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Post by duskymonkey on Feb 16, 2021 0:48:15 GMT -6
So we woke up to -12 yesterday early morning and it warmed up to 2. The sun was out so we bundled up the boys and took out the sled. There was only a couple of inches of snow but lil fella loved being pulled on the sled and we just did 1 round of our neightbourhood. We stopped by 2 of DS' friend's to drop off hong baos, oranges and tortoise cakes. The kids were so excited and lil fella wanted to go down the hill again but it was a bit too cold and we still had to head home. Pretty sure neighbours must be thinking...there's that crazy family out again. We figured Scandinavian kids and in Siberia all go out right? heck even up in Canada. As long as they're bundled they should be good to go.
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 16, 2021 7:55:44 GMT -6
Good morning everyone!! Good news is we never lost power. And I finally convinced my parents to drive over and stay with us. They are all electric and on a water well so no gas stove to light and no working water. My in laws were able to buy a generator from a friend so they had heat and lights. Unfortunately both their houses, and millions of others, are still without power and have been for over 24 hours.
I made everyone the tiktok feta pasta last night, and let my parents have our room. They said they feel like they’re at a B&B. 😆 We all slept a little later than usual so that was nice too!
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 16, 2021 17:42:42 GMT -6
curmudgeon like was for the yummy dinner - so sorry about all the power outages. We got 10 inches total and no school today. My guess is no school tomorrow either. The girls had a blast playing in the snow and drifts. I took the best nap today, H and I watched a movie while the girls played.... it’s been like a little mini vacay with occasional emails from students through 😂
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Post by August Blooms on Feb 17, 2021 10:24:15 GMT -6
curmudgeon and coachtswife Fingers crossed your power stays on! danvers Sounds like you had a great snow day! duskymonkey Good for you for getting out in that cold. Our cut off here for the kids at daycare and school is -15 Celsius which is about 5 Fahrenheit. That also doesn’t account for the wind chill making it much colder. You’ll rarely catch me out at those temps it has to be sunny with no wind which is rare at this time of year. Your tortoise cakes look great too!
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Post by August Blooms on Feb 17, 2021 10:27:22 GMT -6
August Blooms the new assignment sounds great!! It’s only temporary or could it turn into a long-term thing? It’s temporary but sometimes that means 4 months or for years it really depends on how it goes and how much the management likes you. I’m going to give it 6 months and see how it goes. I’ve always been a shift worker so I’m not sure how I’m going to like having my weekends actually on the weekend.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 17, 2021 19:01:55 GMT -6
August Blooms the new assignment sounds great!! It’s only temporary or could it turn into a long-term thing? It’s temporary but sometimes that means 4 months or for years it really depends on how it goes and how much the management likes you. I’m going to give it 6 months and see how it goes. I’ve always been a shift worker so I’m not sure how I’m going to like having my weekends actually on the weekend. I hope these next 6 months go well, and that you are able to get in the groove of enjoying your weekends! The fact that you can WFM and not commute is also wonderful - fingers crossed it’s a great fit.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 17, 2021 19:27:21 GMT -6
Today was snow day #3. We are supposed to get a little more tonight but the county just can’t keep up already as it is.
We told DD2 she will get to see her daycare friends tomorrow and her very serious response: that’s ok mommy. I don’t like them. I only like you.
We’re gonna be BFFs forever over here if this pandemic doesn’t end soon 😩
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 17, 2021 20:31:14 GMT -6
We are rounding out day 3 with my parents. It really hasn’t been too bad. I just wish I had somewhere to sleep besides the couch or floor. However, we are running low on food because a lot of my order was cancelled and I didn’t plan on feeding 2 extra adults all week. We may be living off poptarts and pirates booty soon.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 19, 2021 19:51:22 GMT -6
curmudgeon how are things? We finally went to school today (Friday 🤪) for the first time this week. How’s the power and food situation for you this many days out? How are boys taking it all?
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 19, 2021 21:18:13 GMT -6
curmudgeon how are things? We finally went to school today (Friday 🤪) for the first time this week. How’s the power and food situation for you this many days out? How are boys taking it all? things are much much better! We are on a boil water advisory but that’s all at the moment. Boys are living their best lives. My mom went to the store yesterday and found milk and eggs, but I see us eating out a lot in the next few days. Trucks cannot get in from more northern cities to deliver so the shelves are literally empty. I will post some pics.
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 19, 2021 21:21:08 GMT -6
These are local stores. The produce they have is almost rotten.
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Post by duskymonkey on Feb 20, 2021 0:34:01 GMT -6
curmudgeon I am glad you and your family are alright. I can't believe it's still such a disaster in TX. Hubs and I were talking and I unconsciously made an error and he corrected me saying "developing nation" to "developed" then looked at me again and let out a long drawn yeeaaaah... I was also reading that if they didn't make the decision for rolling blackouts, it would have been a disaster of epic proportions. Also those empty shelves are something else. I really should think about keeping canned veg. just in case. The boys would not survive without veg. They're like self proclaimed vegetarians. We love pirate booty too until we discovered Trader Joe's version of it for much much less. When things get back to normal hopefully soon, you should try if you have one there. They unfortunately don't do pick up anymore but the store's safety protocols are pretty good, at least the one I went to here and I've only been 2x since CV begin so maybe don't take my word for it lol!
