in plans. 

I suddenly realized it's the 11th of December - so I guess I'll pay bills instead. LOL I don't know why a new month always sneaks up on me.