Our Week - The One with a Snow Week, Braces, and a Family Funeral

Well, if the title of this blog post isn’t the epitome of what a roller coaster life is, then I don’t know what is.  We went from sadness/disappointment Monday to the highest of highs the very next day (our first snow in seven years!) back to sadness on Thursday doing one of the worst things we have to do here on earth… burying a loved one.  Needless to say, it was an emotional week – lots of ups and downs (and just plain weirdness) – so I’m praying for a little bit of normalcy this week.  That snow we had was exactly what we needed to bring lots of happies to break up a week that would have otherwise been pretty darn bleak.

Monday, January 20

Monday morning, the kids were out of school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we slept in and had leftover donuts for breakfast.  During breakfast, the kids asked to go do something fun like the arcade or the trampoline park.  My first response was nah since we had just been out of town Friday and Saturday, but then I thought about my word and goals for the year and the fact that there was the potential for snow the next day (which meant we could be trapped at home), so I said… why not?!

I immediately texted a couple of my friends to see if they wanted to meet us.  The bookshop that my friend owns was closed Monday, but she was there doing some work behind the scenes and her son was with her, so we offered to pick him up and take him out for a day of fun.

I spent about 30 minutes in my office getting a couple of things done, and then we all showered and headed to the bookshop to pick up Noah.  While we were there, we got to see the brand new mural that was just painted behind the counter by a local artist and it is just stunning!  I love it so much!! 

Once we were done there, the five of us headed to one of the local trampoline parks, and to our surprise, it wasn’t all that busy.  I’d thought for sure it would be crazyyyy since kids were out of school and the temp maxed out around 34, but shockingly, it wasn’t too bad.

Brian and I love that place as far as those kinds of entertainment centers go, because they have a huge area where parents can just chill (lots of parents were on laptops working) but you still have a pretty good view of the whole place. 

The kids played HARD for two hours straight – jumping on the trampolines, climbing the rock walls, going through the obstacle courses, etc. – I love that the place is geared towards older kids!  It’s nice to have a place for our kiddos to go since our other two trampoline parks are geared more towards littles.

While the kids played, Brian and I discussed potential plans for spring break, and we also snuck some pictures of the kids.  By 2:15, we were all starving and the kids were tired, so we went across the street to have a very late lunch at Chick-Fil-A, and Khristina met us there to pick up Noah.

We headed home after that, and by the time we got home it was late.  I didn’t have my blog post done for the next day, nor had I done anything else I needed to do, so Brian was kind enough to go grocery shopping for me so I could tackle those things.  We had a great chance of snow coming in on Tuesday, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of food and necessities.

We got word early in the afternoon that school was closing at noon on Tuesday in anticipation of the winter storm that was supposed to move in, but then, a couple of hours later, they ended up canceling altogether. 

I spent the next couple of hours drinking hot tea and working, and then I made a very late dinner – vodka sausage pasta, steamed broccoli, and cheddar bay garlic biscuits.  Brian and I also finished a bottle of wine that had already been opened.

After dinner, we watched the National Championship Game, and I got in a mixed cardio workout.  After seeing some of the headlines from the day regarding the Inauguration, and the new president’s first acts as president from my trusted unbiased source, I had some energy to burn.  It’s no secret how I feel about our current president as I’ve been vocal about it here in this space for years.  And while I acknowledge that he’s president and I have been praying for him every single day to make wise decisions for the good of humanity, I have to say that he has already disappointed me even more than I thought he possibly could… and it’s only been a week. 

Pardoning all of those January 6 insurrectionists as one of his first presidential acts?  Disgraceful.  And so very sad for all of those who were affected by the violence that day… especially the police who tried to protect everyone.  Randomly changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico as one of your very first acts as president?  Aren’t there more pressing issues??  Bless.  And Elon Musk doing a Nazi salute after his speech?  Whether it was intentional or unintentional, either way it was deplorable.  He either knew exactly what he was doing (which is terrifying) or he is ignorant for not knowing what that gesture means (which is just as scary). 

