January 11, 2012

Outside Temp:  24 F (The low was this morning with 2 F! )

The town of Belt, about 15 minutes west of us.

My front drive.... all that snow came in yesterday.  Drifts as high as 13 inches.  :)

What I cooked today:
Goulash: Since we were gone most the of day, we didn't really monitor the heater, so the house was a little colder than we would have liked.  Therefore, a nice warm stew is always a good dinner.  I don't know if this is actually goulash, but it was warm and good.

Update:
So, my adventures since last night at 9pm, when I wrote yesterday's entry:

1.  Patrick was up at his parent's place, helping with something, and when he left to go home, around 10pm, his car wouldn't move.  Three wheels worked fine, but the back passenger side wheel was stuck.  Like, really stuck.  It was facing the wind (which was blowing around 25 mph) and it was in the single digits (around 8 degrees).  After some looking around, and moving some snow, he realized that the parking brake was iced to the wheel.  So, using a hair dryer (yep, in the 8 degrees, with the wind and all), he was able to heat it up enough to dislodge the ice and allow the parking brake to release.  Thank goodness he did not remove the wheel, like he planned.  I can't even imagine him getting that one back on right at 11pm in the snow. Moral of the story: Don't set your parking break if you have an automatic and it's cold and windy and snowy...

2.  So, this morning, where it was 2 degrees, I took the kids over to the post office for the bus.  On snowy days, there is a tight turn and a narrow bridge that the bus usually goes over to get to my house.  Since this is kind of risky with the ice, I take them the block over to the post office, where there is a wider road for the bus to turn.  So, around 7:15am, I went outside and turned on the car, to get the inside heated up so the kids didn't whine.  By 7:25am, we were ready, so I bundled everyone out to the car.  Connor couldn't open his door (the one facing the wind) because it was iced shut.  No problem, he just went in on the other side and we were fine.  I put the car into 'R' and pushed on the gas.  Nothing. Uhhh. Okay, I move it to 'D', and pushed the gas.  Nothing.  Oh crap.  Check parking brake, nope, it's not on.  So, I told Allen to move over to the driver seat.  We put the car in 'R' again, and I got out and pushed a little on the hood, while he pushed the gas (okay, so he pushed the brake first, which resulted in me gently correcting him:  The other gas pedal, silly!).  I could hear the car revving up and with an extra hard push, the ice cracked and the car started moving backwards (I was terrified that he would bump it into 'D').  Then it was a series of "Brake! Brake! Brake!" until he hit the brake, and put it into 'P'.  Moral of the story: When you go out to warm up the car, after you brush off the snow and scrape off the ice, make sure that the tires all move...

3.  Then, I got the kids to the post office around 7:30am (or so).  The last few days, the bus has been getting to our house somewhere between 7:30 and 7:40.  School starts at 8:00, and the kids eat breakfast before school, so I like them to get there with enough time to eat.  It takes about 12 minutes in good weather to get there, so if the bus is here by 7:40, they usually have just enough time to eat before rushing off to class.  We spent the first few minutes waiting (in the warm car), discussing the inner workings of a combustion engine and how it eventually makes the wheels move.  I would periodically put the car into drive and move 5 feet forward, then back, just in case.  By 7:43, I was beginning to wonder where the bus was.  By 7:45, the kids were begging me to just drive them, so they could eat.  So, by 7:46, I relented, put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot to take them to school.  The road is pretty narrow, going over a (different) bridge, before you hit the highway.  And what should I see as soon as I crossed the bridge?  The bus, coming towards me.  Oh crap.  So, I threw the car into reverse and backed up.  In the snow.  With the back window still covered with ice, so I had to use the mirrors to be able to see.  With the bus creeping towards me like a stalker.  We passed the entrance to the post office and I was able to throw it into drive and pull into the parking lot before the bus overtook us.  We parked and the kid were able to grab all their stuff (backpacks, snow gloves, instruments, etc) and jump on the bus without slipping on the ice.  I was laughing so hard when I apologized to Bruce (the bus driver), about my crazy driving.  He just laughed at me.  Moral of the story: The bus shows up when the bus shows up...

4.  Clinic in Great Falls with Ryan.  He is doing soooooo good!  His weight is up to 57 lbs, which is about 4 lbs higher than the first of November.  His labs are great and the doctors are so happy with him.  He fought the phlebotomist to get his blood drawn, but finally relaxed enough to get it done.  We've had the same women every time for the last 4 blood draws, so she's really getting to know us.  When she saw us come in, she said "Oh, I know Ryan.  We're old friends.  I'll take him".  I love it around here.

5.  The kids had a Geography Bee at school today.  It was for the 4th-8th graders, so all 3 of the kids were in it.  Katie and Connor were unhappy with their performances (I mean, who knew that Maryland is further North than Montana?  I sure didn't!), but Allen did great.  He made it to the top 4, and then he tied for the top 2 positions.  They ran out of time, so they are having the tie-breaker tomorrow morning.  Geography is one subject that he has always enjoyed, but apparently I've neglected his US geography.  He couldn't figure out a few simple US states, so now I know where I need to focus his geography studies!

All in all, a busy but fun day.  It was chilly most of the day, in the 20's, but with a coat and long underwear, we were fine.  Of course, the weatherman claims it will be back up into the 40's by Friday.  Ugh.  So much for my pretty snow.