Really. FOR REAL. Tundra livin’, y’alls. Right here. Charm City. 
Row house, Igloo, what’s the diff? Things is gettin’ all The Shining up in this shits, too. And I’m sick. Because the girls are sick. And spouse is getting sick. In a way, it doesn’t matter, since we can’t get outside anyway. The snow is covering the doors. It might as well be covering the windows. Quite a sight to see from inside our cozy row house. Here’s where I’d like to express my gratitude to whatever energy in the universe finds us in a safe, warm, electrified, interwebified, cable-riffic (though, honestly, I don’t give a rats ass about cable. fuck cable.) The water is working. I have cough medicine in the cabinet. Beenie got to the doc the day after the last storm, so we got antibiotics (that, of course, are giving her the shits. fuck you, antibiotics.) for her ear infection and pink eye. I’m sure I got what feels like strep throat at that doctor’s office. Somehow. We still have a roof intact. The basement hasn’t flooded. And I have not yet killed the other three people in the house, or the cats. Though there were times earlier today where I seriously wondered if that could be avoided.
Things move slowly when you live in the blizzard belt. Since it never snows here, till now, I don’t have proper winter attire. The boots I have are probably over twenty years old. They are too small. I think I gave away all my long underwear when I moved out of Chicago. “When am I ever gonna need that again?”
Ow. My neck hurts. I am going to look to tomorrow with some kind of hope, since today was pretty much shite. Tired, sick, disorganized, angry, trapped, sucky. Thursday won’t suck so much. Right? I want to give the girls haircuts, vacuum, clean the bathroom… oh wait, I’m sick. Maybe my goal for the day should be sleeping as much as I can. That seems like a less attainable goal, but you gotta have goals no matter what. Stay warm.
20 Fingers, 20 Toes 
Hang in there, J. It will melt, sun will return, and you will sweat out the strep. Maybe a late-night bath with the bath salt/scrub I sent. Good to rub over your chest and shoulders and wait for it to heat up. Then sink into the hot tub. Mmmmmm.
Sending you sunny warm-your-core thoughts.
Love you.
I’m with auntie, though I want to suggest that you lock the other five members of your household in the basement whilst you bathe and take a nap on the 2nd floor. Then you won’t hear a peep out them!
Don’t forget the warm salt water gargle. I forget if you can take ibuprofen or aspirin or whatnot, but if you can, it will help with the pain.
love you, mami.
Well, we all know from you that neti pots can suck it. Hard to take a good bath when there are at least four scourges in the house.
Hard to get out when your door is blocked, Ma Ingalls.
Don’t know what to tell you. Cable, sure. Internet, sure. duct tape for the girls? Teach them to knit? Much music and bubbles and three kiddo baths a day? With food coloring in them to keep things interesting?
Scrabble would be so awesome in about 4 years, but now it’s just a missing-Q incident waiting to happen.
Damnit.
Whittling for preschoolers?