To Punxsutawney Phil

Thank you Phil, for declaring an early spring today! I hear you only predict an early spring about 20% of the time, and actually I really can't remember the last time you did. So an extra BIG thanks for that! It was just the news we needed on this, the second day in which we've experienced temperatures below 0 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the day. I think we topped out at 2. It's cold. I'm worried about our pipes. I stood for five minutes at the grocery store yesterday just smelling the hyacinths. We've begun speaking of temperatures without adding the "negative" before the number, knowing that it's just implied. It's too cold to get the mail. So thoughts of spring, arriving six weeks sooner than usual, were most welcome.

Your "announcement" inspired some fun activities today, with cabin-fevered boys home from school for the second day in a row and some friends coming for an afternoon visit. We threw a "beach" party! On the party plans list: making paper leis, consuming pineapple rings for snack (and choc-oat-chip cookies leftover from yesterday), listening and dancing to Hawaiian music, hanging streamers with butterflies taped to them, and playing pin-the-sunglasses-on-the-sun (which we forgot during the party, but played this evening before dinner). The boys did all the planning and it was so cute! They they helped cut out paper flowers and butterflies, planned the decorations and music selection, and set up stations in the basement at which everyone was to take turns: craft, video game, dance, toys. I am sure you know which station was number one, to the detriment of all the others...video games!I know you are just a groundhog, and really, you don't have any real means of predicting when spring will arrive. I am sure the arrival of spring will be as it always is here in Colorado: long in coming. But you gave us a little happiness today, in anticipation for warmer days ahead. Thank you again, and stay warm, Phil, until that hoped-for and glorious six-weeks-early spring arrives!

The Post Wherein the Conlins Experience Colder than Cold

It's hard to believe that I am putting this post up, considering the post that precedes it, but that's Colorado in the winter for you! Never a dull moment, always keeping you guessing!

The monster storm that is covering 1/2 of the United States right now included us here in The Springs. So glad. We don't like feeling left out. Here's the record of the Colorado Conlins Deep Freeze:

Monday morning we hit our high for the day in the early hours, and as the day wore on the mercury plummeted and a dry, light snow began to fall. When the kids arrived home from school through the back door, a blast of snow entered with them.
On Monday night, our channel 5 weatherman, Mike Daniels, said that the coming cold front was the coldest Colorado has seen in a decade.
Early in the morning on Tuesday I woke up, 2:46am, thinking I heard a sound that could have been a pipe breaking. I think it was actually in my dream, or much quieter of a sound than my paranoid brain made it out to be, but I walked the house for 10 minutes anyway, listening for the sound of water in the walls.
Before this morning, our little weather-boy temperature gage that my cousin gave the kids two Christmases ago (which we all love to consult daily, but in particular me, because when the kids come down dressed for school in shorts and a t-shirt in December I just say, "What's the weather-boy wearing?" and they know they have to change to comply to his standards) had recorded a record low of -6, the spot where you find the record low now reads -17 (you can ignore the high of 126.5, we accidentally placed the sensor in a spot that caught the full force of the afternoon summer sun so it got a little hot; while I assure you that this -17 is legit, I also assure you our summer heat has never been anywhere close to 126.5). When we watched the news this morning, the weather-net station at boy's elementary school, which is only about 6 houses up the street from us, was reading -17, with a windchill factor of -50 degrees. NEGATIVE 50!!!
There actually wasn't a lot of snow from this weather system, but school was canceled today anyway, purely due to extreme temperatures.
The condensation on the windows was frozen solid.The blinds and curtains have been pulled tightly closed all day to keep the cold out and the heat in. I think it helped a bit, but just a bit. Our furnace has been on overdrive all day. I'm wearing my sweater boots even with the no-shoes-on-the-carpet rule to keep my tootsies warm.
Adam had to go out to secure the gate that got unlatched and was banging around in the wind. I told him that if he didn't return quickly I'd send Ruby out to find him with a barrel of ale strapped to her neck. He did return on his own, but in the two minutes he was outside he was so cold his teeth ached! I was glad the ale was unnecessary as we don't have any, nor do we have an old wooden rescue-dog barrel.
We did all manner of activities to create warmth: Running on the treadmill; washing and drying laundry, careful to catch it just as the dryer finished so it was hot coming out; baking choc-oat-late chip cookies; playing Wii snuggled under quilts and blankets in the basement (which was much warmer than the main floor--with all its windows); laughing heartily while playing board games; eating pancakes for lunch and soup for dinner, reading books squished close together for warmth.

