...yesterday, Kathryn had to get a few groceries, but we wanted to do something fun with the kids. How about the zoo, I thought, perfect when the high temperature is 15 degrees (-9c), with a brisk wind. We don't have to do the outside part...then I looked it up, and wow, the admission prices are slashed for January and February. Kathryn, Camille, the three kids and I got in for $16! We took our time, and it was quite enjoyable.
The kids know there are penguins at the zoo, and the penguin exhibit is not part of the inside enclosure. Kathryn and Camille bundled them up and took them on the walk in the cold, while I stayed inside so nicely and watched our iced americanos and chocolate milks. (The new cafe there is quite good, but we brought our own snacks). They came back all rosy cheeked and disappointed, the penguins weren't out. It's not a terrible thing to go out in the freezing cold for a bit though, as soon as we got in the car, they were asleep.
We have had some winter weather here. On Saturday, Paul needed to get some new wipers for his truck, and I needed some for my car, so he was going out to the hardware store. I mentioned we needed coffee cream, so we went together to the small city. The main roads were clear except for where the wind blows the snow across, that can get treacherous, and it was windy. We were driving south of Weedsport, when all of the sudden, coming in the other lane towards us, a Jeep lost control in that snow across the road, and actually went airborne! I have never seen anything like it. It landed sideways, skidded all the way down across the edge of the road in the snow, came to a halt right before it smashed into a house...it happened so quickly, and we were astonished, just shocked. We drove by so slowly, mindful of the blowing snow in the road, then realized we should have stopped to see if they were okay! (We didn't turn around, thought by then other people would be there...)
On Sunday, some of the kids came over, and Paul made his venison chili. He made me a bench!
(Yes, there's one stray shiny gold ornament under there, and a basket for computer cords, Paul puts his laptop in there when it's not in use). But isn't that cool? I'll show you a picture later of how it looks in the living room, now there are too many little odds and ends around...a football under the Ikea chair, a screwdriver, a pen, and a glasses wipe in a little foil pouch, three Christmas towels that have been washed and folded and have to be packed away, and a big magnifying glass the grandkids were playing with. There's a light sabre on the ottoman, and a dollhouse chair, and a Calvin and Hobbs book, and at least three dog toys on the floor, along with random pieces of stuffing from one of them, Sunny killed it.
And, I'm feeling lazy. I have had a really sore throat that seems to be on the mend now. I did skip the pool yesterday morning. The other night, I couldn't sleep because it seemed like a lump in my throat with a razor blade in it, so I wandered in here and had a spoon of raw honey, some ibuprofen, and a eucalyptus cough drop. I didn't get any fevers like the kids did, but I did feel a bit tired and achy. Now, not so much, but I still feel lazy, although it's hard to determine if that's just me, or the dark cold snowy winter.
Charlotte Claire made it back to Germany, safe and sound. I miss her too much, it was so super nice to have her here.
This coming weekend, we're having a birthday party for little Miss Ophelia, she's turning five. She wants spaghetti and meatballs and a unicorn cake. Isn't that, for some reason, just so sweet you don't know whether to smile or cry? They just are so innocent, and they grow up so fast. Emily is turning forty next week...and I'm 59, not all that far apart anymore, ha. I remember the day she turned five, and Paul told her she wasn't allowed, she had to stay four. Little did we know how quickly she actually would grow up, if we thought getting to five went fast. jeepers.
You grow up thinking old people are old people, not really realizing that they are just people who got old. When they nattered on about back in my day...you assumed it was ancient history, and irrelevant. Shh, even my own mother seemed so OLD to me when I was growing up. When Emily was born, she talked about how she gave her babies a teaspoon of orange juice, taped a quarter on the belly button stump to make sure it was an innie, fed them formula made with powdered milk and corn syrup...used cloth diapers with pins and rubber pants, which I did too, for the first six, and when my kids roll their eyes, I know exactly how they feel. Ancient history, and irrelevant.
Whenever I'm tempted to complain about aches and pains and getting older, I try to remind myself how lucky I am to be around, and to just keep moving and be thankful for the days. I am seeing that I'm rambling here, because I know I need to get up and do some things, this is my prime procrastination fuel, just rambling. So have a really good day!
2 comments:
The pics of the kids at the zoo are so cute!
I LOVE the bench that Paul made!!!
You are so right about old people being people who got old. We do tend to think of them as being so different, but the older I get, the more I see that's not true.
The bench is beautiful! Wow! Hope whoever was in the accident in the Jeep is ok - that sounds so scary!
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