Hooray for new brakes!

My brakes were making a weird grinding noise.  I couldn't tell if some large clot of snow or ice had gotten caught up in the wheel or if it was a bad brake thing.  I brought it up to my brother, my brake repair guy, a couple of weeks ago.  It was then that the weather went straight back down to -10.8 F.  Two weeks passed and I felt something grinding.  I gave him a text.  He texted back.  He got to business yesterday.

After several hours later in an unheated garage with the door wide open, having given us a lot of time to talk, he replaced the front brake pads, the back rotors and pads.  He said if it would have gone much longer, I would have had to use those front rotors we bought just in case.

Parts were $150.  I asked what I owed.  He said $40.   I paid $75.  (Hazard pay.)  He didn't want to take it, but I made him.  It was slave labor wage given what he did.  He even changed my windshield wiper blades and ribbed me for what the driver's side blade looked like.

I ripped it.  A lot.  I ended up pulling hunks of ice off of the blade and shredded it.

It's all fixed now!  Hooray for stopping!

Of kitties, cold and grades.

Miss Leia has extra toes.  We call them fingers since they are on the front.  Well, little miss thing uses these extra fingers as thumbs.  The opposable kitty thumbs are used to help her to grab things like the scroll work bowl holder (spilling water) and allowing her to take the clip off of the cat food bag, allowing her unlimited access to the bag of food causing her to get kitty food drunk.

Good times.

I purchased a latching lid container to foil those kitty thumbs only to find that Hubs forgot to put the lid on, giving Miss Kitteh full access to the food-- again!  UGH!

The lid ain't gonna work if we don't use it people!

It was -3.6 F when I woke up on Friday morning with a biting wind chill and wonder of wonders-- WE HAD SCHOOL!  Color me shocked.  My cousin said that her daughter's teacher told her that the kids had to stop missing school and that they just needed to get used to the cold.  At this point, it's not getting any better.  We're in a cycle and it's cold.  Above zero feels like a breezy day, so it is what it is.  My coat is filthy because it has been too cold to risk washing it and not drying it fully before I have to go out again.  K's is the same.  In fact, I'm going to try to sneak them into the wash here in just a bit.

To note, I did double check with the office staff and our guidance counselor to make certain that all kids have coats and that they don't need any.  I reminded them that the PTA has money set aside for such things and if they need, please let us know.  We don't want any child running around without a coat.  Brrr.

Finally, I try not to be a big horn tooter with this because we know where we've been and how it feels to be there, but look at what K brought home:

The "O's" stand for outstanding and they are for social skills and study habits.  :)

How a year and a different teacher makes a HUGE difference!  Her prize from me?  2 Harry Potter books and a new balloon air pump.  What did Dad get her to celebrate the occasion?  A new whoopee cushion.  :insert rolling eyes:  Needless to say, she loves it!  She actually loves all of them.  So proud of all of her hard work!

ETA:  The coats are laundered!  HOORAY!

A paid day off and a pot of soup.

I got the call at 6:15 AM to say that my place of employment was on a delay open.  We usually open at 10 AM (and 6:15 AM was a little early to call) but with the 3" of snow covered with ice, it was decided that there would be a wait-and-see approach to opening.

Julia, my coworker, texted me to ask what the update on work was.  She said she doesn't speak English at 6 AM.  I gave her my update and called Judy back.  She said to give her another hour to make a determination.

She called before that hour was up.  The local university (which is a block and a half behind our store) closed, so she decided to close, too.  HOORAY!   A paid day off to putz around the house, load a bunch of CDs into iTunes (Pavement, CAKE, NIN, Blind Melon, Rusted Root, Squirrel Nut Zippers and onward to Porno for Pyros and Jane's Addiction and more) and cook up a pot of soup.

What soup am I cooking?  It's called, "I'm making from what's in my cupboards and refrigerator!"  We have turkey kielbasa, dried mixed beans, barley, corn, carrots, peas and half of a green pepper.  I'll bust out a pan of cornbread and the world will be a delicious place.

Be safe!

Kitty in a box.

Kitty in a tote.  This is the tote we brought her home in.  She loves her tote.

Kitty in a work bench drawer.  We've had to secure that.  A work bench drawer is not safe.  We found her curled up on a hacksaw.  Who would have thought she would have been in a drawer full of things?  