We've had the kids on rotation every hour, turning on faucets until the water coming out heats up, then turning them back off. I've been listening for the sound of pipes bursting all day, now that I know from our experience a month ago what that sounds like, and haven't heard anything like it. But even so, when the thaw comes on Thursday or Friday you know I am going to be checking the basement regularly for any water where it does not belong!
The high on our temperature gage never went above -7. And right now at 8:45pm it already reads -14. School is already on a 2-hour delay for the morning, with a full cancel always a potential since we aren't expected to get above 5 degrees tomorrow, the low tonight may reach -20, and the wind is howling.
In their prayers tonight the kids prayed that the homeless have found shelter from this cold. I hope so too.
It's hard to believe that we can have an almost 70 degree swing in the high temperature in just two days. CRAZY.
Today is officially the coldest day I have ever lived through in my life.
I am all done because my fingers are too cold from being out on the keyboard for so long.

Another One

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful, striving to become as perfect a January day as Friday had been. And it succeeded...and surpassed! I'm always including pictures of Pike's Peak at sunset in my posts, so I thought I'd include one of Pike's Peak at sunrise: as the sun just comes over the lip of the horizon, blasting the mountain snows with a near-neon orange-pink glow. Sunshine is not unusual for us in the winter, but usually our winter sun is just glaringly bright, supplying little warmth, but this day's sun was more like a summer sun; our high hit 67!We were up bright and early to send Zach out the door for the Webelos Winterspree at the Air Force Academy where he played games such as soccer and ultimate frisbee with the Cadets, tug-of-warred with the football team (who provided many autographs), watched a security dog demonstration, as well as a demonstration by the falconers...and drank a lot of hot cocoa. Ben had a turn at Winterspree too, but went in the afternoon for the Tiger/Wolf/Bear event. The boys enjoyed themselves absolutely and completely! The day also held a long-awaited birthday party for one of Josh's school buddies and a basketball game for Zach.

But by late afternoon the activities had slowed down, so we went outdoors for some family time. The big boys made marble tracks on the driveway and in the gutter using PVC pipe and wood blocks and played some football with Dad, Luke gave a newly aquired skill, pedaling his training-wheeled bike, a try, Adam got the last of the Christmas lights down (sad, I know, but there you have it), and I colored a mural on our driveway using sidewalk chalk. I didn't realize when I started the thing that it would take me so much time, but it was quite the undertaking! Fortunately, the boys helped me intermittently, on breaks from their other activities; Tommy definitely helped the most by crawling across the drawing and giving it a lovely 'smudged' appearance!

And the sunset did not disappoint.

Later that night, while the littles and I hung out at home, Adam took the bigs to the Air Force Ice Hockey game, using tickets given to us by some friends of ours who buy them for the season. Apparently, Zach made a new BFF during the game. He and the lady sitting beside him, who was a school teacher, talked and laughed much of the night. Man, he's a friendly kid! The pictures weren't fantastic because under no circumstances could there be a flash. Everyone had a great time...I mean, it's a hockey game! Even if you know nothing about the sport, it's hard to NOT enjoy yourself!

Today in church Josh drew me a picture. It was a Josh-style version of my mural....{heart}

It's supposed to start snowing tomorrow afternoon, and the high for Tuesday is expected to be 5, but I've loved this week's little springtime in January!

Mountain Man

Thursday night found the Conlin family sitting seventh-row-back in the packed-to-capacity gymnasium attending our elementary school's 4th Grade Music Program. This year the title of the show was "Colorado Celebration" to compliment their current unit of study. The songs and short snippets of dialog delivered many fun facts and interesting information about Colorado and its history. It was so cute! All the kids did a FANTASTIC job, including our very own shining star, Zach. We really enjoyed watching it!

Originally, Zach was hoping to perform a section of the Gold Rush Rap. But instead, and without any disappointment from Zach, he was assigned the role of Mountain Man Jim Beckwourth. Now if you know anything about this guy--I didn't, but just in case you do--you might be thinking, "Hmm, wasn't he an African-American?" Why yes! Yes, he was. But I suppose the school was trying to be p.c. and not typecast any kids based on the color of their skin, which is a good thing even if it is a little funny. Thus, Zach landed the role! Even though he has an incredible memory, he still practiced and practiced, and he did a great job with his lines and his section of the Mountain Man song. And, of course, wonderful with the other songs too.

