Optimistic Cynicism

It's winter in Ohio, and you never know what you're gonna get. Just a couple years ago, I sent my son to school with not even a jacket because it was so warm - in February! But not today.
This year, we met Mr. Polar Vortex. He doesn't have many friends in these parts, but to be honest, I'm rather enjoying his company. Don't tell anyone, but I've invited him to stay a while. In fact, I can almost feel an affair brewing....

Mostly when I see people doing yard work, they look like they're enjoying it. They have big, beautiful landscapes and weedless yards. I see ladies in pink pants and matching gardening gloves, gently patting the ground with their tiny hand-shovel (I know...

The week of preparation before 2 days of relaxation is like running a marathon just to eat a slice a cake.
Leaving my boys at home while I go have fun on a girl's weekend should be exciting - and I'm sure it will be, as soon a I finish cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry washing... oh, and actually packing myself for the trip....

What are the odds that the girl you tortured in high school would have a kid at the same time as you? Apparently, pretty good.
There were plenty of pros and cons we went back and forth with before we decided to send Monsoon to the same school in the same town that we grew up in. Him becoming best friends with children whose parents I physically and emotionally abused...