In addition to that, there were so many other changes made that made me so sad for so many people in our country… my heart aches for those who are going to be affected by all of the things that are being put into place. 

All of this to say, I have a lot of readers from other countries, and I just want to let all of you know that not all of us Americans are like the people running our country.  I promise there are so many of us who are decent humans and want the best for our fellow humans and we are all wondering how on earth we got here with this administration… again.  Some of us are just as perplexed and sad as you are. 

But – I do know that God is ultimately in control, and I will just continue to pray for the current administration and hope that they can learn to push their own egos aside and also learn to have some compassion for others.  And in the meantime, I’m just going to continue praying and continue supporting all of those who will actually work to make our country a better place.  I saw this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that somebody posted on Instagram, and I thought it couldn’t have been more fitting for the day since MLK, Jr. Day fell on the same day as the Inauguration.

While I worked out, the kids got showered and they watched some of the game with us.  Before bed, we pulled out ALL STOPS for snow – everyone (Brian and myself included) wore our PJs inside out, we all slept with spoons under our pillows, and we flushed an ice cube down the toilet… AND IT WORKED.  Woo hoooo!

Tuesday, January 21

Tuesday, the kids had virtual learning because they were still calling for snow in the forecast, so we all slept in while B headed off to work.  I got up around 7:45 and then Olivia and I made homemade waffles together.  Then, after breakfast, the kids got their schoolwork done. 

Thankfully, they don’t do live Zoom meetings anymore for lessons, and instead, their teachers just pop some assignments into their Google Classrooms, so they were both done in less than two hours.  They are able to do them at their own leisure, but since the snow was supposed to start in the early afternoon, I told them to go ahead and knock them out in the morning, so we didn’t have to deal with them later on.

While the kids did schoolwork, I knocked out my blog post for the next day, and then I got showered and ready.  Brian was allowed to leave work at noon because of the weather, so he arrived just as I was finishing up getting ready.  He was supposed to have had clients in town all week, but they canceled their trip Sunday afternoon after seeing our weather forecast and they decided to go virtual instead.  This isn't something you see every day!

He joined us for lunch and then locked himself in his home office for the rest of the afternoon for his meetings.  During lunch (grilled cheese and tomato soup – the perfect snow day meal!), very light, tiny snowflakes started falling and we were all glued to the window while we were eating.  Olivia snuck outside while I was making lunch and then she couldn’t finish lunch fast enough so she could get right back out there! 

The snow started falling harder after lunch, so Jacob and I went outside with her, and it was the best thing ever to see snow again for the first time in SEVEN YEARS!  The last time it snowed, Jacob was six and Olivia was three, so she doesn’t even remember it.  She has been begging for snow every winter for years, and I was so glad that God answered all of her prayers this year after such a long wait.  <3

It was FRIGID here while the snow was falling, and here in the south, we just don’t have the proper clothes for that – thank goodness I’d gone to Target to buy last-minute snow jackets and rain boots for them! – so we had to take lots of breaks to warm up inside.

For our first break, Olivia made some hot chocolate, I made some hot tea, Jacob had some white chocolate Oreos (treats all around!) and we turned on some cozy jazz and sat around the table.  The kids wanted to play Chutes and Ladders (soooo random since they’re both older now – haha) and then we worked on our Lego puzzle.

Once we were nice and toasty, we headed back outside, and oh my word, the snow was really sticking by that point.  We weren’t sure how long it was going to last, so I wanted to get a family picture and a family video for our One Second a Day annual family video, so on Brian’s next break, we set up the tripod and took as many family pictures and videos as we could squeeze in during his 15 minutes.  Haha.

The kids and I stayed outside soaking it all up for a while, and then we came in to take another break and warm up again.  On that break, I scrolled social media for a bit to see what local meteorologists were saying, and I looked at all of the snow pictures that had been posted by friends and family so far… SO FUN.  I also got a couple of things put away in my bedroom.  Meanwhile, the kids played video games.  I still couldn't believe this view from my office!