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Post by duskymonkey on Feb 20, 2021 0:55:21 GMT -6
danvers that sounds just like what lil fella would say lol! I am having a hard time deciding if we should enroll him in preschool this coming fall. Ugh! he'll be 4 and it feels wrong to continue to keep him home. I really really need DS to go back to school too. He needs peer interaction and I am struggling with this decision. Maybe we should just make that decision when the time comes. August Blooms I don't remember what school temp limits are here but I think it may be higher than yours. Wind makes a huge difference and that day, there was none and the sun was out so we figured bundle them up well and out they went. Reminds me I should look for balaclavas and checkout MEC. I wish they had stores here. They have a much better selection for kids. CoachTsWife, are you finally thawing out there? We're finally out of the single digits however still below freezing. I checked the forecast and we're getting more snow this weekend and mid next week. Other good news, my BIL is fully vaxed through his work and my sister got her first inoculation this week! I feel relieved for them. Well gummy bears and playing a game seems to be working well thus far. I think it's almost 2 weeks now and he's self initiated to go poop and will say "come on mommy/daddy I need to go potty, I want to watch x/play a game" Hopefully this keeps up and we can work on pee to ditch the diaper. Ugh...we now realized we had it easy with DS.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 20, 2021 4:26:51 GMT -6
curmudgeon Oh my gosh - seeing those empty shelves at the grocery store is crazy. What a total mess - I hope that things go back to normal soon for you all. Just crazy to think about. Are your ILs still doing okay with the generator they have? duskymonkey Yay for the PT success! Fingers crossed you continue to make headway! danvers Glad to hear school is back on, and it sounds like you had a really nice time during those snow days! CoachTsWife I hope things are warmer for you too! August Blooms Now that you have this new job, are you guys still considering a move? Or does the part WFH option lessen the challenges regarding your commute?
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 20, 2021 4:39:02 GMT -6
The kids have off from school next week, so we’re heading to the beach for a little vaycay. I’m really looking forward to taking a break from work and just enjoying some family/relaxation time. We’ve never been to this island before, and the boys are super excited to catch all of the hermit crabs. There is supposedly good snorkeling too (sea is super gentle there), so I’m going to try to take DS1 and see if he likes it!
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 20, 2021 7:02:19 GMT -6
curmudgeon those shelves! Yikes! I’m glad the boys are doing alright with everything. This is going to be quite the recovery process for Texas. Taitai your trip sounds wonderful. I’ll just pack a quick suitcase here and join you all. duskymonkey I hear you on kid 1 vs kid 2. DD1 was a unicorn kid and just sleep trained, potty trained, transitioned to all the things without bumps and hiccups. DD2 likes to make us work for it all.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 20, 2021 7:05:53 GMT -6
Our health dept is allocating extra vaccines for teachers! It’s a 1st come 1st serve emergency list so I have to be ready for whenever they call but I jumped at the chance to be added. Basically, if they have extra vaccines after going through the ones whose turn it is according to the state then they’ll call those on the reserve list so the remaining vaccines don’t go to waste.
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 20, 2021 7:30:01 GMT -6
duskymonkey hooray for PT progress! I am very jealous lol. DS1 was also super easy to train (at 2.5!) so I am completely lost with this one. danvers that is awesome teachers in your area could get the vaccine soon! I hope they have a good number of extras so a lot of teachers can receive them. Taitai a beach sounds so wonderful right now. I bet your DS will love snorkeling! We got DS1 a mask so he could practice in the pool, in hopes we’d go back to Mexico soon, but then covid happened. Enjoy exploring the new island!
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Post by CoachTsWife on Feb 21, 2021 8:53:35 GMT -6
We have emerged from the frozen. Snow is starting to melt and everything is a muddy mess. It feels down right balmy out with temps in the 30s. 🙃 Very thankful to have gotten through it pretty much uneventful.
Both my mom and MIL have received their first dose of the vaccine. Mom was supposed to get her second yesterday but her appt was canceled because the shipment was delayed due to the weather. Hopefully she can get it this week.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 22, 2021 8:25:16 GMT -6
CoachTsWife danvers Great vaccine news! I hope that the supply recovers from all of this crazy weather, and I really cannot wait until the vaccine is readily available for all. That will be so awesome. curmudgeon How are things going by you? Are your parents still living with you? I heard that a big thing has been people’s pipes bursting, as the homes weren’t built to withstand those cold temps or something? How are your parents and IL’s homes? Hoping the grocery stores are getting products back on the shelves too.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 22, 2021 8:31:48 GMT -6
I’m off work this week and we’re at the beach. DS1 and DS2 are getting a lot easier to travel with. It’s so much better when you don’t have to worry about diapers, strollers, travel cribs, etc. We still do have to travel with car seats and booster seats, but that’s really not too bad.
