Blue-Footed Musings

My husband has been working on the stairs in preparation for carpeting them. He screwed down the treads so that they barely squeak now, if at all. That’s great. I mean, who wants squeaky stairs? But those squeaks were a head’s-up that someone was moving up or down the stairs. You always knew when someone was approaching. Now they can sneak up on you and surprise the snot out of you. Less squeak, more eek!

• I’ve had my skin turn red from using Band-Aids before, which I attributed mostly to the trauma of removing them, but yesterday I had a telltale allergic reaction to one. I developed hives underneath the adhesive parts of the bandage. I hope it’s not a latex allergy. That would be troublesome.
• It snowed yesterday, briefly, and for the first time this season, I let the snow draw me outside. The snowfall was over by the time I got out, sadly, but I took a walk anyway and enjoyed the wintry scenery. Now that my knee is feeling better, I can walk for exercise, and I’ve been walking at least a few times per week.
• Last night the kids and I finished watching the Percy Jackson series on Disney+. We all enjoyed it and are hoping for a second season. Often we snack on popcorn when watching TV together, but we somehow ran out of popcorn (mon dieu!). So we snacked on SweeTARTS Ropes instead. Those things are so tasty. We are all addicted now. (Blame my hubby. He brought them home and got us hooked on them.)

I found a printout on my desk that listed these “Four Truths.”

1. We can’t finish what we don’t start.
2. The only way to the end is through.
3. It’s important to celebrate our accomplishments.
4. We must forgive ourselves for that which we have simply not done yet.

My thanks to the originator, though I do not know who it is.

• It’s snowing today. Yay!
• On the weather page of one of the local TV stations, I saw a great typo: “A few altercations to our storm forecast. . .”
• Normally I’d have my music lesson this afternoon, but I rescheduled for Thursday. I was also supposed to go in for a mammogram today, and I rescheduled that as well. Unfortunately, today’s appointment was already a rescheduled one. Because booking is so far in advance, my new date is in June, which is a long wait. I’m not really worried about my health, just annoyed that I’m not getting my money’s worth from my health insurance.
• The kids got the day off from school. It was announced yesterday, so we didn’t even have to get up early this morning to check our messages. I slept in, and it was so nice!

Kids are constantly growing, constantly changing. That means you can’t keep a post called “Stories About the Kids” in your drafts folder for a long time and expect that it will continue to be relevant. With that thought in mind, here’s a post called “Stories About the Kids” that’s been sitting in my drafts folder for a long time.

• Livia graduated 5th grade and is now officially a middle-schooler. (Editor’s note: Livia is now in 7th grade, so that element of shock is over.)
• Marshall turned 13. OMG. (Editor’s note: Marshall will turn 15 in June, at which time we will reach a whole new level of OMGishness. Livia’s the one who’s 13 now. Whoa!)
• Since Marshall’s annual checkup, at which the doctor told him how important it was to get physical activity, he has gone outside and ridden his bike nearly every day. (Editor’s note; Regretfully, this did not last. I can’t remember the last time he rode his bike.)
• I think it was during RICAS (Rhode Island’s version of standardized testing) that Livia was given some word seeks to do. After finding the words she was supposed to find, she then made lists of all the words that she wasn’t supposed to find. She also made a diagram showing all the ways to break the word PAINT down into shorter and shorter words (such as PAINT, PANT, PAN, AN, A). Wow, she could get a job working with me! (Editor’s note: This story is still apt. She’s very much a word-person, and I swear she could put some of my coworkers to shame.)