 

Brian got done with his scheduled meetings early (woooo hoooo), so he and I enjoyed a couple of scones from Trader Joe’s (and another cup of hot tea for me) while working on the puzzle some more, and then the four of us headed back outside until dark.

The kids had snowball fights, Olivia danced around, they drew in the snow, and we all just soaked up every ounce of goodness of the day.  We even tried to sled on the kids’ beach boogie boards (LOL) but they weren’t slick enough to move, so Brian had to pull them. 

The snow literally fell all day from about 1 PM to 8 PM so it was magical being able to be out in it.  It was a day I’ll never forget.  And such an easy way to stay PRESENT… my word for the year.

Right before heading inside, we measured the snow to see how much we’d gotten, and we were already sitting at nearly two inches, but the snow continued to fall for a couple more hours, so we’re assuming that we hit just over the two inch mark. 

We all came in just before dark (except for Olivia… she stayed out past dark) and we warmed up by the fire for a few minutes before making dinner.  B and I made breakfast for dinner, and we had some mimosas from some leftover champagne to celebrate our first snow in seven years.

They announced that school would be closed again Wednesday pretty early in the afternoon, so we knew the kids didn’t have to get to bed early, so we started a new show with them called The Unlisted.  Then after they went to bed, B and I watched some more of Silo and stayed up way too late.

One of our neighbors had walked out of our neighborhood to the main street, and this is what it looked like so it was a good call to close everything on Wednesday, too. 

I also stepped outside to take a nighttime snow picture and it was incredible how bright it looked outside even though it was the dead of night!

Wednesday, January 22

Wednesday morning, Brian got up at 7:45 to head downstairs for another day of meetings, and I got up shortly after.  We made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and then both kids tackled their schoolwork before heading outside to play some more. 

All of the local police and authorities + meteorologists and news outlets were urging people to stay home because they said every single road in the whole city was one big sheet of ice as it had gotten down to 19 degrees overnight.  There were loads of wrecks for those who did try to get out, so they begged and pleaded for people not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.  The screenshot below was posted on Facebook from our local sheriff.

Living this far south, we rarely get snow, so when we do, it completely shuts everything down because we don’t have the infrastructure to support it.  There’s no reason for them to spend millions of dollars on salt trucks and snowplows and everything else just to use them once every 5-7 years.  So, when it snows, we are at the mercy of the sun and the temperatures to melt everything.

The high was only 39 on Wednesday, and while some of the snow and ice melted, we were told it wasn’t going to be enough to completely dry everything up, so all of our schools announced early in the day that they would be closed (virtual) again Thursday.  This post below was from one of our local meteorologists and these were my thoughts exactly!

While the kids tackled schoolwork, I did some blog work and did a quick check of social media to look at everyone’s snow pictures.  When I popped on to Instagram, the first thing I saw was the POTUS account at the very top of my stories feed.  I clicked on the bio and saw that overnight Meta had forced my Instagram account to follow both the POTUS and FLOTUS accounts. 

My brother and several other people I know had this happen to them on Facebook, so I had just checked a few days prior to ensure that neither my Facebook or Instagram accounts were following either of those accounts and they weren’t.  So as much as Meta wants to deny (yes, they are denying it) that they’ve not forced anyone to follow those accounts, I know that they’re lying because it happened to me firsthand.  I unfollowed both immediately, and I’ve been checking periodically to see if they’ve forced me to follow them again.  So far they haven’t, but just a heads up to all of you on social media… Meta IS forcing some accounts to automatically follow the new administration, but you CAN unfollow them.  

All social media has always been shady, but apparently Meta has gotten even shadier since the new POTUS has taken office and I can't say that I'm surprised.  I can tell you in all of my 20 years on social media (and I know Instagram inside and out), I’ve never once been forced to follow someone I didn’t want to follow until just last week.

I had an appointment with my therapist at 11:15, but since nobody could leave their homes, we ended up talking on the phone instead.  The kids played outside all morning long, so they definitely made the most of it.

