Is There an Option for Getting Rid of Snow?

Another long week, lengthened by the heavy burden of snow.

One
Can’t believe that Binghamton was basically the center of this particular storm, and that it had a name. Managed to beat our way out to the street yesterday and went to church after many hours of shoveling. Well, only Matt shoveled. The children tried for a short few minutes and gave up, and I stood inside and felt guilty. Matt is going to be taking Tylenol every four hours for the foreseeable future. The snow is heavy as well as abundant. You can only squeeze yourself barely along the side of the house to get in the car, and then ease the car along the road between snow banks to go anywhere. It’s pretty amazing. And also like Siberia.

Two
So I’m seriously ready for spring. So ready. I know it’s never spring in mid March, it’s always very cold, and I know I feel this way every year, but somehow that doesn’t make the days go faster. Combine the heavy blanketing of snow with losing an hour of sleep for daylight savings and you don’t have a sense of triumph by Friday–you have everyone dragging around trying to get back to where they were before the time change. Alright alright, I’ll stop complaining.

Three
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The day, Matt likes to say, where Christians, in honor of that great evangelist, go out into the streets to tell all their friends and neighbors about Jesus. Up and down the people go, from bar to bar, spreading the good news of Jesus…oh wait, I guess that’s not really a thing. Binghamton celebrates this great feast a week or two before it’s actual date because bands from New York City come for our parade as a way of warming up for the real deal. I don’t go to our own parade, though, because it’s in March, and March is still winter. And there’s no way I am willing to go outside and stand around on a street corner in winter.

Four
Plus we have still a lot of school to get through, because of not living victoriously in Christ through the whole week. Not that Jesus isn’t always hanging around since there are so many of us gathered here, but the whole going from strength to strength thing didn’t happen…well shoot, I said I was going to stop complaining.

Fridays are generally supposed to be a Reading Day, for us. I read a stack of books every day, but on Friday the stack doubles and I read bits from a much more far ranging number of subjects. The children paint and draw while I read and it’s all nice because it’s Friday. But not this week because we didn’t get through all the other stuff. And some child looked ahead on the calendar and announced that we technically have only nine more weeks of school. Um, wow, that’s not going to happen. ‘Add a bunch of weeks,’ I said to the child, ‘and then you’ll see the end of the school year.’

Five
Matt used an audible credit to get the Benedict Option and said we could listen to it together (I use my credits exclusively for 44 Scotland Street, so sue me, I’m not that intellectual) but then started listening to it all on his own. He says it’s really good. I guess I’ll just be taking his word for it, unless he lends me his phone. I could really use any kind of option now, to get through the rest of winter.

All kidding aside, everyone is saying it’s good so I’ll probably definitely be getting to it one way or another. I have such a pile up of interesting books that I keep not getting to. I might as well add another one.

Six
Tried to do the seven minute work out just Once this week. Wasn’t able to do all seven minutes. Didn’t just lie on the floor, really did try, but couldn’t get through it. Many long months of whatever this stupid illness was has left me with no muscle left at all, and, and still no real energy. When I realized I couldn’t even do seven minutes of not very taxing calisthenics, I gave up and tried to just plank for a very short time the rest of the days. Basically I can plank for a count up to a hundred. And then I collapse. Talk about demoralizing.

It’s just like the robust nature of my bible reading plan right now. I’m in the middle of February on that schedule, trying and failing to stay awake for it every morning.

The sick thing is, God, on the whole, prefers a weakened Christian, a person who isn’t going from glorious height to height but keeps going back to square one of dependence and frustration. I know this because of having read the Bible before, not because I’m getting through it very well now.

Seven
Go read more Takes! And pray that the snow melts so we don’t die of all this snow. Have a lovely day!