you don’t know me and you don’t wear my chains

I’ve fallen into a One Tree Hill coma. I forgot how much I love the music on that show. I used to be a huge OTH fan, but kind of gave up on it when Lucas and Peyton left. That and I no longer had cable, so really it was an easy choice. Anyway, Netflix is addictive, although that it not exactly the reason I’ve been the prodigal blogger. I couldn’t tell you what that reason is, though. I just … don’t want to. And the great thing about not having ads or sponsored posts is that I don’t have to blog if I don’t want to. It’s quite freeing.

But here’s the thing: Erica wants me to blog, so I’m blogging. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, LITTLE SISTER?! I also haven’t been taking photos, which, to me, is an essential to blogging. I just … winter is killing me. It’s been five and a half months now, and it’s not even close to being over. We probably have another 6 weeks left at least.

Noah is heading off to The Land of Sunshine in a couple weeks to watch sports with his dad and hang out with his best man. WITHOUT GUNS, ERIC. It’s funny, I’ve had lots of people say to me, “You’re letting him go WITHOUT YOU?” Yes, yes I am. Because as much as I love and am craving warmth and sunshine, I have absolutely zero interest in sports of any kind, live or not. So, no. I do not want to go with him. It’ll be good guy time for him. I just gave him one rule: do not text me about the weather. I do not want to hear about shorts-and-t-shirt temperatures while I wade through waist-deep snow.

And, before Noah gets back, the kids and I are heading to BC to see my grandma and my parents. As much as I kind of dread heading back to that town and the memories it holds, I really like road trips. It might be kind of, uh, interesting with just me and three goobers, but I know it will be fun, too.

I’ve been struggling with the running outside thing, what with my hatred of the cold, and my fear of slipping on the ice, which I’ve done too many times to count and am SO SICK OF. And then Noah was out one night and texted me something like, “Hey, if I bought you a gym pass, would you use it?” And he did, and I have been. What hit me the most the first time I ran on a treadmill at room temperature instead of on the road at -25°C/-13°F was the perspiration running down my face. That doesn’t happen when one runs in frigid temperatures.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I prefer running on the road. But I prefer it when that road does not double as a skating rink.

Anna and her kiddos came to visit us a week or so ago, and it was so fun to reconnect with them. I made a few great friends when we lived in Regina, and Anna is one of them. We chatted while our eight kids were surprisingly quiet. They played together really well, especially the second day we hung out. It was incredible. I mean, Liliana had a few KAITLYN IS NOT FOLLOWING MY ORDERS! moments, but, you know, those are kind of a given.

Preston was sick yesterday, full-fledged stomach virus. It was quite awful for him. As much as I hate it when my baby is sick, he is the easiest kid to deal with while sick. For the first couple hours, he acted completely normal. He was running around, taking small breaks to lose his cookies. By the afternoon, he was quiet and comatose on the couch, and after dinner fell asleep in Kaylie’s arms, which is quite miraculous, as he is not one to fall asleep anywhere but in his bed. He’s feeling much better today, but still very sleepy. Presto was fine till mid-afternoon today, when he woke from a three-hour nap and became a vomit fountain. I started writing this post while the boys were napping and was about to hit publish when I heard Preston crying his “owie” cry from his room. *sigh* Poor kid.

So, wow, wasn’t that all informative and everything you’ve been waiting … a month? for me to write? Are you happy now, Miss Erica? Yes? Good. And are you meeting us in Rip-bum or not?