We are entering day three of our captivity. Everyone is still alive, so there’s that. It all started quite festive, with snow, shoveling, and euchre. We have even had little breaks from each other, but we are used to missing each other a bit more than this. This was supposed to be the craziest week of them all. I got anxious just thinking about it all. We had Tessa’s sectionals for both diving and basketball, and Tayden’s musical all wrapped up into this week and the weekends sandwiching it. It was going to be an extraordinary swirl of action and activity, with driving and deadlines. I couldn’t imagine how everything would fit in around school and work. I was stressed about dives and how we would work practice around basketball sectionals. Then the universe thunked me on the head. There would be none of it. It will all be jammed into the weekend, and Tessa and Tayden (and the other divers and swimmers and other cast, crew, and pit) will have an entire week without practice leading into the big weekend. And there is nothing I can do about it. Now all we have is time. The very time we shouldn’t have had this week.

I have discovered a few things. It is nearly impossible to continue a diet while trapped in your house all day. I apparently need work, driving, and coaching to keep me from eating. I am actually planning to take a nap today, just to reduce the hours I have to eat or think about eating. I don’t think I will post any loss this week.

With the blanket of snow quieting things, it is easier to hear weird sounds around me. Just yesterday, I was stretching after working out and I heard a clicking sound. I thought that I may be hearing critters living in my walls (I’ve had this experience before, so I am super paranoid about it). Just as I was about to go into full freak-out, I realized that it was my knees crackling. My ear was close to my knee, so I could hear it. Nice! And last night, I did have reason to drive a bit. My windshield made an odd crackling sound, not unlike my knee earlier in the day. I was actually fearful that the temperature difference between inside the car and the negative eight that my car was registering outside the car could crack the windshield. I turned down the heat, certain that that wouldn’t make a difference, but feeling better about it anyway.

Life at a slow pace is mostly less stressful. Now, we’ve been crotchety with each other a bit…and I wouldn’t want to live this life forever, but I am actually enjoying the downtime..even though it all comes crashing down on Friday, when we must face the consequences of a week without practice. But last night, we turned on the strand of lights that I left hanging on the curtain rod, lit a fire in the fireplace, and hunkered down to watch a movie. And hearing three of my kids (sorry Trent…we miss you), laughing in Taryn’s bedroom made me nostalgic for the days when they were young, and this was a regular event. Since Taryn is at college close by, and she doesn’t have classes today, we decided to save her from a day of frozen food and homework in her dorm, so we brought her home. Remember to appreciate the college food service and maintenance workers that still must work tomorrow, not to mention all the other professions that can’t work from home. It would be seriously awkward if Travis tried working from home.

So for now, we sit in the super-calm before the storm…the personal storm that starts Friday. Oh, and this is the week I gave up coffee. I was going to wait until next week because this week was going to be CRAZY. Then, I realized I wouldn’t be working most of this week, so I went ahead with it. I have had a headache every day. UGH! Thank goodness for Advil. And if God didn’t seem to provide me with the serenity to accept the things I cannot change (as my superintendent kept drumming into my head last week as I lamented things yet to come this week), at least he provided the sangria to accept the things I cannot change. Cheers to the weather!