Zach has been looking forward to this night since loooong before Christmas break, and so were we, as we all felt we knew every single song by heart due to Zach's incessant singing of them! He loves singing, being on stage and sharing his big ol' smile, so to sum up, it was probably one of the best nights of his year.

Loved it, Zach! We thoroughly enjoyed watching you do your thing!

Zach as Jim Beckwourth in front of Pike's Peak

Zach as Jim Beckwourth in front of an old mining town such as Idaho Springs or Georgetown.
The REAL Jim Beckworth

I tried 4 times to upload the video of Zach as Jim Beckwourth delivering his lines and the Mountain Man song including Zach singing his solo. But it wouldn't work, maybe the file was too big. So you'll just have to trust me. He was great!

Friday

Friday.
Sunny. Pleasant. Sixty-five. Park. Swings. Picnic. Smiles. Perfect.

Group A Streptococcus

It's odd that something so teeny can make us feel so terrible. It's not just odd, it is downright scary. The photo above is mega-magnified Group A Streptococcus bacteria, the bacteria that cause strep throat. I thought I'd put a picture of those little $%!@!#*'s instead of one of me from this week because I have only really been able to attend to the business of getting through the day to day stuff, which didn't always include such luxuries as showering or {hahaha!} make-up. Yes, my misery was very visible. But now, thanks to the marvels of antibiotics {God save them!} I am on the mend.

Here are some tidbits from my three days of strep throat.

Tuesday morning Ben and Zach offered to stay home from school to watch the little boys for me so I could sleep. And I think they were only about 30% motivated by the fact that they'd get to stay home from school if they helped me, and 70% because they genuinely wanted to help me. It was a nice gesture, and warmed my heart, but they were sent off to school anyway.

I have only had strep throat twice in my life, both times since we've moved here! I hear Colorado was called "Land of the Red Throat" or something like that ("Land of the Barbed-Wire Throat?" "Land of the Can-I-Just-Remove-My Throat?") by the native peoples who lived here when settlers first started coming to the West because it is SO prevalent here. Why? I don't know. But I've lived it, so I think they were right. The good thing is that it took me 10 days of strep throat suffering last time before I figured I should go to the doctor--having never had it before, I just kept waiting for my bad sore throat to go away on its own, this time within 2 days I felt 95% sure that what I had was strep, so it only took me 3 days to see the doc.

Whenever I get sick like this I always think of my dad. He'd ALWAYS tease me when I was little because I always get really snuggly when I'm sick, a state in which I am the last person anybody wants to or should be snuggling with! Fortunately, Adam puts up with it and give me as much snuggle as I need, even sick. I think if my mom was here I would actually climb into her lap and snuggle in!

Tommy and Luke both have colds and nasty looking throats, but neither of them has strep throat. Hooray! Yes, we visited the kid doc yesterday too. On that note, did you know that kids under the age of 2 RARELY get strep? For some reason the bacteria leave little people alone. They can get it, but it's not at all common. Little interesting fact there.

It's interesting how I usually take for granted the fact that I can just pop something in my mouth and eat it without thinking upon it much. I'd have impulses to do that over the past few days, a rice cracker, a Hershey's kiss, a bite of pear, etc. The second I would pop it in my mouth I'd instantly regret it. The flavor might be nice for a few moments, but then...OW! Another thing I found I take for granted a lot is yawning. So I should say thank you. Thank you Throat for usually swallowing voluntarily and happily! And thank you Yawns for usually being so easy and so painless! And Body-as-a-Whole, thank you for being in a general state of wellness most of the time. It's nice and I want you to know I appreciate it.

I still held preschool on Tuesday. At that point, I was still not totally sure I had strep, but just in case, I wiped everything down with Clorox and washed my hands 1000 times during the 2.5 hour period. I'm not too bad at keeping my germs to myself. None of the rest of my family has it {yet}, and I'm sure hoping none of my preschool kiddos get it! Boy, I'd feel awful if they did!

Adam took the afternoon off yesterday so I could have a nice nap (oh! was it nice!) and see the doctor without my entourage.

