It seems as though Old Man Winter is really leaving his mark on Kansas this year. Snow lays in piles everywhere, ice covers the streets and it has been bitterly COLD this past week (so much for wishing for the 60s). With all the snow and minus temperatures, school was cancelled Wednesday, Thursday and Friday--making it feel like Christmas break all over again! It was wonderful! We spent some lazy days, not having to run anywhere and do much of anything because all of it was cancelled. Unfortunately, the cold made it hard for the girls to enjoy the beautiful snow, but on the one day we had temperatures into the teens, they ventured outside to play in the perfect snow in the backyard--the kind that you want to make snow angels in, it's just so perfect, without any footprints.
Kierst, in her normal dramatic fashion, laid down in the snow, protesting our cruelty at forcing her to play outside--I think she's really a warm weather person, and I really don't blame her--it was cold; however, it was time to get some exercise:) I think she was waiting for us to tell her it was fine to come inside, but in true stick-to-your-guns parent fashion we waited it out and a few minutes later she was happily building a wall of snow.
With such cold weather this week, it really hit me how truly blessed I am. We have a warm house, out of the cold, with fireplaces that have been merrily blazing, we have been basking in their warmth all week. We have warm coats and warm boots and pants and if we didn't have them, well, we have the ability to go to the store and buy them (something that hit Kierst with understanding this year when she saw the bags of socks and underclothes we had purchased for a family adopted by Chris' practice for Christmas--when she understood that people needed just the basics of life that we take so much for granted, I think her eyes were open a little and she became more appreciative of what she really has). I'm grateful for a garage. When Chris was in medical school we lived in townhouses and didn't have a garage. Many winter mornings we'd chip ice off the windshield and wait for the car to heat up and it was freezing (and we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to get to the car, but that's another story, hee hee). And I'm grateful that Chris doesn't have to drive downtown to work--I always worried about him driving up hospital hill during fellowship when I knew the roads were icy and frozen and just plain trecherous--now his drive is short and even if the roads are bad, they're usually better than the ones downtown. I'm grateful for Chris shoveling (no snowblower) our driveway, walkway, and the street around Tiffanie's car (so she could easily get out) in the freezing weather after he had worked a long, 10-hour day. I'm grateful for cozy nights surrounded by my husband and children. Really, this week I feel grateful for the little things, too, like hot chocolate and ice melt and new tires.
And I'm really really grateful that we don't live any further north, where these kind of temperatures are the norm (I'm from the sun belt of Idaho, remember, we get snow, but not that much and it's never this cold). O.K., little story here about why I'm so grateful for this: When Chris interviewed for residencies, we drove with his friend, Dan, who was also interviewing, to a place in Wisconsin--Marshfield, Wisconsin, which is located about 2 hours from any major metropolitian area, and what I mean by that is any town bigger than 20,000. We drove through winding roads lined with enormous pine trees, absolutely beautiful, and lake after lake, which, this being January, had little shacks set up for ice fishing. While Chris and Dan interviewed the following day, I checked out the town. I finished that in about 10 minutes. Now I have nothing against living in a small town--if there's some sunshine and it's warm and I can spend lots of time outside--there's always a lot to do, or at least I can always find a lot to do. Throw in a beach to boot and I'm in heaven. But in Wassau, it had to be about -10 all day long and the wind blew. Hard. I pretty much froze the whole day. Chris love love loved the program and hospital--it was a regional center and I'll admit, a really good program, in fact, he wanted to put it at the top of his list, but all I could think about was being stuck inside a house all winter long with kids. Needless to say, it didn't make it onto the top of our list, thanks to the good husband I have who knew that if I were miserable, then everyone else would be too. Now that you know the story, you know that I am very very grateful to be living where I am.
On a completely different note I forgot to put post a couple of things: The day after Christmas I took the girls to see the Nutcracker at the Music Hall. With Chris working and all the Christmas craziness over, it was the perfect time to go. One of Kierst's friends was performing in it, too, which made it extra fun. After being in Clara's Dream, Abs and Kierst were really captivated by the entire show. Lisi had a harder time sitting through it, but maybe next year it will be better:)
Kierst also had a strings performance at the beginning of Dec. She did a great job!
No comments:
Post a Comment