Monday, Feb. 28, 2005
Snow Day #5, posted at 10:05 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Well, finally, on the fifth straight day off, I was productive. I finally tackled the basement. It's not quite all the way done yet, but I've been working steadily for hours and it feels good.The snow is still coming, and I doubt if we'll have school tomorrow, either. Tomorrow is the first day of tryouts for baseball, a date I've had marked on my internal calendar for months. I'm going to struggle mightily now through the first few weeeks of practice, thanks to the weather. The weather is supposed to be very cold for the rest of this week, meaning the snow will stick for a while, and even if it warms up considerably next week, the melt of the snow will cause the field (which doesn't drain well) to be muddy for weeks thereafter. I don't know when our first game is, but it's going to be a struggle. Luckily, almost all the other teams will be in the same boat as my team.
I say "almost," because I'm guessing that badminton doesn't get priority in the gym over baseball at other schools. I may have to work out a schedule where the kids practice late in the evening, after badminton, but that will make my life significantly more difficult. In addition, basketball playoffs were supposed to be finished this week, and I'm guessing they're now pushed back.
I'm not stressing too much; it's not like I can control any of this weather. It's just disappointing. Last year was a very wet spring, and this one looks to be cold and wet. Arguments for fall baseball continue to gain strength in my mind. Either that, or the city should build domes for baseball games.
The animals are enjoying my time inside. I like seeing their behavior together. Nothing in Holden's arsenal of instincts has prepared him to react to a cat being nice to him. Tobey will come up to him, rub again him, and start licking his ears and snout. Holden is obviously uncomfortable with it, but doesn't know what to do, especially when I'm holding him so he can't move. Heh. Then, sometimes, I take his paw and scratch Tobey's back, so it's like he's petting the cat. That freaks him out, too, but Tobey just gazes back at him, like he's getting the best massage he's ever gotten - which is probably true, because Holden does have some long nails that he refuses to let me cut.
I'm also amused by Tobey's new favorite spot, in front of the space heater that I purchased from Target recently. It's one of the best things I've gotten for myself this winter, cutting my heating bills way down from can't-pay-until-the-summer to merely exorbitant, and Tobey loves it. I normally don't have it on unless I'm in bed, but today I've left it on intermittently since I've been home all day. I keep seeing him rolled in a ball in front of it, like this:
He knows the best spot in the house right now.
Ready for a 6th snow day tomorrow because if it's got to spew this white shit, I might as well continue to get days off. Although I'd trade 60 degrees and school a hundred times before I want any more of this horrible snow that I unsuccessfully escaped when I moved from Michigan.