My throat hurt bad enough that it repeatedly woke me up from sleeping Monday night and Tuesday night, I was so grateful for ibuprofen that helped me catch some restless but needed Z's. I also had this weird dream Tuesday night where I was having an asthma attack (I don't have asthma) and I was trying to get myself to the hospital. Adam was being super unhelpful and wearing this tight-fitting ribbed tank top and a cheesy button down shirt with only the bottom buttons buttoned a la Jon Gosselin, maybe it was the outfit that was causing the unhelpfulness. Talk about nightmares! Anyhow, throughout the dream I was breathing terrible loud, gasping breaths. When the non-dream and much-more-tastefully-attired Adam rolled {loudly and largely} over in bed to try to get me to roll over too, I woke up from my dream just enough to discover that 1. it was just a dream, thank goodness and 2. the loud gasps in my dream had actually been me snoring as loud as a chainsaw--I'm not exaggerating.

It kind of stinks that when you have an excuse to live only on chocolate milk shakes, they don't taste good and even though they aren't as painful to swallow as any solid foods, they still wound you as you try to choke them down. All I wanted was FOOD, real hearty food; I was starving! Strep doesn't kill your appetite, you are still hungry, it just makes you not want to eat. Nothing tasted/felt good, even banana-berry smoothies and {my very favorite} Odwalla Chocolate Protein Monster blended with vanilla ice cream shakes. Sad, sad, sad.

I have to throw out my toothbrush.

When my doc offered "pill or shot" yesterday I said with gusto and joy, "SHOT!" It hurts like the dickens, but it's fast and I should be able to eat with no discomfort by tomorrow! I woke up this morning, my throat still sore, my neck still painful, but the general achy unwellness in my body since Sunday night was gone.

Strep, strep, go away and DO NOT come back another day!

Preschool Expanding

This week in preschool the kids and I talked about, created and played with puppets. We had puppet shows using a make-shift cardboard box puppet theater and all of our books this week were told by puppets. It was a pretty fun week. Why am I telling you this, you ask? Because one of the unexpected things that I have found that I love about teaching preschool at the house is the influence it has on the bigger boys. Inspired by the preschool theme for the week, Ben, Zach and Josh decided that a great after-school activity today would be to make their own sock puppets. Who am I to stifle creativity and imagination?! They came out so cute and they've been playing with them all afternoon. They even have names (L to R): Sockol (Ben's), Sock-a-Doodle (Josh's), and Socker (Zach's).
And I just had to include a picture of tonight's sunset taken from our front porch! Beautiful, tranquil, inspiring, jubilant! It added an extra stretch to the smile I've been wearing all day...Adam is coming home after five days working in Texas! Hooray!!!!!

A Note To Myself on Getting Luke to Eat Dinner

Dear Future Colleen Who Has Forgotten This Lesson for Some Reason and Needs Reminding,

The best way to get your picky, stubborn, but very darling Luke to eat the random foods you cook for dinner is to make him a peanut butter sandwich for dinner, not just once or twice, but day after day after day after day. Do not even offer him "real" dinner, just assume he's not going to eat it. Make the sandwich. Trust me. Two nights ago you made spicy Thai peanut noodles with tofu, and a peanut butter sandwich for Luke. What did he eat? Spicy Thai peanut noodles with tofu. Last night you made chicken taquitos with guacamole, and a peanut butter sandwich for Luke. What did he eat? AN ENTIRE CHICKEN TAQUITO! These were his words, "Mom! I like that. I want that." You were very nonchalant, very casual, as you handed him a taquito, but inside you were doing the Balki Bartokomus Dance of Joy. Need proof?Are you reminded now? Good. Follow directions accordingly.

Yours, as ever,
The Slightly Shocked but Very Happy Colleen Of Today

With The Sun Come The Scrapes

Monday the kids were off school for MLK Jr. Day. And it was GORGEOUS! They spent the first half of the day playing in the sunshine...in shorts. In my opinion it wasn't warm enough at all for shorts, only the mid-50's, but the boys figured that was plenty warm and I didn't want to fight it. Although, if I had, the scrape would probably have been much less significant. Yes, it is official. Just before lunch Josh was awarded the first sunny day scrape of 2011 for questionable maneuvers over a patch of left-over slush on his bike. He only shed a few tears and let me clean it up nicely. It was a pretty big knee scrape, with an elbow scrape to match. He's a tough little guy! He even smiled for the picture. The kids spent the rest of the day inside even though I encouraged them to go back out. I guess a raspberry like that just puts a damper on the joy of the sun. So instead the boys and I gave the new treadmill a go, played a wicked game of Lego Ramses' Pyramid (man, that game has a lot of specific directions!) and some Super Mario Bros. Wii. And then I made an early dinner, spicy Thai peanut noodles with tofu...even Luke ate it, shocker! I think the time outside in the sun had put them all in great moods and it was a really nice afternoon/evening.