Miss Leia is slowly bringing herself to the family.  It is a slow transition and we've learned that patience is key.  You see, Leia was kitty in a box at a local Petsmart for at least a few months.  That box was probably (generously figured here) 2'x3'x3'.  She was used to being in a small enclosure where people would look at her, but not touch her.  She was used to people pounding on the glass (even though they aren't supposed to) and perhaps used to getting a scratch and left behind.

There was no space to run.

Her bed and food bowl were litter box adjacent.

She has started to fill out a hair, or at least that is what M and I thought this morning.  He mentioned it and I told him that I was thinking that myself.

We discovered that leaving a heaping bowl of food for her is not the best way.  We thought it was.  She is rather skinny, but we discovered that she will eat it and have ill effects of digestion later on.  In short, girlfriend pooped on me.  Oh, she didn't mean to.  Overfeeding isn't a good thing for her.

We're all getting used to each other and we discovered that she is afraid to go to the litter box while we're present.  If she needs to go and we are there, she won't.  The incident that happened was because she needed to go, I didn't know, I scooped her up, snuggled her up in my coat and frankly, I think I accidentally squeezed it out of her kitty person.

Oops.

She did earn herself the nickname of "Who flug poo?"  After the snuggling/pooping incident, we needed to give her half of a bath.  I had her snuggled up in a towel, scratching her kitty mustache and telling her, "Awwww, you smellllled sooooo badddd."  She did.  Her motor was running and though the bath was a bit jarring for her, I think that she knows that we saved her from her own stench.  In fact, I told her that I was certain that she finally gave up because she couldn't stand the smell of her own self.

She has gotten use out of the kitty gym we built for her from scrap pieces parts and only involved a few dollars worth of kitty toys.  M built her a box at the top about the same size of a work bench drawer and we gave it a bubble moon roof.  (A clear popcorn bowl we had.)  We set it up with toys at night and in the morning, the toys are scattered.  She has herself a grand time.

Leia has not come upstairs yet.  It isn't because it isn't available to her.  I think that goes back to kitty-in-a-box syndrome.  She'll get to it.  Just this morning she came to M and let him give her good scratches.  Our basement spans the 1008 square feet of the house.  She has more room down there than she has had in months.  She'll come up in time.  We bring her up, but her feet haven't hit the stairs yet.  Poor thing is scared of everything, but she's working through that.

It's taking time.  A lot of time.  That's okay.  We're used to kitties with issues of kittyhood.  She doesn't bite, so it's all good.

Three more weeks.

Our children have not attended a full week of school since that last week before Christmas break.

We had two weeks off for winter break.

We had three additional days off (Jan 6-8) because of Polar Vortex 1.  January 6 & 7 was - 12 F.  Yipe.  On the third day, the buses didn't start.  I've already complained about the lack of common sense with that one.

We had the 17th off because of city wide in-service.

We had the 20th off for MLK.  A great day off and it should be off.

We had the 24th off because it was a tad cold.  The same thing goes for the 27th.  I think we could have been at school those two days and I'm not the only one who thinks that.

We had January 28-29 off because of Polar Vortex 2.  It was -10.8 F.  Yes.  Way too cold.

Now we have February 5 off for a Teacher Work Day.

We have Valentine's Day off, well, because we do.  The calendar doesn't list a good reason why, but I'm thinking that it is a conference compensation day.

February 17th is off for President's Day.

So that means that if all of the Polar Vortexes (is that plural form correct?) stay where they live and the school doesn't decide to cancel for a 2 MPH breeze, our first FULL week of school since the week of December 20 will be February 24 - 28.

I can't be the only parent who finds that crazy.  The end.

Calamity Days: Are we raising soft kids?

Most of the nation is in calamity day central.  This morning it was -10.8 F.  Now that is cold!  Add a windchill warning that is over at noon TOMORROW and we'll just say, the nose hairs are sticking together rather efficiently when breathing in through the nostrils while outside.

I have to ask though, are we raising soft children?

The first days of January gave us three days off in a row.  The first two days were beyond cold.  We were at -12 F.  I get it.  Too cold to go out.  On the third day, many school districts were out not because of the cold specifically, but because the buses wouldn't start.  Now, I'm thinking that if buses hadn't been started in over 2 weeks that someone would have the forethought to go start them BEFORE school was due back in session that next day.  Alas, they did not and that error chopped off another calamity day.