We’re in the southern region of the country, and I always love the food down here. I’m going to have to be careful that I don’t gain a bunch of kilos. 😬
While it’s so beautiful here and we have a really great deal, it’s also heartbreaking to see how hard the tourism industry has been hit here. So much of the economy (20%) is reliant on tourism, and the pandemic has decimated international travel. I really hope it makes a recovery soon, because the people who own and work at these places are barely hanging on. They’re so happy to see us, and I’m glad to be supporting the local economy - but still, the economic loss is so evident everywhere you look. Sigh.
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Post by CoachTsWife on Feb 22, 2021 9:49:13 GMT -6
Jealous of your beach vacay Taitai. It is so neat that your family has so many opportunities to travel - what great experiences for you kids. We are planning a trip to the beach this summer with my husband's family - we were supposed to go last summer but we canceled due to covid. We had been talking about doing it for years but just hadn't gotten it planned, and my husband and his brother have really mourned the fact that we didn't get that experience before FIL died -- so we are really trying to make it happen this summer. We are very excited about traveling without the Pack n Play, stroller, diapers, and such. I work for a health IT company and we have been very involved in organizing and running mass vaccination clinics in our metro - when they have vaccines available. They are pretty much begging for volunteers to help at the clinics so I signed up to volunteer this Friday.
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 22, 2021 14:55:46 GMT -6
curmudgeon How are things going by you? Are your parents still living with you? I heard that a big thing has been people’s pipes bursting, as the homes weren’t built to withstand those cold temps or something? How are your parents and IL’s homes? Hoping the grocery stores are getting products back on the shelves too. Parents went home last Thursday once power and heat came back. They didn’t have any pipes burst, but are having to re-pipe the entire house anyway for ~$5k. Tons of houses have so much water damage and broken pipes. I think it had to do with the low temps combined with no heat in the houses to help keep the pipes above freezing. I am reading a lot of comments that replacement piping is in a shortage now, and plumbers are booked for weeks. The power outage just really screwed everything.
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 23, 2021 16:44:12 GMT -6
curmudgeon oh no about your parents pipes. Im glad there’s didn’t burst though and I hope the delay on new pipes isn’t too long of a wait. Taitai enjoy every minute of that vacation! Soak in a little sand for the rest of us too! Have you gotten to try snorkeling with DS1 yet? CoachTsWife all our snow is melting too and now it’s just mud. It was 50° here today so I here you on the balmy heat wave we’re having 😂
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 23, 2021 16:50:52 GMT -6
I got inspired by a thread over on GD for activities H and I can do together. Quarantine and pandemic has really put a damper on things we used to do and we don’t feel great about getting an outside baby sitter for the girls yet either.
I found some two player games on Amazon for us to try. We played one of them last night and it felt good to reconnect besides our old quarantine standbys of movies and tv shows. I am going to look for a new show we can watch together too. We loved comedies like Modern Family and Big Bang so any suggestions appreciated!
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Post by mommabakes on Feb 24, 2021 13:59:03 GMT -6
danvers have you seen Life in Pieces? We really enjoyed that one. Also New Girl, Single Parents, Brooklyn 99...
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danvers
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Post by danvers on Feb 24, 2021 14:55:54 GMT -6
danvers have you seen Life in Pieces? We really enjoyed that one. Also New Girl, Single Parents, Brooklyn 99... I have seen none of these but am currently sitting at our small town BMV with nothing but time to kill and have time to read about these shows I’ve heard of New Girl but not the others. Thank you for the suggestions!
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 26, 2021 17:46:52 GMT -6
CoachTsWife I am so happy you will all be doing a beach trip this summer - it’s so nice to get away and have that family time. How nice of you to volunteer at the vaccine drive too! Any word on when the Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available to the general public? I want that one - I love that it’s only one dose. Hoping we can get it this summer when we come back for a visit. danvers Have you tried Schitts Creek? DH and I have been watching it, and I really like it! Also - Ticket to Ride is a fun board game that you can play with 2-5 players. We play it with our neighbors, but it works just fine with only 2 players as well. curmudgeon Glad there was no pipe damage to your parents’ home and that they are back in their own place now. Good idea to get the pipes replaced anyways - hopefully the wait won’t be too long.
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Taitai
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Post by Taitai on Feb 26, 2021 17:52:40 GMT -6
Beach trip was wonderful - we are back home now, and just going to get back into the swing of things before school/work starts up again. danvers- yes, we did get DS1 snorkeling, and he did a great job!! We took an island excursion, and there were sooooo many fish. DS1 saw angel fish, rainbow fish, “Nemo”/clown fish, blue tangs “Dory,” a black eel, lots of coral, and many other fish I couldn’t identify. DH also taught our nanny how to snorkel. She was terrified (she doesn’t swim), but ended up doing a great job with a life vest while I sat on the boat with the boys. I’m proud of her. The water was so clear that you could see 30-40 feet down easily. Now back to normal life! Was really great to get away - and happy we can now take DS1 snorkeling on later trips. DS2 was still too little to figure it out - maybe next year.
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Post by curmudgeon on Feb 26, 2021 18:44:07 GMT -6
I just dropped DS1 off for his very first piano lesson. He’s been begging for years and we could never find something that worked with our schedules. So I hope he enjoys it because I paid for 12 weeks!
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