Snow fun, brownies, a new washer, and a sequined sweater (7 Quick Takes)

~1~

We enjoyed two beautiful snowfalls last week, a bit of a dusting and a fun few inches for play. There’s nothing like starting back to school after Christmas and losing three of the five days to snow and ice—and maybe some not-quite-spoken COVID staffing shortages.

I always welcome a snow day, and we had a great time with them here. Now, we have asynchronous learning for two days and then…who knows what lies beyond those days? Perhaps in-person schooling? Perhaps virtual schooling? Perhaps a roller coaster ride of both?

I am at peace with whatever comes. Please remind me I said that.

~2~

Snow days require baking, even when Mom is really busy with work.

So, I took a few minutes as a quick “lunch break” and threw together some brownies in my new edge-only brownie pan.

I will eat brownies in any shape, but my husband and children like the edges best.

The brownies cooked beautifully in the pan, and the house smelled like brownies for the rest of the day—just as it should on a snow day.

~3~

A friend asked me whether our boys—at 12 and 14—still enjoy playing in the snow, and they do. It’s harder to get them to go outside sometimes because they know how much effort is involved in pulling on all the extra clothes. But once they’re out there, they have a great time sledding and building things out of snow and throwing snowballs.

Our older son came to get me yesterday to ask me to come outside and take a photo. There is no phrase that gets me moving faster than, “Mom, we need you to come take a picture,” because those come more rarely as the children get older.

Still, I love these ages, and I’m so grateful that they can play mostly safely outside without supervision.

~4~

Did you learn any new skills during the pandemic that you’re still using? I have become the family barber, and my customers keep coming back to me for haircuts, so I must be doing OK. I think sometimes about the money we’ve saved on haircuts.

Other things I’ve learned are how to make a decent breakfast sandwich, how to care for zebra finches, and how to have food delivered to my front door.

But cutting hair in the backyard has become part of our regular routine here. I never thought I would wake up and look outside and think, “Now, this would be a good day to cut someone’s hair.”

~5~

We needed a new washing machine, and it arrived last week. It felt like an extra bit of excitement to get a new appliance as the days of Christmas were winding down.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are all well and good, but we are beginning the new year with a new washer. I can’t tell you anything about it except that it seems very sleek, you load it from the top, it has a lock, it uses less water, and it’s really quiet.

I don’t do any of the laundry, but I’m excited that my husband gets to use it.

~6~

We have finally exchanged and opened all our Christmas gifts, and my parents gave me an amazing quail sweater.

The quail has some of those sequins that change color when you rub them the opposite way.

What kind of wondrous world is this where someone invents sequins that flip to become another color?

I am really in awe of people’s creativity. And I love my quail.

~7~

We went to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen for Mass this weekend. Because of quarantining over the holidays, it was our first Mass of the year—and it was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. I found myself thinking of how John and I were married there, and our sons were baptized there. And I got a little emotional thinking of where we are in the pandemic.

I never want to take anything for granted, but at the start of 2021, I really wasn’t sure we would be praying together at Mass—all healthy and whole—as we started 2022. Maybe that sounds pessimistic, but I don’t take that for granted even when there isn’t a pandemic.

It felt like an extraordinary gift to be at Mass together in the church where our marriage began.

(Cathedral photo taken and edited by our talented sixth-grader)

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