Unless you live under a rock, you probably are aware of the "polar vortex" that has swept the central and eastern United Stated for the last several days. What this meant for Duluth was temperatures in the -20s and -30s, and windchills of -50s to -60s. Luckily, we are "warmer by the lake" so my little neighborhood was on the lower end of this, and lets not even talk about what other parts of northern Minnesota saw.
So many things just SHUT DOWN for this cold snap. The postal service did not run on Wednesday. School was shutdown Tues-Thurs, along with daycare. Non-emergency medical transportation cancelled. It had me... reminiscing. Yes. my main reaction to the cold snap was to think back to my childhood.
But, this blog is about today, not 1996.
Tuesday - I stayed home with the kids in the morning. We played a rousing game of hide and seek, and we played Ants (one of Ben's favorite "pretend" games that he has not shown interest in for several months, so it was a welcome surprise request). Felicity is really bad at hiding - she wants to be found. I guess its just part of the age. Ben is better at it. On Tuesday afternoon I went to work and the kids spend it with my parents. Ben played board games and Felicity did 100 piece floor puzzle with Grandma. (Amelia just hung out with grandpa as far as I can tell).
Wednesday - I had such big plans for this day! I was going to make blueberry muffins with Felicity! I was going to play games and do art projects and clean and make brownies! Instead - Amelia made it clear from EARLY in the morning (early enough to actually be overnight) that she had a bad ear infection in her right ear. I woke up in the morning exhausted, with a crick in my neck that made it hard to move (probably due to trying to placate two girls for half the night), a migraine, and lots of mucous. NOT FUN. If I had not been home for the cold, I would have been home sick! Luckily Aaron was also home for the cold (his work closed entirely). I took Amelia to the Dr Office, got her antibiotics, and then took a LONG HOT BATH with a pine bath bomb that significantly, though no where near completely, relieved all my symptoms. In the afternoon, the girls and Aaron napped while I played Hogwarts Battle with Ben (this was the most pleasant part of the day).
Thursday - The school was unexpectedly closed again, but Aaron stayed home. I trudged off to work and tried to stay warm! Aaron brought the kids to my work for lunch (we walk to Subway in the skywalk system).
And that is the story of the great 2019 cold snap. The temperature is back up to a balmy 2F and windchill of -12F. Friday feels like Monday and Friday at the same time - everyone is back where they should be, but ready for the weekend somehow.
