snow day!

a lot of folks up here in the pacific northwest got a snow day today.  last night it snowed almost 20 inches where i live, which is tremendous for us.  i didn't have to go to work early today, but i knew i had patients so i got up and took my shower and frowned around the house for a while, until my tech called and said the two patients we had scheduled for today had canceled. suddenly, i had the day off, and that frown seemed kind of ridiculous.  the kids also had the day off, and D had the day off, so there was a whole lot of loafing going on over here.  it was great.  we pulled our old futon mattress out into the living room, watched movies, drank cheladas (dear whoever invented the chelada, i love you!), made a giant pot of bean soup, and did i mention the lazing about?!  the girlchild built tunnels in the snow for most of the day, the cat went a bit stir crazy, and the boychik went out for a bike ride to see what sort of shape the rest of the neighborhood was in.  that gave D and i some alone time, ahem, and i have to say, being a grown up on a snow day is AWESOME.  truly.  our schedules have been wonky lately, and getting two minutes alone with D at any time has been kind of a miracle; having a whole hour or so to ourselves this afternoon felt downright decadent.  i know that a lot of parents and couples have that feeling, and those moments when you realize that for weeks all you've been talking about has been kids and bills and what's for dinner, and then suddenly you can talk about other stuff, and it's like "oh yeah, this is why we started dating!"  having a grown up conversation about anything else feels so novel.  today's topics were food concessions, geodesic housing, and i admit, we snuck in a little talk of bills and wedding planning.  it was really, really nice.

it was also my pop's birthday today, and while part of me was sad (of course) i was glad i could stay home with my little family and be sad with them.  when he was born, my grandmother was terribly ill with a bout of tuberculosis.  in fact, when she realized she was pregnant with him, her doctors all advised her strongly not to go through with the pregnancy because she was already so sick.  in 1948, if a doctor advised you (out loud) in the midwest to terminate your pregnancy, you had to be seriously unwell.  the day he was born, right afterward they swept her off to a sanitarium and sent him to live with an aunt who already had nine of her own children; but she always said pop was her 10th.  he was there for six months before his mother was well enough to even see him.  he was a wanted baby, though, and everyone did what they could to take care of him while my grandmother was sick.  if he were alive today, i would have bought him some candy he liked, some sort of toy or something ridiculous.  he wasn't much for big gifts; he liked weird, small things.  i drew him a birthday card one year with a robot on the front and he always kept it tucked in the china hutch behind his seat at the kitchen table.  that sort of thing was what he dug, and i appreciated that.  i wish i could have called him today and told him to have a good day, and sent him something dumb in the mail (like those cadbury fruit and nut bars! he loved those), but having a dinner he would have liked and remembering him was pretty good too.  i have days where remembering him doesn't hurt so badly, but days like today are kind of a challenge.  being able to stay home and enjoy the snow made it easier.