Idle?

Well, folks, my wonderful help left today.
My MIL was on the road again this morning
(after doing up all the laundry she could and everything
else in the house---she's a great one to have around!)
a little after 10:00 am. She was very tired and very glad
to be getting back to her house. If you've been keeping
score at home, you'll remember
that she's been here since December 5th.
That seems so long ago.
It was a Saturday.
I believe that was the day after my lovely doctor told me that
I needed to go on bed rest and take it seriously.
Lloyd Dobbler called her to come, and she did, and she
was here from then until now. Over Christmas and
New Years and everything.
And it was no vacation for her.
I am sure she enjoys being with her grandchildren
and being such a help to all of us
(Lloyd Dobbler finds SUCH comfort
in having his parents on the scene),
but it was a bit of a sacrifice on her part.
And I do appreciate it.
I can't imagine what the last month would have been like
without her.


So we have basically sat around the house
and been cold today.
Seems like we've been doing that for several days now.
I am so ready for this cold weather to move on.
Aren't you?
I keep hearing people say that it's going to warm up
later this week. Oh man, I hope so. I really do.
I am not a big fan of cold (don't even start with the
snow--you know how I feel about that)
and it just seems like it is
the most depressing thing right now.
What I wouldn't do for a warm, sunny day.

I don't know how long this "no school" deal is going to last.
My three lovely older children seem to want to
just watch TV or get on the computer all the time.
It's like they don't know how to do anything else.
Or don't WANT to do anything else.
And it's driving me a bit crazy.
I can almost hear the sound of their young minds
melting into pools of jello.
Tomorrow I am going to drag out the school stuff
and go through it and see what we can arrange
for maybe at least half days.
That ought to be enough to make them
go find something to do rather than
wanting to do all this mindless stuff all day long.

Although I have to confess, if I am being honest,
that I have watched more TV in the last three weeks
than I have in a long time.
And I have wanted to just sit and veg out
in front of the TV. I've watched game shows
without end. Big E is now hooked on my favorite
game show of all time:
Dick Clark's $25,000 Pyramid.
I love that show.
He's also enchanted with The Family Feud.
He doesn't seem to care who hosts it;
I only really like to watch the ones that
were hosted by Richard Dawson.

Lloyd Dobbler is home early today, although he was in
and out in five minutes. He's gone to the eye doctor.
He and Big E have Cub Scouts tonight.
And Lovely K and I have the premiere
of the new season of American Idol tonight.
(See how I gripe
about the kids wanting
to rot in front of the TV
and then I'm planning
my evening around it?)
I'm sure that's not the first mention of that you'll here,
though I'm not sure how good it's going to be with all the
changes they have made. And I saw some headline
the other day about Simon Cowell saying it would be
his last season on the show.
So it may be my last season to watch it.
I mean, who are they going to get to replace him?
He is a foundational element to the show.

So that's what is going on today.
A bunch of nothing.
You haven't missed much.
Just a quiet day on the home front.
All is well. Just quiet and slow and a bit empty.

As the song says:

"Don't wish it away,
don't look at it like it's forever..."