Saturday, January 10, 2015

Frigid Weather Ain't Gonna Get Me Down or Keep Me from Laughing, TToT #82

1.  So, it's cold outside, but I'm not going to complain.  Sure, it is so absolutely frigid out there that it can freeze my tears that are still inside my face, but I have a house.  A house with a furnace.  A furnace that we can afford to keep running.  I only have to go outside for short bits of time to feed animals or get the car started, and when I do, I have a coat and hat and gloves that will keep me comfortable.  No.  I'm not going to complain.

2.  Despite the cold, we're getting some eggs from the girls.  It's always fun when a new flock starts laying.  You never know what you're going to find.  We've had a shell-less egg (just the membrane holding everything in) and teeny eggs and wavy shelled eggs.  One chicken has given us about 6 eggs.  Every single one has had itty bitty double yolks.



3.  Kids who are trying to understand math make me smile.  In the car today, Cuckoo and I had this conversation:

C: What is 2 minus 4?
Me: -2
C (before I could explain what -2 meant): Oh.  My gloves are size negative 2T
Me:
C:
Me: OOOOHHHH!!!  They are size 2-4T, meaning they are for kids approximately 2 to 4 years old!

4.  High school report cards came in this week. Buttercup's was shining, as we expected. Phoenix's was quite enlightening.  Three teachers commented that he was showing improvement and 2 said he was a pleasure to have in class.  What this means to us is, "FINALLY!  WE FOUND SOMETHING THAT WORKS!!!"  The ADD medicine and the homework system now in place have helped Phoenix turn things around.  Completely.  Hooray!

5. For some unknown reason, when the temps dropped, my knee swelled up gigantic and hurt like the devil. I still went to the gym and couldn't even get my knee to go through 3 rotations on the stationary bike.  I was a bit nervous for a while, wondering if perhaps I managed to get a blood clot or some such thing.  But then my wrists started hurting, too.  And my jaw.  Oh.  Hello flare.  I thought I was done with you.  Apparently not only am I NOT done with flares, but my knee is extraordinarily sensitive to them.  Thankfully, after a couple days I am feeling much better.

6.  I spent some of one of those not feeling good days like this:



7.  Bryan and Star have made it to Dallas safely.  It is Star's year for a trip, and they scored tickets to the Ohio State v. Oregon game.  It's been fun seeing the photos from Bryan and texting with Star as the trip goes on.

8.  Remember how Bryan and Phoenix picked out a gigantic tree that took 6 of us to get upright and never did get straight?  Well, it was time to take it down.  Problem was, we hadn't watered it since week 2.  4 weeks ago.  You know how tree branches bend, fold up, and move nicely?  Yeah, well, they don't do that when they are dead and not watered.

Um...who shrunk the doorway?

Giant is standing normally.  This is really how wide that blasted tree was.  And it wouldn't bend!

The doorway to get out of the house was even smaller than the doorway to get out of the room it had been in.  You'll notice Giant's face.  He knew it wasn't going to work.

Have you ever read the Winnie the Pooh story where Pooh gets stuck in Rabbit's door because he ate too much honey?



Oh, so many similes and metaphors going through my head...


I jumped in, and with two of us heaving together (very much unlike the time Phoenix was supposed to be helping me heave a dead pig) we were able to pull that whale of a tree through that blowhole of a door.


We.  Got.  the.  Tree.  Out.  of.  the. House.

9.  Our house did not burn down because of a ridiculously dry tree getting together with a stray spark from the lights.

10.  The square on the calendar for Saturday is blank.  Utterly and completely bare of responsibilities.  It is especially helpful since it is 1:10am as I finish this post.  I never sleep well when Bryan is gone, so it will be nice to have some nap time.

My word, I need to go to bed already!

Link up or leave a comment detailing all that made you smile this week.

Have a lovely day!




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29 comments:

  1. Have a wonderful Saturday in your house minus the huge tree.

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    1. Thank you. We are having a marvelous day full of cleaning and then complete relaxation.

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  2. photo #2 most excellent selfie+1!!

    (almost FRIST)

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    1. Thanks! I like it quite a bit myself, mostly since myself isn't mostly in it. :)

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  3. Are you not proud of the genius Cuckoo is? Always thinking. Math integrated into life. Oh that huge tree. I bet your floor was covered with needles. I got mine out this week but it was puny in comparison. Being thankful for warmth was big for me this week, too. Brrrr. Hope your joints muscles feel better.

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    1. He is always thinking, that is for sure.
      There was probably 30 pounds of needles. I've swept twice, but we're still finding them.

      They are better than they were, thanks.

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  4. I don't sleep as well when John's gone, either. I loved the photo essay of the real-life Winnie the Pooh experience. That was one big tree! I think I'll have to look at my clothing tags in a new light; maybe I can find some negative sizes in my wardrobe, too! :-)

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    1. It was gigantic, and Bryan, the guy who picked it out, wasn't even here to help with the extraction. :)

      Ha! Why didn't I think of that?! :)

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  5. I want hubby home at night too. What an interesting time getting that huge tree out. Very interesting.

    Have a fabulous weekend. :)

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    1. When it was stuck halfway through the door, I panicked for a minute, wondering if we'd freeze to death, unable to close the front door.

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  6. You are absolutely right about the cold weather and having a roof over our heads and warm clothing. No complaining here either.

    I love, LOVED your tree ummmmm......escapades. ;)

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    1. Glad you liked it. We can't do anything easily around here, can we? Why? Why can't we do anything easily??

