Frozen tundra and Jane Eyre.

I just packaged up the children in warm clothes and mittens. It's bitter cold outside. Frozen tundra. The ground is hard, and the snowman that Ian made a week ago is still standing in front of the house. I sent Jonah to the neighbor's to hitch a ride to school. 

Ian was ticked off about having to wear corderoys and a long sleeve shirt to school today. He prefers light sweats and a summer t-shirt, because regular clothes irritate his skin too much. He made his body limp as I dressed him. He's a master of passive resistance. But I won and he got on the school bus this morning wearing an appropriate outfit. 

It was much too cold to venture to far from home this weekend. We went ice-skating at a local rink and put together an erector set from Christmas. I made an easy Boeuf Bourguignon for my folks. Everybody did a lot of reading.

I've picked up Jane Eyre for its biannual reading. Since high school, I have reread Jane Eyre every couple of years. Grounded with the cold and the craziness of December over, I enjoyed the freedom to snuggle up on the sofa and gorge on the novel, gobbling it up a 100 pages at a time.

December was a tough month for us for many reasons. Ian and Steve have had a terrible cough for the past few weeks. After some googling last night, Steve ended up on a wikipedia page for whooping cough. Maybe.

The triviality of chores derailed some long term goals, but normal life resumed today. I'm determined to get back on track. But first, some blogging.