As discussed in the prior post, I got a new job in September, which left me working 2 jobs (by choice) until Thanksgiving. It was essentially the equivalent of a full time job for 2 months, but it definitely didn’t leave time for much else. Upon cutting back to one job, I got thinking about the new year coming up and projects we might want to get off of our to do list. I called up our kitchen contractor one morning on a whim and asked about getting a bid for some built in cabinets I’d like to do in the living room. I expected to be setting up a bid time within the next few weeks, but as it turned out he was in the neighborhood and was at my house within a matter of hours. We discussed cabinets and he took down information for that bid. While he was at the house I invited him downstairs to take a look at the 3/4 bathroom also on our remodel to-do list. It turns out cabinets were currently a 3 month wait, but due to this impacting another project, they had an opening in their schedule in December and offered to do the downstairs bathroom for us right away. We went from the downstairs bathroom being an afterthought, to the downstairs bathroom being completely remodeled before the end of 2023. Anyone who has done a remodel knows there are tons of details to work out, and I had about 2 weeks total to figure out tile, grout, fixtures, a vanity etc, none of which I’d put much thought into previously. Thank goodness I went from 2 jobs back to 1 job when I did! Overall I’m very happy with how the bathroom turned out. The shower was the biggest upgrade as the grout was wearing out and the hot/cold water knobs didn’t easily turn on or back off again without some effort (and a little prayer). It just wasn’t a functional bathroom we felt comfortable with the kids using. Now it has modern conveniences like a vent fan, a full height vanity, and water that turns ON and OFF with ease! It is nice that going forward we have a second shower for when we have company or all 5 of us want to shower before work or school. Now just to save up enough money to do the built in cabinets as I originally intended.
Mid bathroom remodel William came down with mono. Thankfully it turned out to be a mild case but it was a medical mystery with a high fever and raging sore throat for the better part of the week… just the sort of thing that stresses this mom out. The first morning he woke up and seemed like he was getting a cold. I sent him off to school and told him I’d check him out before his last period (PE). When I showed up to get him he was an absolute trainwreck. The next day I took him to Urgent Care assuming we had a case of strep. Strep came back negative and we returned home hoping it was viral and would blow over. Sunday we still had a high fever (104) and his neck had been stiff/sore on and off (meningitis?) so after a brief Telemed visit we went back to urgent care. This time we tested for ALL the standard things. At this point they all came back negative (Influenza A & B, 2 strep tests, 3 covid tests, mono, and RSV) so we still had no answers or end in sight. Monday we checked in with the pediatrician who admitted the high fever was concerning but reassured me he didn’t look like a kid with cancer or some other terrible disease. She made a deal with William that if he still had a fever in 2 days we would return for bloodwork. (His first ever blood draw in Urgent Care the day prior did NOT go very smoothly as the tech had to fish and somehow there was blood all over the table at the end). Two days later, with a fever still well over 100 we returned for a blood draw. I assured William that blood draws were not normally as traumatic as his first was, and thankfully this time we had a cute lady with 19 years of experience as his phlebotomist. What we came to eventually learn was that the rapid test for mono performed at the Urgent Care was too early in the course of illness to be accurate. Thankfully a day or 2 after getting an official mono diagnosis the fever subsided and William returned basically to normal. I’m happy to report that a few weeks later the pediatrician gave him a once over and her blessing to return to skiing, basketball, PE etc. He’s feeling a bit out of shape, but we don’t seem to have any lingering fatigue or symptoms, thank goodness!
This year Jason took vacation time the week before Christmas. Monday his sister and family came to town and we went to see “Elf The Musical” at Hale Center Theater. It was my first time seeing a show there and it was great! I’ll get the chance to go back in February as my new coworkers have a get together after Christmas and chose to see a show there together this year. While I was at work on Tuesday, Jason took the boys down to his mom’s house and they spent a full day playing together with the California cousins. They poked around Utah Lake, looked at Christmas lights, and visited the Giving Machines at the Orem mall. Grandma Marion gave each kid $10.00 to donate to a cause of their choice. William teamed up with cousins to gift a needy family some chickens, Christopher picked out “the gift of reading” and Andrew very fittingly chose to give someone “a comfort blanket”. Seriously melted my heart.
Wednesday Jason took the boys (along with his brother Jeremiah and girlfriend Lexus) to the Hill Air Force Museum. I don’t know that the boys have been there since they were all out of diapers so he thought they might enjoy visiting again. A big benefit now is that the 2 older boys can read all the signs. One of the workers told Jason that they have lots of kids come through but she couldn’t remember anyone reading so many signs so thoroughly. While the boys were off on their adventure I finished up some Christmas gifts for my new coworkers and then wrapped Christmas gifts like a madwoman. I literally broke a sweat trying to get it done before they returned. Having a sick kid home 24/7 the week before Christmas break starts really cuts into your planned gift wrapping time. Thankfully I was carrying the last roll or wrapping paper downstairs as the boys pulled back into the driveway. 
Christmas was great but quiet this year. California cousins had returned to California and Lee and Marion headed to St. George to see Garth and Maydene so it was just the 5 of us for the holiday weekend. The boys seemed to enjoy their gifts. Jason made Chicken Cordon Bleu for Christmas dinner, which I thought was great, but none of the boys really cared for. William is now pretty good at trying new things, Christopher is mediocre and Andrew is still terrible. William used to be terrible at trying new things so I continue to hope it improves as they grow older. Truth be told I’m not an adventurous eater so they haven’t been exposed to a lot of things.
The other big news of the winter season is that Jason is making a full court press to get all the boys out skiing this year. This year William and Christopher have the cheap discount passes through the Ski Utah program and Jason added Andrew to his season pass so they all have enough passes to go as often as they’d like. Jason researched a lot last year and learned a ton about all the different programs and passes available in Utah. He even got 2 kids signed up early enough with one of the resort programs to get a free all day ski lesson! It was so great and really got Andrew and Christopher off on the right foot. By mid January Jason will have been up the mountain with some combination of our kids 11 times which is what he managed in a whole season with William last year. We’re definitely making the most of their passes.
With skiing we have so far learned that Andrew and Christopher have VERY different skiing styles. Christopher likes to be in control. He makes wide sweeping turns and keeps the speed manageable. Andrew on the other hand likes to bomb straight down the hill only semi in control and announced to Jason about 4 trips in “I’m going to do jumps by the end of the year”. As it turns out, Andrew tried out a small “jump” in the terrain park a couple weekends ago so I guess he’s well on his way to meeting that goal. Jason admitted it was the first intentional jump he had ever done skiing as well. We’ve also learned Andrew refuses to wear goggles unless snow is falling hard enough and/or blowing into his face. Goofy kid. It’s been a below average snow year so far but we’re hoping for good things (more snow!) coming in January.
There isn’t any winter gardening to be done, so mostly I’m spoiling the cats. Jason had some reward points he needed to redeem at work before they expired, so Theo got an automatic feeder for Christmas. He’s a big lazy orange cat who would love to be fat and sleepy so we’re trying to control his portion size. He was afraid of the feeder for the first few days and then made peace with it.
In other orange cat news, Kiki, at almost 16, is still doing well. I recently got her a warmer for her downstairs cat bed after noticing she loves to lay on the warm stone in front of the fireplace whenever she gets the chance. She’s definitely lost most of her hearing and some of her teeth. She forgets it’s cold outside and sometimes goes running outside just in time to immediately regret her decisions and come back in where it’s warm.
I find myself wishing for snow and wishing for spring at the same time. Hopefully life doesn’t throw us any curveballs and I am back with a springtime blog update sooner rather than later. Until then, take care!
S.~