After my appointment, we all had lunch, and then the kids headed back outside to play some more while I finally got the laundry put away that had been sitting in my bedroom chair for 10 days.  See?  2025 Lindsay is really letting that Type A personality go!  (Although, I have to admit that some days it’s been hard… I hate walking in my bedroom and seeing a pile of laundry on the chair.)  I sure did love this view while I was folding, though!

When the kids came in, the three of us worked on cleaning out the playroom some more, and we got very close to being done, but again, I lost patience because it was a wreck (the pictures don’t do it justice), and I retreated to my office to work for a bit.  I reeeeally let things go last week with the kids being out of school the whole week, so I had a lot to catch up on.

Wednesday evening, we made turkey and cheese biscuit sliders for dinner, I got in a strength training workout, and then we watched a couple more episodes of The Unlisted with the kids followed by Silo for B and me.

Also, one of our neighbors took a drone shot of our neighborhood from their yard, and it looks so beautiful all blanketed in the snow!

Thursday, January 23

Thursday morning, I woke at 7:45 and then lay in the bed for a few extra minutes because it was so cold I didn’t want to get out.  Haha.  Then, I headed straight to my office to reschedule Jacob’s appointment to get his braces.  His appointment was at 9:45 and the roads were still awful in some places, so I wasn’t even going to attempt to try to get there. 

I was worried they’d have to push his appointment out by weeks, but they ended up seeing people on Friday to make up for all of the cancelations, so they were able to get us in Friday morning at 9:50 AM.  That was also good news since we were going to attempt to make it to my uncle’s funeral at noon Thursday.

Once his appointment was changed, I headed downstairs to make breakfast, and then I spent an hour in my office trying to get my blog post done for Friday.  I had to stop at 10 to get ready for the funeral, and all the while, I kept checking our neighborhood Facebook page to see if anyone had successfully navigated out of the neighborhood.  Upon checking, I saw this post from one of our neighbors.  This is the road that we turn directly on to get out of our neighborhood and it’s the way that we go to school and church every single day.  The road was still completely iced over and there was a tractor trailer stuck at the top, so the entire road was completely blocked.  It’s a long, hilly, winding road that’s lined by trees, and it barely gets any sunlight, so it was expected that it would be in bad shape.

There is only one other way out for us, and upon checking, there was a wreck at the other entrance/exit to our neighborhood, blocking our only way out.  Thankfully, the wreck was cleared before we had to leave, and one of our neighbors had said that the path out that way was clear aside from some little patches of ice here and there.  So, we decided to venture forth to the funeral because I really didn’t want to miss it.

Brian’s SUV has four-wheel drive, so we were able to use that on the way to the church.  Thankfully, there were only a few icy patches, and even though it took us almost twice as long to get there, we made it safely!

When we arrived, they had a visitation, and that was followed by the funeral at noon.  My uncle was a physician’s assistant for 20+ years at a local hospital, and he was also an EMT/paramedic for 20+ years.  He also spent time in the Army National Guard where he served as a medical officer.  In his free time, he volunteered at the local fire department as a firefighter, and he gave his time to our church’s outreach center.  He was truly a good man in every sense of the word… softspoken, a first responder, always patient, always a helper. 

Because of his time spent as an EMT, they had a few people there to pay tribute to him at the end of his funeral Mass, and because of his time in the Army National Guard, they played Taps and presented a flag to my Aunt Becky which about did everyone in at the church.  That is always the saddest thing to see, but it was such a lovely tribute.

After the funeral, we headed to the graveside for a quick service where my cousin gave a speech and made us all cry, and then the local EMT service did a “last call” for my uncle over their radios as we laid him to rest.  There was not a dry eye anywhere. 

The service ended with a man playing the bagpipes… my Uncle Bob was very proud of his Scottish roots, and it was one of his last wishes to have a bagpiper at his funeral.  It was FREEZING out, so the graveside portion was brief, and then we headed to my Aunt Joy and Uncle Greg’s house to eat and hang out.

We’d missed Christmas with all of them, so it was nice to be together, although, it would have been nice if it had been under better circumstances.  But we are all so grateful that he’s no longer suffering and that my aunt and cousin and all who cared for him on a daily basis no longer have to watch him suffer.

