Winter Break

As I sit here relieved that our school Winter Break is over and things can get back to "normal", I think back on this past LONG weekend and laugh.

Headed up north on Saturday morning...too much effort to head up on Friday night...get there, get the sleds out, and head out for a ride with the kids & my dad.

The kids decide they want to try driving...past due for Emily try...so with a brave heart, I turned the handlebars over to Andrew first, as he was riding with me. He did pretty well for an 8 year old, jumping up to 40mph. Only issue is I had to continuously tell him to get onto the right hand side of the road...he thought he was invincible.

Emily on the other hand was more reserved, but being 11, I let her drive longer...or maybe it felt longer as she didn't go much faster than 25...long time, same distance! In the end, I survived.

Then we moved onto Sunday and for the first time, the weather man was correct. It was raining. Couldn't understand how, since it read 25 degrees on the thermometer, but I keep forgetting that it is Michigan & anything is possible. So as we debate on what we were going to do that day...go swimming or go see a movie...I hear this splat, splat, splat...SOB my NEW roof was dripping on the inside of the house.

So, R & I climb up on the roof and start shoveling the 3 feet of snow that has sat up there for however long & now weighs a million pounds with the added water. I get most of one side finished before my shovel bends in half and breaks. So there I am, on the roof, soaked with rain & sweat, with my broken shovel, staring at the roof wondering why can it rain and the bloody snow doesn't melt!

Since it was as good a break as any, I went inside to play games with the kids, R & dad went into town to find a replacement shovel. Richard finishes the one side when he returned and decided that should do it. I'm a bit skeptical, but hey I'll go along with that versus break my back.

So Sunday night comes around and we have the "family" couch action going on with the 4 of us on the sofa sprawled all over watching a Star Trek movie...how appropriate. When all of a sudden, drip, drip, drip on my SOFA! Well, we move the sofa, put a towel and bowl down and keep watching movies...what else is there to do.

By morning, the temps drop further, the internal rain stopped...probably frozen under the shingles and we head back up to the roof to shovel the other side of the house. Fortunately our light weight snowblower worked on the hard pack...now that it was frozen :)

I'm wishing I had my heart monitor with me as I'm on my 8th day of continuous exercise! Tuesday...I took a break :)