Ordinary Time

It never fails. You go along thinking that you have this parenting-thing figured out, that you are on the top of your game, and something happens to knock you down a peg or two. Specifically, two weeks ago, I was feeling pretty good about my relationship with R., with how R. was doing, and how we had really turned a corner in doing life together. And then right before Thanksgiving, she had a really hard night. That felt like a set-back, but the next night she slept well again and we had a lovely and peaceful holiday. So far, so good. Thanksgiving night she was up a bit. Friday night she was also up a bit and life during the day wasn't going quite as smoothly. This all continued until by the beginning of this week, life was not good at night and not good during the day. Nothing I did seemed to make any difference. She was back to acting as though my mere presence was an afront she couldn't cope with. And I was sleep deprived and feeling pretty darn despondent. I'll also say ...

Last Friday, the day we had planned to get the Christmas tree, we had to first get the loom out of the van, into the house, and up the stairs. It's a good thing D. was home. As I mentioned, this loom is heavy. It's probably at least 300 pounds. No one was excited about taking it up the stairs.  Between, J., D., K., and I, we managed it. K. and J. Were at the front pulling and D. and I were in the back pushing (or more precisely just stopping it from falling back down) and by taking it a step at a time, we made it to the top. It is still somewhat disassembled and probably will remain that way until after Christmas. I have figured out a few of the pieces that need replacing, but until I can try to put it together I won't know the full extent. There are brake gears in a box, so I am guardedly hopeful that they are mostly there. It feels a little daunting, I'll admit, but also exciting.  Figuring out how to store it. The main body of the loom. In the box are hundreds of hed...

We seem to have squeezed in a whole lot of holiday activities over the weekend. On Friday, we went to get our tree. Between the drive to Wisconsin last Monday and my drive to Iowa yesterday, we didn't feel quite up for another long drive to our regular tree cutting place. (Plus, while R. slept the night before Thanksgiving, she hasn't slept since and J. and I are increasingly running on fumes.) So we decided to try a different tree place that was significantly closer to us. The best thing I can say about it is that we didn't pay a lot for the tree. We did end up with a tree, a much smaller tree than we are used to, but everyone agreed that we didn't want to try to go somewhere else. We didn't even take any pictures of the process this year. Now we know that our usual place is well worth the drive, so we'll plan better next year. But the tree is bought and sitting on our front porch ready to be decorated next weekend. Christmas music is out and has been on nearly...

(Cue Mission Impossible music) Your mission should you choose to accept it: Drive to Iowa, pick up a full beef plus a quarter from you brother, return home, and try to fit the meat into your freezer. This message will probably not self-destruct. If it does, I think you have an issue with your electronic device. I did accept the mission and headed out at 8:00 this morning for Iowa. I met my brother and sister-in-law, transferred several hundred pounds of frozen meat ( grass raised on their transitioning to organic farm ) from their coolers to my coolers, visited for a bit in the warmer-than-usual weather, and headed home.  Three-quarters of that beef were for another of my brother's customers in the Chicago area and a half was for us. It filled up two large coolers, two small coolers, and three insulated tote bags.  But even with that half, I was not entirely sure that I was going to get it to fit into here. The first thing I did was to completely empty the freezer so I could s...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and day after. Yes, R. slept. We had everyone here (plus some guests) except for W. and MC, who were at MC's parent's. We did have their dog, Magpie, however.  Some pictures of the day, mostly thanks to J.'s aunt who was much more diligent about picture taking than I was. The table was set. Followed by a bonfire. Hot d'oeuvres Dinner And watching A Child's Christmas in Wales.

Sad sound number one: Yesterday the dishwasher part arrived in the mail, which was exciting because there was a chance that the dishwasher could be working in time for Thanksgiving. J. spent the evening replacing the part, thought he had done it correctly, and so turned on the dishwasher. The sad sound was water pouring out of the dishwasher all across the kitchen floor. It was a very sad sound. It was even sadder when it happened a second time after J. thought he had figured out what was wrong. Water running across the kitchen floor is never a happy sound. Sad sound number two: After having wiped up all the water I heard R.'s unique and PTSD inducing shriek from her bed. This particular shriek never bodes well. Never. I went up and got her calmed down... twice. The second time she actually fell back asleep while I was sitting on her bed with her. She has never done that before. But then both J. and I were up in the middle of the night, with me finally bringing her into our bed so ...

I'm writing this in the van heading home from Milwaukee. (J. is driving, don't worry.) We also have D. and K. in the van along with us. And what were we four doing in Milwaukee? Well, also in the van is this... The photo doesn't actually tell you very much, does it? This is a partially disassembled Macomber 12-shaft loom which was selling for a relative song. It probably needs a few parts replaced, but the company is still in business and sells parts.  It's very heavy because is 56 inches wide and is solid wood. And I did mention those 12 shafts, right? Twelve!! That's more than I actually know what to do with at this moment. (I can just use four of them while I figure that out.) Anyway, it's very heavy and that's why D. and K. we're press ganged into helping. I think once we get home it's just going to stay in the van until everyone has the energy to take it out of the van, get it in the house, and carried to the second floor where it is going to li...