The Thaw

 Wally kept Walker entertained while I made dinner by attaching the Valentine's balloon bouquet to his shirt. Walker felt pretty cool.

The weather kept us frozen in time last week, it seemed. We tried not to go anywhere we did not have to go, and it seemed hard to use any energy we did not have to use. I guess that is what -35 degrees with wind chill does to a body. And mind. But on Sunday that thaw began. And Valentines Day made our hearts warm with love, and sunlight. I actually broke out the stroller, bundled Walker within an inch of his life, and encased his stroller in plastic, so to be sure he would not freeze, and went for a run.

Heaven.

Even with the wind pounding away at my the entire time I ran North.

I ended up being a crazy, busy Valentines Day. Making sure everyone was ready for school parties, almost missing Wally's bus, and having a neighbor witness me having a "moment," when Wally was spinning in circles in the car instead of getting out and running for the bus as it pulled away, Young Womens Presidency meeting at my home while having a water softener installed, and feeding the sister missionaries from our church.
But the best was when the sisters came around at about 2:30 in the afternoon wondering if they might use our restroom. Great! Except that my water was still turned off because of the water softener installation. I felt too horrible sending them out the door with no help. I would definitely want someone to help my daughter find a bathroom when she needed one, if she were on a mission. So we headed out the door, and traipsed around my neighborhood, knocking on doors, looking for a bathroom with running water. I think I scared at least one off when his visiting mother answered, left to go find her son, and then no one returned to let us in. Oops.
But my WONDERFUL neighbor, Jen came to the rescue. As usual. She is always a champion of helping me in a jam. And we were able to send the Sisters on their way. And we were all relieved, if you know what I mean.
We got to share a not so lovey Valentine dinner with the missionaries, which included Del knocking a tall glass of water over, narrowly missing one Sister's lap, Walker pulling a pitcher of water off the table, narrowly missing his head, but giving himself a nice, icy shower, and lots of running around, yelling, and not listening, by all of our children.

I went to bed tired, and grateful that at the end of the day, hectic or not. More times hectic, than not. I am able to see my supportive, and amazing husband walk through the door.  I am lucky to have such a great Valentine.