MLK Day...Snow Day

Delaney is in the living room yelling at the TV.  It has been a while since she watched "A Bug's Life."  The "mild peril" is getting her worked up and she's telling off the grasshoppers who've come to take all the food the ants have worked so hard to gather and store for the winter.  She was calling the grasshoppers "dragons" because we recently rented "How to Train Your Dragon" and she loved it.  She was asking for it again this morning, so I guess we're going to have to purchase it. 

She normally wouldn't be here so late in the morning, but we have Martin Luther King Jr. Day off from school (so does Dartagnan) and we just haven't gotten her to Positive Parenting yet.

I love days off from school!  The possibilities of what to do with my time are virtually endless!  Jon and I may go look at house stuff today.  I really want to look at tile, but it will be a while before he gets started working on the bathroom in earnest, so there is no rush.

I went over this morning to let out my friends' Paul and Sharon dog, Peanut.  Had to shovel my way to the car (about an inch of accumulation at that time) and went ahead and shoveled the front sidewalks too.  Took the shovel with me and shoveled my way up to their door and let Peanut out to do her thing and put her food in her bowl and gave her fresh water.  She was quick outside.  When I let her back in, I wiped her back off and wiped her feet with some paper towels and gave her a treat.  She's a sweet dog.  I actually woke her up when I came in.  She'd been sleeping on her doggie bed and she didn't raise her head until I actually walked into the kitchen. 

Yesterday was Paul and Sharon's 1st anniversary, so they stayed at the Blackhawk Hotel overnight.  I hope they had a great time!

My friend Zakk Moore, who lives in California, got married yesterday to Maria Chang.  I wish we could have gone to the wedding, however, travel in January while we are in school, especially air travel, is risky.  We have so many classes in which attendance is required and with a little one that we have to stay home with if she is sick, and with Jon's 4 herniated lumbar discs, we have to be careful to not create other situations where we need to use up our allowed cuts.

I'm talking with Jon about going to visit some friends in Canada this summer, but it will be expensive and I'm not sure it will work out with their schedule, so there is a lot to consider.  I would like to take the children, however, we'd have to get notarized permission from Dartagnan's father to take him out of the country, and that in itself, would be quite a task.  Not only that, we'd need a new passport for Delaney and I'd have to renew Dartagnan's passport.  Those things are enough to make me reconsider them going.  So if Jon and I go, we won't be taking the kids with us.

Our friends live in Kelowna, British Columbia, and it is positively a beautiful place, especially in summer.  I'd just love to spend some time with them because I miss them so much.  They moved back to Canada about four years ago, maybe five?  With them, I feel like, even if we've not had a letter or e-mail or phone call for months, that when we talk again, it is like we never left off.  We are just great fits for each other's personalities; like kindred spirits.  I remember reading all the "Anne of Green Gables" series when I was a kid and I wanted to have friendships like that so badly, and I feel lucky that I do have friends that I consider kindred spirits like that.  I'm very lucky that I have so many friends that I feel that way about.  I'm blessed.

I have to spend some quality time studying today so I am prepared for my 2 tests tomorrow in PNS and Phys Di.  I'm also planning to go to yoga at noon, since I got back too late to get to the 9:00 class. 

Jon is planning to get the trim around Lani's windows sanded, stained, painted, etc. today.  Part of the trim will be white and that portion is pre-primed.  Part will be a dark stain like we have in our dining room, that is a dark walnut.  It already looks great (he put up the rest yesterday and had done some earlier in the week).  After it is up, then we can get some blinds to put within the window, to help darken the room so she sleeps better.  It has also warmed up the room, because it has sealed all the tiny cracks up that remained from putting in the new windows.  When we buy her blinds, we'll also get some for Dartagnan's room.  I would like to get the cordless blinds that are fabric, but we'll see what is available for what price before we decide for certain.

I need to also do some laundry today, but that doesn't take too long.  I may also try to get some cleaning done; maybe dust and vacuum.  I feel like I didn't get enough sleep, so I may take a nap this afternoon.

After seeing "Juno" a year or two ago, I found I really like Ellen Page.  She's hilarious.  So when I took Dartagnan and his friend Philip to rent a game from Family Video last night and found out I could get a free movie with the game rental, I just had to rent "Whip It" because she's the lead in it.  Drew Barrymore directs it.  "Whip It" is about roller derby in Austin, Texas, and about how a high school girl falls in love with it.  It was great!  I told Jon the next time the roller derby is scheduled and that we are both in town, we are going.  He is looking forward to it, too.

I got through listening to a few lectures yesterday, but still have a lot of ground to cover today.  Time to grab a shower and get cracking.