I love Kiva's (relatively) new program that allows money from partially-paid loans to be put back into the lender's account immediately for use. It feels like a multiplying effect on the loans I make. I usually only have to add $10-25 each month to my account in order to make a new loan and I use whatever "credit" has been repaid the previous month to finance the rest. It feels like nothing out of my pocket....and this is coming from a true penny pincher.
I suddenly feel like I live at a Rocky Mountain ski resort. Thirty-three inches of snow in Reston this past weekend, with a second storm (this one officially a blizzard) likely to bring us another foot by day's end. Then we'll have a break this weekend with more snow expected on Monday.
It has been quite an adventure. We lost power for a better part of the weekend. I have to literally climb a snow drift and slide down on my *ss in order to reach our grocery store and then pray that it's open and there is food on the shelves. We haven't seen our mail carrier, garbage service or newspaper in days. In fact, our mailbox is buried in a huge drift of snow. Hopefully, we don't have any unpaid bills lying frozen inside. Oh yeah, and school.....oh dear school how I love you and miss you so. My kids haven't been to school for so long they probably won't be able to recognize their teachers when they finally come back.
The past week has been at different moments.....a relaxing, unexpected vacation, great memories made with our kids, anxiety for a husband who has had to be in the newsroom at various points during the week, a huge test of my parental patience, and precious time to complete projects before my own job gets more and more demanding over the next few months.
A few of the things I want to remember....
*the boys loving the snow tunnels made by the neighbor kids in back of us *making Asher put on a bike helmet so he could do his extreme sledding on the snow banks *the boys needing hot chocolate and cookies EVERY time they venture outside, even if they're only gone for five minutes *lots of board games and Asher making up new rules for games so Noe could more easily play *RCC opening up the pool across the street from our house yesterday. It felt so good to get some real exercise and get out of the house. Noe must have floated on his back in a state of Zen for an entire hour. *looking out my front window late last night and seeing Ed paying a cab and then trudging through the snow towards our house (we thought he would be working downtown and staying at a hotel until Thursday). *our picnic dinner of bagels, carrots and hummus and pop tarts over candle light last weekend when we were sans electricity.
There are a few things I don't want to remember as well.....but overall, we've been fortunate. That we can all be in the house together for so long and not kill each other is pretty good in itself .
Asher has already finished making Valentines for his entire class. Such a planner that kid.
I am already signing kids up for summer camps and planning our Disneyextravaganza in June. It seems light years away.
if I had made any New Years resolutions, I surely would have broken them by now. As it is, I am already behind on training for my first triathlon in April.
Ed is officially 11 months away from being vested in his company's defined benefits pension plan. I'm the daughter of a pension actuary, so that's just the way I roll. (Plus, I am still a little bitter that we missed the vesting period at the NY Times by just a few months).
we've already had four snow storms this winter, with another monster storm on the way this weekend. This morning I took the boys on a hike down to our neighborhood lake and we trudged through snow in order to reach the lake which was completely frozen over. I remember when Ed and I were discussing our possible move to DC and he asked me about the winters. I, having lived through a single snowless winter in DC after my college graduation replied, "It's the South, they rarely get snow."
today marks our 3rd anniversary of homeownership. I would like a divorce.
asher got a great job at the diving board today he float on his back and swim across the pool he on tuesday nolan jump in the pool asher will talk m r' rose that he got a great job at the diving board on thursday but nolan wanted to go fast as asher when he swim
Proudly, the Washington Post is our preschool's top pick for its art projects and gerbil cage liner. We had a good laugh seeing the Reliable Source page hanging from the art easel after taking Asher to school the other day (see middle headline regarding Captain Sulley's smooth landings in bed).
This NY Times article has really been on my mind lately. I'm not ready to drop seven large so my kid can experience outdoor kindergarten when there is a really wonderful public school two blocks away, but I can appreciate the philosophy and think it would be a wonderful experience for any young child.
Instead, I've been thinking about how to incorporate more outdoor time in our lives. In the other three seasons of the year, it's a given. Come winter, we tend to hibernate indoors. Warning to my children: Bundle up and thicken that warm Latino blood 'cause we are headed outside!
Because Noe prefers doughnuts to cake, and because Ed works evenings, we held a breakfast celebration in his honor. This was the first year that Noe has blown out his own birthday candles. For his first couple years of life, he didn't have the oral-motor ability to blow on command. For the past few years, he just wasn't interested. This year, he loved hearing us sing to him and he loved seeing our excitement when he blew out his candle. Such a simple thing for most kids, but not for Noe. There were some tears shed and a few thankful prayers said that morning (all from Ed....I was cool).
