New Year's 2014

There's plenty to talk about around here, but for the life of me I can't find the time to write about it. Several blog post ideas dance around my head all day long and by the time I have a spare second to myself in the evenings, I'm just zapped for energy. Maybe this week will be different and I'll finally find time for my fingers to meet the keyboard again.

Andi and I spent the week of New Year's at the lake cabin. After celebrating Christmas in Nebraska, Andi hopped a plane to California for a work event, so it was refreshing to spend several low-key days together as a family post-holiday hustle and bustle. We arrived at the cabin New Year's Eve afternoon (Tuesday) only to discover we'd run out of propane and had no heat there. Mind you, it was -8 degrees that day so the cabin interior was freaking cold. Thirty degrees to be exact. Thank goodness it was daytime and we were able to call the propane company, bribe the route driver with juicy steaks to re-work us into his schedule and get our heat turned on before New Year's Day when most businesses (including the propane company) were closed. While we were running all over town dealing with that issue, I felt like complete garbage. I thought I was coming down with the stomach flu, but after a few cat naps that day and a 20 minute sweat session in our new cabin sauna, I felt a lot better. In hindsight, I think I was flipping exhausted from spending a week in Nebraska, followed by a week of solo parenting, and running on fumes for sleep. I started to turn narcoleptic every time I sat down for more than a few minute's time, so cabin R and R was much needed.

Andi's mom, Janie, joined us New Year's Eve Day and having an extra pair of hands with the kids was so nice. NYE night, Janie offered to stay up with Aden until his midnight-ish feeding, so Andi and I went to bed at the way-too-early-for-NYE hour of 9pm. No ball drop was going to keep us from some much needed sleep. Grandma Janie rung in the new year rocking Aden in her arms in front of a cozy fire and said it was one of the most peaceful New Year's she can remember.

New Year's Day (Wednesday) was a nice one. Andi took Tory into town in the morning to pick up a few supplies at the hardware and grocery stores. Without propane/heat for a few days in this extremely cold weather we've been having caused the cabin's pipes to come thisclose to bursting. We were very lucky in that only the water line to the kitchen sink spray nozzle cracked which was an easy fix after Andi picked up new parts. In the meantime, Janie and I enjoyed a quiet morning together doting on Aden. 

That afternoon during Tory's nap time, Janie stayed with the kids while Andi and I took out our new snowmobiles. It was my first time riding them this winter and only my third time ever on a snowmobile, so it took me a bit to get reacquainted. The outdoor temperature was something ridiculous like -10 degrees but we bundled up with layers upon layers and hand and toe warmers, so we actually stayed pretty toasty. Andi and I rode for about 20 miles before stopping at The County Line Tavern for a beer. We ended our adventure with a session in the sauna to warm up. It was a nice treat to have a day date together.

As always, we're so fortunate to have a place like the cabin to retreat for some quality family time. It was one of the better New Year's I can remember (aside from short while we were without heat, of course). You couldn't pay me to have partied it up at some dance club in downtown Minneapolis. I was right where I wanted to be.