To finish off the day here's a funny little story. After dinner and family night, I had to take Zach to his soccer "speed and agility" camp, so we all piled in the car and off we went. When I arrived at the facility where Zach's camp was held the parking spots were all full, and I was just dropping him off, so I pulled into one of the handicapped parking spots, parked, and walked Zach to the door. When I got back to the car Luke said, "Mom! You can go to the bathroom in those trees!" I was taken aback. I had remembered seeing a group of young teen boys leaving the building as we pulled up, had they decided to go to the bathroom in the trees in front of my children?! I was only 20 feet away from them, why would they do that?! So I asked, "What do you mean, Luke?" He replied, "See the sign? It says you can go to the bathroom right there in those trees!" Then I realized he meant the handicapped parking sign that was posted right in front of the trees. He had mistaken the little wheel on the stick-man wheelchair for a toilet! A nearly needed to use the trees for a bathroom with how hard I was laughing. I can totally see it! I will never be able to look at those signs the same way again. I love how the 3-year-old mind works!

A Run For My Money

Starting the week after Christmas I began the search on Craigslist for a treadmill. I've wanted one for awhile for those freezing and/or snowy mornings when leaving the house to go for a run just seems like a really undesirable thing to do. I mean, when the thermometer reads "1" the motivation plummets and my cozy bed wins out every time. I had some birthday money to use, so it seemed the time to buy one. But I didn't have a lot of birthday money, not a lot at all, and I have made us a pretty tight 2011 budget to get rid of our debt. No, my new treadmill could not be a pricey treadmill.

As I looked, I was plagued by disappointment. Not surprisingly, because I have felt for a long time that listings on Craigslist are mostly huge ripoffs, people seem to think that used treadmills should cost only $20 less than they cost when they were purchased new. On the rare occasion that one would pop up in the reasonable range, I quickly discovered that I was not the only one seeking a reasonably priced treadmill. I was never the first to contact the seller, even if it had only been a couple of hours since the posting. OR if one that I could afford was actually still available when I contacted the seller, I would search the internet for reviews on the treadmill in question and I would discover why it was still available..."breaksdown," "cheap parts," "bad brand," and so on, so I let those go. I was so diligent! But then I got desperate.

This weekend I discovered a few in my price range. I made some phone calls, but no, they were all taken. Except for the last one. And it was close to home, even better! So I drove myself over to take a look and give it a little practice run. It was definitely ghetto, a little loud, but that was OK. For my price range I knew I wasn't going to be buying a "high performance" treadmill. Bottom line: It satisfied the basics. It functioned, it had an incline, it folded up for storage, it's top speed was fast enough, and it seemed like it would do the job. So I bought it on the spot. Oh, I am dumb! Yikes! Later in the night, when I was home and had a few moments for my brain to settle into the quiet of the evening, I realized that I had forgotten to do my search for treadmill reviews on this particular model. I kid you not, the very first review I read said, word for word, "If you find one of these for sale on Craigslist, DO NOT BUY IT." Sweet. Too late for that! I felt a little sick to my stomach.

BUT I had a good 3 mile run this morning on the DO NOT BUY IT treadmill. It's still loud, but it does work. As long as I don't pay attention to the fact that the speed monitor doesn't stay constant, rather, it fluctuates .5 up and down. I don't know what that means. I've never run on a treadmill that didn't stay put at one speed! Although I think it WAS staying put at speed; I didn't notice the actual machine slowing or speeding up, it was just some quirk on the monitor. So it might just mean that the pace per mile will be off a bit. Fun! What's a cheap treadmill without its quirks, am I right?

I finally made myself feel better by telling myself that as long as it works well for 2 months it will have been cheaper than 2 months of membership at the Y. But I sure hope it lasts longer than that! One day I will be able to afford a $2,000 Nordic Track treadmill, but for now I have my DO NOT BUY IT treadmill and I sure hope it gives me a run for my money!

**Who am I kidding, I probably will never be able to afford a $2,000 treadmill.**