Tikkabik

Looks like school is out for the rest of the week, thanks to the recent blizzard. Some of the parents and others I've spoken to seem to think that the schools will cancel spring break as a result, but I suspect the teacher's union will have something to say about that, if it comes to it.

We got several more inches last night and it's still falling -- I haven't gone out yet to shovel it but am not expecting any problems, as it's the light and fluffy kind.

The kids and the parents in our house are all getting rather stir-crazy with cabin fever. Frankly, none of us are really "into" the snow, so we've basically just been staring out the windows, and the kids have been playing board games or tormenting each other to pass the time.

After being sick for more than a week I'm feeling more like my normal self today, though I still have a persistent cough that isn't going away. It's the same one I've heard from both Emme and James -- I'm not sure who gave it to whom, and I don't really care, but it's just one of those winter things we all have to deal with until we can all collectively shake it.

James has been down for the last couple of days with a fever, but that's gone now, replaced with a rather thickly running head cold that doesn't show any signs of lessening. Fortunately he's clinging to Bonnie less, so she has greater mobility -- even if he is grossing his brother and sister out with thick clots of snot running down his face (he has to be constantly reminded to blow his nose into the tissue).

Me, I'm trying to make the best of the situation and just work straight through it. The kids at home have given me the excuse of working more from my basement office, which is actually quite pleasant once the space-heater kicks in and warms the place a few degrees. The basement casement window in the office is normally obscured by the porch, so it doesn't let in a lot of natural light, but all this snow surrounding the porch has made it totally dark.

Being down here has made me realize why I don't come to the office more often. I have so much work still to do before it's "done." I'd really like to run permanent heat down here, whether it's electric baseboards or a new zone for the forced hot water system that heats the rest of the house, I don't care. And I need a floor: There are great and relatively inexpensive vinyl solutions that would work great, but it'll still cost a couple of grand to do right. And shelves. I really need shelves for the tons of software and peripherals that otherwise just occupy moving boxes or piles scattered hither and yon.

Once all that is done, my office will be real and habitable. Now, it still feels a bit too much like a workshop for my taste. But, like anything worth doing, these endeavors take time and money, neither of which I have in any great supply. So I make do.