While we were there, I got some brand new baby snuggles as one of my cousins had a baby a couple of weeks ago, and that was definitely the highlight of the day.  I miss having a newborn so much – that phase is really just too short – and I enjoyed every single second of holding her.  She’s a tiny peanut… two weeks old and she’s still tinier than both of my babies when they were born.  Haha.

While we were at Joy and Greg’s house, we got another message from the school saying that all schools in our county were going to be closed yet again on Friday.  We were shocked.  I thought for sure they’d have us back in the classrooms on Friday, but again, since the temps never got out of the 30’s Thursday and because it was cloudy, there were still some patches that were due to ice over again Thursday night, and they didn’t want to take any risks having the school buses out.

Brian still technically had to work some more, so we left Joy and Greg’s before anyone else did, and we headed home so Brian could log some more hours.  While he did that, I finished my blog post for Friday, I stepped out to enjoy the gorgeous snowy sunset, and then we heated up a pizza for dinner.  None of us were very hungry after our very big, very late lunch, so we all just wanted something small.

We ended the evening with a couple more episodes of The Unlisted, and then Brian and I watched another episode of Silo.

 

Friday, January 24

Friday morning, I was up at 8, I got breakfast and spent a few minutes in my office, and then it was time to get ready to take Jacob to his orthodontist appointment.  We had to go a roundabout way to get there since we weren’t sure if that curvy, winding road just outside our neighborhood was safe, but we got there easily as there were only minimal spots with ice.

Jacob’s appointment only took an hour, and then we headed back home twinning in our braces!

When we got home, I cleaned up the kitchen and tidied some of the house, and then we had lunch.  After lunch, Olivia and I finished cleaning out the playroom while Jacob got his schoolwork done (Olivia had done hers while we were gone), and then Jacob and I got a couple of projects done in his bedroom.  He wanted to move some of his Lego sets around and make room for new ones he’d gotten for Christmas, so we had to get out the step ladder to get it done.

After that, I spent some time wandering around downstairs trying to decide where I want to put my new record player… we don’t have a free surface available, so I’m trying to figure out how to move things around to get it put up somewhere.  I didn’t come up with a solution on Friday either.  Hahahaha.

After that, the kids and I all sat down together to start catching up on a few pages in our daily devotional that we’d missed, and then they played video games for a bit while I spent some time working and *trying* to catch up.  I really didn’t get much done last week since the kids were home all day every day, but I didn’t even care… it was so nice to be able to slow down and enjoy the time with them.

For dinner, we decided to get out of the house since we hadn’t been out all week other than the funeral, so Brian suggested the new Mexican restaurant that I went to with my girlfriends the previous week.  He and the kids hadn’t tried it, so we all thought it was a great idea.

We arrived at 5:45 thinking we’d beat the crowds, but apparently every single person in the city was out and about on Friday evening (probably because everyone had been cooped up for days), and the wait was 50 minutes.  Sheesh.  We did NOT see that coming.  Thankfully, the wait didn’t seem that long, and we had a beautiful atmosphere to enjoy while we were waiting.  I’m seriously wishing I could somehow make my office look like this!  Haha.  And Olivia asked if we can make her bedroom look like this, too.  Hahahaha.

We did end up having to wait the full 50 minutes, but we all agreed it was worth the wait.  We ended up getting a really good table, and the food was delicious.  Jacob was able to get a cheese quesadilla and rice which was perfect since his mouth was sore, and everyone enjoyed their food.

When we got home, the kids got showered, I got my quiet time done, Olivia tried on a couple of dresses for the Daddy / Daughter dance (this is the one she decided NOT to keep and it was stunning), and then we all sat down to watch more episodes of The Unlisted, and then Brian and I finished Silo season two.  WHAT A CLIFFHANGER, Y’ALL.  OMG, I can’t believe we have to wait a year or two to find out what happens next!  That show is really good.

