Friday, January 29, 2016

Water

This morning I got up at 4:20.  By the time I was downstairs it was 4:25... following my routine like a T, I carried my new tea kettle over to the filtered water and tried to fill it.  But no water came out.

Something must be wrong with our frig.  I guess I'll fill it with tap water.  Oh well.

But no water came out.... just a hissing, air sound.

Now, keep in mind it's 4:25 (as in AM)  so I'm not quite thinking clearly.

My first thought was the the pipes froze.  Happened to my brother last winter.  Couldn't be that because we're having a 'no winter'.

Something is wrong with our house... better wake up Scott.

He was fast asleep.  I felt bad.  He jumped out of bed and looked around.  Nothing wrong in the house.

And then he noticed tons of police, water, whatever trucks up the street.  Like a ton of them.

And then we knew it had to be a water main problem.  (our street is on a major line)

"Not to worry," he said.  Sometimes they have to work on the water main and they shut off the water in the middle of the night so it doesn't disturb anyone.  It IS the MIDDLE of the night.  They'll turn in on first thing in the morning."

Oh.

So back to sleep he went.  And I went back to what I do in the morning.  Except that I decided to skip working out since I was deep down worried that I wouldn't get to shower off my sweat.

At 5:45 he called the water company and actually talked to a real person  "no water for 2 to 3 hours"

Total panic.  2 to 3 hours... we'll all be at our schools.  Anna in middle school, Abigail at her elementary school, Scott the principal at his elementary school, and me with my reading groups at my elementary school.  How in the world is this going to work?

He went downstairs and got out a gallon of bottled water and a bunch of those baby sizes.  Enough to brush our teeth.  Enough to fill the girls water bottles for lunches and school.  Not enough for a shower.

Enough to wash my hair in a bowl.  Yuck!  This was not how I wanted to start my day.

Now the girls wake up squeaky clean because they take a bath at night.  There was only one problem with them.  Anna hates purell (that I quickly put in their bathrooms).  She's a very frequent hand washer.  (remember this picture?)  So she was in a panic.  I told her she could use the Purell and quickly get to school to wash her hands.

Abigail could have cared less about washing her hands.  And she thought Poland Springs bottled water for teeth brushing was pretty fun.

I put on my favorite light blue sweater, the pearls, and my clicking shoes.  If I was going to feel yucky I was going to look good.  Weirdest thing though... my hair (from washing it in a bowl and not using conditioner because there wouldn't be enough water to rinse it off) came out so nice.  Really soft and pretty.  So strange.

But I felt gross.

About the time Abigail was putting on her shoes for school and I was telling her to zip her coat. (and there were piles of dishes on the counter because I couldn't rinse them)  The water came back on.

"Sit here on this carpet and don't take off anything.  Read the library book in your backpack. Mama is taking a super fast shower.  I"ll be down by the time the microwave says 8:22" .  It was 8:19 at the time.

My hair was already done, makeup on.  I slipped in and out of the glorious shower in two minutes.

Water.  Changes everything.

(this was bath time.. the night before no water... funny that I took a picture) Since it was the last of the water... I call this photo  "traffic jam").


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Thursday, January 28, 2016

Winter

This winter I am mourning the loss of winter. Real winter. When Scott read the the forecast for the next (projected) ten days I told him, "if this kind of weather is next year too, we're going up north for February vacation week."

He's happy that we're saving money on heating bills. And I'm okay with the fact that if there's no snow days we'll get out of school on June 8th. (usually CT gets out around June 20th... we start around Labor day) But I miss the snow. And the 'bitter cold' (as my Mom calls it)

As cozy as I can make my house it's just not cozy, reAlly cozy, without snow.

That pure white blanket.  Soft and silent.  There is nothing like it.  (well maybe the first tulips coming up are that good too)

I caught Scott in the family room tonight without the fireplace even on! Now that's just wrong in January.

Usually when we shut down the house and walk upstairs together (always together) our bedroom is so cold it hurts. The heat, long turned down, makes it cold. That's why we have a blazing fire going in our family room at night. It's our heat!

When the bedroom is soooOoooo cold I get to cuddle up close.

Even Scott agrees with me on that one, we both miss winter.

blog 6 snow day

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Our Home ~ January

(music because this is what I decorate my house to)

With Christmas packed away (that took me a while I'll have to say)  I love a simple look.  And with the idea of not boring you I didn't take every nook and cranny in our house for January.

The pink and all of the hearts are just about to come out.  (some have been creeping already) So before they do here's January....

(and I REALLY take the photos so that I can remember what I did from year to year.  And also so I can say, "hey, where's that???  I forgot I had that)

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Our living room is a a light green color right now and I loved how the colors in this pillow were 'spot on' with the walls.

Add in a cozy throw and it's a new room!

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I found both at HomeGoods and gasped out loud on my way out of the store when they caught my eye!

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Birthday flowers from Scott

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Lots of bright sunshine in the afternoon spilling into this room.

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(pre mantle decorating... sorry)

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A very special gift... oh my heart is full...

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Kitchen windowsill

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Light blue and red are my kitchen colors. Love this little tray I found.

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Abigail picked these out at an antique store for me. (and bought them with her OWN money)

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Ohhh Hitchcock... swoon...

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Tea... always tea (love my Emma Bridgewater "A Year in the Country" mugs)

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Snow Day tea and a tea cup Anna bought me.

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My laundry is in the kitchen. Now, I need to explain this... Old Connecticut colonials have laundry in the basement. When we moved into this old house the laundry had been moved to the kitchen. AMAZING. Would I love a 'laundry room' like all new homes have? Well, yes of course. But for an old house like this I'm counting my lucky stars that I'm not in the basement.

(Abigail was home sick so I was washing all of her stuffies)

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Simple snowflakes

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Back to tea... from Scott's Mom... Thank you!! I ALWAYS wanted an electric tea kettle with PROGRAMMABLE temps. Did you know that all different teas require different boiling temps for the tea to brew at it's best. Scott and I don't drink coffee (for no reason... I love the smell of it) But we are picky about our tea!

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Abigail's room has a little snowman collection

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My family room for sure has a Laura Ingalls Wilder theme. I love this print

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My Mom added to my collection of hard cover Little House books

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Abigail was home sick from school on Monday so she's in these :)

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Lots of yellow and ocean blue in this room right now.

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In our family room we love to do puzzles, play games, and just be together.

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And leading to our playroom are my snowman family and lots of books

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In our little entry way

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Still hot chocolate on the dining room tea cart

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~now all of the pink and hearts come out~