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  7. So cold your tears freeze INSIDE YOUR FACE?!?!? Ohhh that is FIERCE cold *shudders* I'm so sorry you have that, and WELL DONE for not complaining because EEK!

    The tree is INCREDIBLE and wow...I love the mess you guys made. Sounds like it was quite the endeavour to get it OUT but you did. That's what teamwork is all about :)

    We're meant to be taking our tree down this evening. It's a good one with roots, so it's hardly shed at all, and we're gonna try and keep it alive for next year :)

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    1. Yes, it is THAT cold! You should hear my van complaining when i crank it up. The sound is horrible!

      Oh, we made a gigantic mess. Needles EVERYWHERE! After sweeping twice, we're still finding needles.

      Where will you plant your tree? In your little garden out back? (BTW, I love that I know what your garden looks like.) Good luck keeping it alive!

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    2. Heheh I kinda love that, too :D I spent a coupla hours out there today trying to pick up a bajillion sycamore seeds *sigh* Still, it's a small and manageable patch of earth. IF I bother to manage it.

      We're gonna keep the tree in a tub so we can bring it in next year. It'll go onto the back balcony first, and then outside when there's no danger of frost :)

      And WOW that's a lot of cold. Keep your gown close!

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  8. We missed watering the tree as well, but luckily, our tree was kind of a little smaller :-) Love Giant's face in that one picture, so funny!! I remember you're talking about new hens' eggs last time you had new ones, I bet the surprises are interesting!

    I hope you have a great week!! Hope the cold improves a bit!

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    1. Glad to know we aren't the only ones neglecting a Christmas tree. :)

      It's always fun to see what we're going to find in the coop.

      The weekend has been wonderful so far. I think we're supposed to see double digit degrees soon, so that will be nice. :)

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  9. Love the pics of the tree adventure. That thing was a monster! What is a flare? Clearly causes pain. Glad it's better. Is that egg the one without the shell?

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    1. It was most certainly a monster.
      When Cuckoo was a baby, I started having a lot of pain in my joints. It got to be where I couldn't push a stroller because my wrists hurt so bad. I've been through all sorts of testing, and my blood shows I may have early Lupus. For the last year or so, I've felt great, not having pain at all. I was beginning to think perhaps it had just been a virus that stuck in me for a while, but this last flare up has me doubting that.

      No, this would be the egg with the wavy, misshapen shell. Since it was all the same color, I had a hard time getting an angle that showed it.

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  10. Its good to know that even with a name change I will still lose my comments here! Some things just dont change and shouldnt I suppose!
    Im keeping it brief in case its gone when I try again... but I will repeat my congrats to buttercup and pheonix and to say... I just love how cuckoo thinks!

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    1. At least it lets me know that it is still you. :)

      I will pass along the congrats. Cuckoo has a brain like no other. :)

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  11. Congrats to the kids on their school success! I definitely feel you on the ADD. When you find the thing that works, when someone starts to understand...it's huge. Sorry about the flare. I know those all too well. You have my utmost sympathy and prayers for an ease to your pain. Flares suck.

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  12. 1. Yes, you are :)
    2. Who knew you had to learn to lay an egg?! Or a chicken has to, anyway. I'm not planning to lay any anytime soon. You?
    3. If it were that complicated to figure out sizes, I'd never buy any clothes.
    4. Awesome!
    5. Boo!
    6. Awwww!
    7. How'd they manage to get those tickets? How exciting for them!
    8. I IMMEDIATELY thought of Phoenix and the dead pig, before you even said it!
    9. That's worth 10 thankfuls.
    10. That's worth 100 thankfuls.

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  13. Great report cards are awesome - congrats to Buttercup and Phoenix...love it when it all comes together - ; i'm hoping that James gets his aha moment in math and Amelia's reading improves more... hope you are feeling better and the flares don't re-cur ( were you tested for strep ) i saw you commented earlier that you first thought it was a virus- I once had joint pain in my wrists and it turned out to be strep in the blood stream - antibiotics for a few months -
    The tree was huge - can I ask being that it was going to make a mess anyway why didn't you hack it with an ax before you tried to get it out... just a thought... anyway you got it out and that's all that matters. - terrific tens!

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  14. Special congrats for #4 and figuring out what works for your son and school - that must be such a mix of pride for him and relief overall that you have figured out how to help.

    The tree exodus is ... wow. We have a fake tree. We need to take it down. The story will be far less glorious than this one. The photo with the trail of tree bits made me smile. Glad you finally got it out! - Louise

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  15. I really do love hearing the world from their perspective. It is so refreshing! If not a little confusing for us adults from time to time.

    That Tree! I am not going to lie..we didn't water ours either and needles and branches went flinging off. Glad your house didn't burn down too!

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  16. haha! Love your conversation with Cuckoo ... so precious :) I had no idea eggs could come in all those different shapes and sizes, that's really cool. Well done for getting the Christmas tree back out the front door! Love the caption "who shrunk the doorway" :)

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  17. I'm so late catching up this week and I am hoping that square on the calendar stayed blank after the week you had! The tree debacle has me cracking up over here. We also had a real tree that was very dry by the time we got it out, but it fit through our doorway so we just had the normal needles all over the floor to sweep up. I'm so glad to finally have my house de-Christmafied. Sorry to hear about sickness hitting your house. I hope everyone is feeling back to normal and having a great week!

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