We didn't have school Friday.  They said it was cold and while it was cold, it wasn't non-functional.  We had no school yesterday.  When I went to work, it was 30 degrees.  It started lowering, but by the time the kids would have gotten out of school, it was still 20.  (Yes, I know.  Add a windchill reading to that.)  At any rate, in our area, these kids could have gone to school those two days.

Our children haven't been to school for a full week since the week before Christmas break started.

I was speaking to the retired principal of K's elementary.  I told him that I thought we were raising soft kids and he agreed.  When we went to school, we went regardless.

There was snow to my waist and we went.  We didn't call off unless the city that I'm currently living in called off and they never called off.  If they called off, you knew that it was a don't-leave-your-house day.  Throw whatever you have in a pot for soup and hope for the best.

If it was cold, you just put on more layers.

I remember being on 2 hour delay once because we had an ice storm while the leaves were still on the trees.  Much of the city was without power, but we still went to school.

Even Kent State didn't call off when we had a shooter running around.  They also didn't call off when it was -25 F (-50 F with windchill.)  They delayed classes.  You know what?  We survived it.

The suburbs have busing.  The kids go from their house to the bus to the building.  They have very little outdoor exposure.  25% of our kids are bussed.  Very few kids walk.  (We don't when it is this cold.)  Most are driven to school in warm cars and dropped within 15 - 20 feet from the door to a geothermal heated building.

We went to school in the heat.  It was hot and we weren't allowed to wear sandals or flip flops or shorts.  The windows were opened and the janitor mowed the lawn as you were trying to learn.  We survived, yet there are times that schools are closed because the AC is out.

Now obviously, there are different conditions for everything.  Acceptable road conditions for NE Ohio are different than in Williamsburg.  Acceptable cold is different in NE Ohio than it is in Georgia.

It just seems that the schools are bowing to the worry that they will be sued by parents who are afraid that their kids might get a little cold or a little sweaty.

Use calamity days.  Use them when needed.  Use weather forecasts.  However, be reasonable with it. At this rate, our kids will be in school until July.

ETA:  We have tomorrow off, too.  Right now at 8:30 PM, it is - 1.5 F and it is only getting colder.

Meet Leia.

She's around here somewhere.  

 She's under here.

 There she is.

 Come on, Leia.

 Maybe this toy will coax her out.

 Ahhhh.

 "I love my people.  I just like to keep them on their toes."

Speaking of toes, she happens to be polydactyl.  (She has 6 toes on each of her front feet rather than the usual 4.)  It makes her sort of a Hemingway cat.  He had a fondness for the polydactyls.  Though the only true Hemingway cats live at his residence in Key West.  There are about 60 of them.  

Kitty scratches.  Ahhhh.

So, who is Leia?  Leia (formerly known as Betsie) is a 9 month old tuxedo kitten that we adopted from a local Pet Smart.  She is very bendy.  We are used to a lethargic 12 1/2 pound Maine Coon.  She is not 12 1/2 pounds.  She is not lethargic.  She is not a biter.  She is a licker.  She'll lick you to death.  She is a climber.  Smudge was not a climber.  She was a defiant pooper.  She was a horrible biter.  Frankly, Smudge was not a good cat at all.

Leia is quite an extreme switch for us.

She's still trying to find her way.  She's trying to make herself comfortable.  We sat together as a family last night and hand fed her.  All Hubs wanted for his birthday to have some good quality family bonding time with Leia.  That seemed to really help.  While we slept, Leia ate the entire bowl of food, drank half a bowl of water, knocked down a gate, a Christmas center piece, a bunch of stuff off the top of the work bench and had herself squirreled away in between the floor joists of the basement ceiling.

She had a busy night.  The previous morning, Hubs found her in one of the work bench drawers.  Inside the drawer.  Only the black fur of the tail hung out to give indication of where she was at.

She is stealth-like.  She is super quiet, except that we did put a bell on her.  With all of the adventures she had last night, I'm surprised that none of us woke up.

She's starting to warm up to the family.  She's starting to feel at home.  I think it'll all be okay.  :)