Saturday, January 25

Saturday morning, we all slept in, I made homemade waffles for breakfast, and then I spent some time in my office working.  I neglected it a lot last week, so it was long overdue.  I declared Saturday a “get stuff done” day and boy did I get a lot done.  I…

 

-       Rescheduled the kids’ music lessons that they’d missed during the snow day

-       Paid a couple of bills

-       Bought Daddy Daughter dance tickets for Brian and Olivia

-       Cleaned out both email inboxes

-       Printed some tax documents

-       Reordered Maui’s prescription

-       Transferred some funds from Venmo, PayPal, and Poshmark to our checking account

-       Ordered Olivia’s Valentine’s Day stickers from Etsy

-       Placed a Target order for candy and cello bags for her Valentines

-       Placed an Amazon order for baker’s twine to tie up her Valentines

-       Ordered Olivia’s birthday shirt (yes, she still requests one every year for her theme – haha – but this year it doesn’t say “birthday girl” so she can wear it year-round)

-       Got some stuff filed and put away in my office

-       Checked on a couple of Amazon returns to make sure my credits were issued

-       Got another Amazon return ready

-       Downloaded the new Teddy Swims album!

-       Brian installed the new light fixture in the entryway from the garage

-       I started rearranging my bookshelves in my office to make room for more actual books and I cleaned out a bunch of stuff… I’ve had a lot of décor as filler all these years since I didn’t have enough books to fill it, but now that I’m collecting more books, it’s time to rearrange!

-       Started styling my new acrylic shelves in my office

 

It was a productive afternoon… about the only one we had all week!  Haha.  I really wanted to keep up the momentum, but I forced myself to stop so I could get in a workout instead.  I got in a two-mile walk/jog because the temperature finally hit 50 degrees, and it felt great since it was sunny, too!  We haven’t had much outdoor time the last couple of weeks because our temps have been incredibly cold (especially for here), and I’ve been missing my outdoor workouts something fierce.

When I got home, it was time to get ready for church, and then after Mass, we went to dinner at the local pizza place right across the street with my parents, my brother and his roommate, and Mama Cass.  Their service was particularly slow, so we got home really late, but we watched an episode of The Unlisted with the kids to let them unwind, and then Brian and I started a new show called No Good Deed on Netflix.  So far, I’m intrigued!

 

Sunday, January 26

Sunday morning, we slept in and then it was a typical Sunday – yoga, online sermon, Bible study, planner ready for the week ahead (and the month ahead), showers, lunch at my MIL and step-FIL’s, some work and prep for Monday when we got home, and then dinner at my parents’ house.  The kids also made a mini Monopoly game out of cardstock and paper and markers for Olivia's stuffies (LOL) and it turned out AMAZING. 

We watched the KC vs. Buffalo game, and I was thrilled that KC won!  Olivia and I have been enjoying being honorary fans of the Chiefs (because of Taylor and Trav, of course) since our Falcons are so terrible.  Lol.  I’m looking forward to seeing Tay (and Travis!) at the Super Bowl!

What a week!  We were so grateful for the magic in the midst of the mess.  I saw this post by @iansimkins on Instagram, and it perfectly summed up the week for me.

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

In January, I started and am about to finish The Rewind by Allison Winn Scotch. 

I also started my new devotional Everyday Gospel by Paul David Tripp.  I’ll be working on this one all year long.

And finally, I’ve been working my way through the Bible for the second time around, along with my new study… The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz.

 

Currently Watching

With B: In January, B and I finished season two of Shrinking and we started and finished both seasons of Silo.  We watched a few episodes of Shark Tank, we watched The Golden Globes, and we also, of course, watched all of the college football playoff games and the National Championship game.  We just started the new show No Good Deed this week and it’s good so far.

With the Kids:  This month, we finished Time Bandits and we started The Unlisted.

Alone: I’m still watching The Holiday on repeat while I work in my office when I’m not listening to music.  I just can’t let that one go this year. 

 

Currently Listening To

January has been a mixture of cozy jazz and old standards, random new pop favorites, and I just downloaded the new Teddy Swims album, so I’m sure that one will be on repeat for a long time!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!