many of our weekends typically go like this. David and I wake up around 9ish, we debate who should take the dogs out. We fall asleep and wake up thirty minutes later to have the same debate. David takes the dogs out and comes back to bed. The people and the dogs realign themselves and we snooze some more.
Finally, David or I get up and make coffee and sometimes even breakfast for the other and we crawl back into bed. We wake up slowly, together, sipping pur coffee, eating our breakfast burritos or eggs or vegetarian biscuits and gravy while listening to NPR and playing with the dogs. Occasionally we can spend the better part of the day in bed cuddled together, reading, crocheting, giving belly rubs to deserving puppies.
I used to stress out on weekend mornings. I felt like I was failing in some way, that I should be out “there” doing “stuff” experiencing “things”. It took me a while to stop feeling guilty and to realize that spending a day in quiet comfort with the people and puppies that you love is important. I realized that I didn’t have to run constantly, I didn’t have to coordinate brunch every damned weekend, I didn’t have to wear myself out to attain some goal I didn’t want to reach.
When I look back on things, I realize that some of my favorite moments are those moments with the 4 of us bundled together listening to Prairie Home Companion or Splendid Table and laughing. When I realize how much I miss Ghengis, I am grateful for those weekend mornings I spent with him, those quiet lazy days when he fall asleep next to me, belly up, luxuriating in my attentions.
It seems so simple, not even worth talking about, but it makes me happy. This morning David took the dogs out. Later I got up and made coffee and breakfast for us. We talked, he read, I crocheted, we discussed the history of Russian politics and Maddie’s health. We spent time being quiet and just enjoying the company. We played with Chester and comforted Maddie and I am happier and more relaxed than I can express.

Or something like that.
I’ve worked at MCAD for almost 7 years now, and I think we were only sent home early once due to weather in that entire time. Thursday they closed the campus at 2:30 and sent us on our way. After a few phone calls to various offices to make sure that everyone had a ride home (because remember that Little House on the Prairie episode where the blizzard comes and the teacher sends the kids home but at the same time the parents decide to get in their wagons and come get the kids and the kids took a “shortcut” that they’d never taken before and got lost in the snow and the parents didn’t pass them on the way to the school so the parents were at the school but the kids were in a ravine freezing to death and everyone wanted to blame the teacher because she was stupid and sent the kids out in the snow and I think a kid died but the kid was the equivilent of a Star Trek Redshirt because we never saw him before and never hear of him after. yeah, what I am trying to say is that none of my coworkers are redshirts so I don’t really want them to die in the snow) I headed home.
Of course no sojourn into the snow would be complete without me slipping in some highly retarded manner with many witnesses. I have a lovely lump and bruise just below my knee. A student was walking behind me talking on her cell phone. She said, “Oh my god, some lady just fell”.
Oh my god, I have moved from “girl” and “chick” to “Some Lady!”. You are officially old when people refer to you as “Some Lady”. fuck.
My 15 minute drive home took me almost an hour. Visibility was less than a half a block on Portland avenue. There was hardly anyone out but we all crept along, fear a sudden brake that our cars would not be able to handle. Half way home the snow overwhelmed my windshield wipers and visibility fell to 18 inches from my eyes. Shit.
Once home, I called people to let them know I had made it home safe, ate some (not very good) Girl Scout Sugar Free Brownie Bites and waited for David. We shoveled and shoveled and shoveled and shoveled some more. It wasn’t terribly cold out so the snow was dense and heavy, but it was over quick enough.
I made generic stir fry on red rice and we watched The Warrior (good, but not great) and hunkered down. My boss called to let me know that the school was closed on Friday as well! Huzzah and hooray! Not only does this mean I do not have to go to work but it means I do not have to get up early to check and see if I have to go to work. Hooray.
I did what any chronic insomniac would do, I stayed up late reading and then took sleeping pills so I could get some solid sleep after that. Perfect. I got almost 10 hours of solid, happy, sleep in which I dreamed my lizard terrarium was full of all kinds of lizards, that I was a very good artist at MCAD and it is easy to get lost in places you think you know.
Now it is laundry and more shoveling and playing with the dogs and crochet and maybe some jam and definitely some movies and all that.

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