The Weekend Lens

This was one of those weekends (and part of last week) where absolutely nothing went as planned.

Actually that's not entirely true, we did go see The Lego Movie. And you better believe that Simon loved every single minute of it and has asked to go see it again multiple times each day since we went to the theater.

In the middle of last week my furnace died.

Not the kind of death that could be brought back to life with a repair, but the kind that requires a whole new unit for the cost of a new small car.

On Thursday my computer monitor died. And then the toaster.

And the temperature in the house was just too darn cold (see Katie above all bundled up at her desk on Thursday when we were laughing so hard at the absurdity of the situation I found myself in).

I packed up the kids on Thursday night and headed to a local hotel when it felt like it just couldn't warm up with the space heaters. It was a good choice for that night.

We had hoped for a replacement to be installed on Friday but got a snowstorm instead and a call that they wouldn't be able to install the furnace for another week. I cried.

Snowstorms aren't the norm here. We had one last December (which resulted in the kids missing a week of school) and pretty much everything stops. This one ended with freezing rain and ice over everything which made it that much more dangerous and challenging.

We returned to the house on Friday mid-day and after leaving the bathroom heaters on the upstairs actually felt cozy. I called the furnace installer again to see if there was any way they could come out here before late next week. I got a call back later in the day that they were able to move some things around and if the weather cooperated they would be able to come out Monday morning vs. Thursday or later.

I was thankful.

On Friday evening we ventured out into the freezing rain and sleet to see The Lego Movie that we'd purchased advanced tickets for last week as part of Simon's birthday present from last month.

Saturday was spent in my bedroom, watching movies and having meals delivered upstairs on trays (by me). Between movies the kids played on and off in their own rooms while the world outside continued to freeze and branches and trees began to fall with the weight of the ice.

I don't remember ever spending that much time in my bedroom over the course of a few days in this house. It was actually really, really nice.

Anna's big school auction was cancelled for Saturday evening.

Sunday morning we finished reading Charlotte's Web out loud all cozied up in my bed. I cried.

On Sunday we had planned a 5th birthday party for Anna at my house.

She asked for a rainbow party with all kinds of fun decorations and colorful goodness and rainbow cookies to decorate with her friends. By Friday it was obvious that a very cold downstairs was not going to work for a gathering of 5-year-olds so we called a local pizza parlor and reserved some tables for Sunday afternoon.

The weather ended up being more of the issue than the lack of heat in my house as many families were stuck in their homes due to downed trees or power outages.

We took the awesome rainbow poms I'd ordered from PomLove along with us and the cake from local favorite Sweet Life Patisserie was a hit.

The kids were able to run around on the play area at the pizza parlor and get some of that extra energy out after a couple of days inside.

It all worked out just fine.

And as I type this out on Monday morning I can hear the installers downstairs putting in the new furnace.

Here's to another week of adventure ahead!