friday the 13th

I kinda like this idea of just sitting down on Friday night, after the week is over, and letting my brain guide my fingers across the keyboard. It's cathartic for me. It may not be writing with intent, but at least it's writing, right?

I'm happy to be at the end of this exhausting week. This is always our busy season at work, but this year the busy season seems to have started with a BANG, and it probably won't let up until May. This week was particularly rough, so I'm grateful for the three-day weekend we have this weekend. Christmas, then New Year's, then Will's birthday...Our weekends have been packed with activities and I'm ready to just relax for a little bit. The only thing we have planned for this weekend is my best friend's daughter's birthday party tomorrow afternoon, and I'm really looking forward to it. She's rented out a fun place just for the party, and there are only going to be a handful of kids there, so I know they'll love having the whole play area to themselves. If Andrew loves it as much as I suspect he will, I may have his birthday party there in May.

Speaking of Andrew, he's been sick this week. We kept him home from daycare yesterday just so he could have a day to rest. He went to bed before 7:00 last night and slept all night long, and he seems to be feeling much, much better today. Thank goodness. I know he felt awful, and I felt awful for him, but I was just about at my wit's end. His cold made him cranky and deliberately mean to Will, and he was extremely sensitive, crying over everything and absolutely nothing. Toddler colds > man colds.

A cold front/Alberta clipper/whatever it is that brings snow with it moved into our area last night, dumping a few inches of snow on us. It's also been extremely windy, with wind chills below zero. I've been trying not to complain about it, considering that it's the first real snow we've had all winter, but I just...ugh. I'm just not a fan of the snow. Looking out the window at it? Yes. So pretty. Driving in it? Not so much. This morning, on my way to work, my windshield wipers just randomly stopped working. This happened as the snow fell and blew across my windshield and semi trucks passed me in the opposite direction, spraying slush and ice and salt all across the front of my car. Needless to say, I put my drive to work on hold, and pulled into a nearby Burger King for a cup of coffee.

I called Joe to meet me there so we could switch cars, but of course this was the night he forgot to take his phone with him to work, so I had to wait for him to get home, get my message, and turn around and come back to get me. It gave me a lot of time to obsess over what could possibly be wrong with my car, and to get anxious about how much it's going to cost to fix. My car already needs work done to the heater (it blows hot air, but very gently, no more than a breath's worth, even when it's on high), and I have to get new tires soon. The few minutes I did drive it today were treacherous because I was slipping and sliding everywhere. It's both the most inconvenient time for it to need worked on (it's winter, and a heater, windshield wipers, and good tires are all must-haves for this season) and the most convenient (I'll get my bonus soon, and we just paid off Joe's car, so we have a little wiggle room for car-related expenses). Mostly I'm just trying not to worry about it anymore: It has to be fixed, and it'll cost what it costs. I really can't change that.

I'm starting to get distracted by Pinterest now, so I should probably stop. On the agenda for the rest of the evening: pinning, a bubble bath, Bones, and Project Runway: All Stars. Not too shabby, Friday night. Not too shabby.