We are definitely stuck in a weather rut: misty skies call for ice crystals on tree branches. Gray clouds give the impression of early dusk all day long.
On the upside, there is a bit of magic outside. I mean, the trees!
Ed had spent half the night fixing our forty year old (maybe even older) dryer because my daughter's dryer was completely out and they had boatloads of wet kid clothes that would benefit from a spin in our old machine. (Our old machine isn't exactly broken, but it could use adjustments. Such were made somewhere between 3 and 4 in the morning.) For this reason, I did not wake him for an early breakfast with me.
And it is early. The kids are coming and the ship must sail forth smoothly!
It's the first day of school in the new year for Snowdrop and she has a new schedule -- one that appears to include more teacher time, though there are still additional online assignments that must be done as well. The teacher class time is actually quite okay today.
The online assignment though is mind-numbingly boring, but of course, much of school work is boring. Still, in a classroom, there is some satisfaction in completing work sheets handed out by a class monitor. There is no satisfaction from watching the word "this" jump around a tablet screen, supposedly twisting and kicking its way into a child's consciousness. I think we're supposed to record something -- the little girl tells me. Are you? I don't think so. I think you're good. Click the check mark.
I mean, I wasn't going to go back and read the instructions again. I just wasn't.
In between the lessons, the kids play and, too, we dig into the book stack, bringing out some favorites about mysterious happenings in the course of a school snow day, and adding some new ones for Sparrow to get him unhooked from old favorites that he just wants too many times each day.
We could have played outside -- Snowdrop asked if we would have time for that -- but the school day seemed long and the book reading took us well into the afternoon and so we put it off for a sunnier day (with the hope that we will indeed have a sunnier day before I have to say good bye to the kids).
Toward evening, Ed and I went skiing. I can't say it was my favorite run. Oh, it was pretty!
Indeed, very pretty!
But getting dark. And cold. Still, we do it. You cannot let down your guard in the winter months. So we ski. One loop in our county park and we're done.
At home we have Monday leftovers. Every week should have at least one easy dinner day. For me, it's always Monday. An easy slide into the new week. I hope it's a good week. For all of us.
