Crankiness and After-Vacation Blahs

This last weekend our little family headed south (well, not that far south; just about an hour warmer) to our BiL and SiL's house. They were hosting a Super-Bowl Party on Sunday, so we decided to make a weekend trip of it. They have several kids that match our kids in age and energy, and it's always fun spending time with them.

The Super-Bowl Party went as well as can be expected, since the Bears lost. Having no delusions of team loyalty, I was cheering for the Colts. Actually, I have no idea how the game went, because I had an enjoyable two hours of knitting, completely oblivious to men hitting each other over an oblong ball. I will post more pics of my knitting progress later.

However, now that we are home, the realities of being gone are starting to hit me. I made sure the house was picked up before we left, so thankfully we didn't have to get back to a dump. That's one good thing.

Here's a bad thing. The cat was locked in my bedroom for two days. TWO DAYS! I will leave the scene of disaster to your imagination, which leads me to my next disaster.

Having no desire to sleep or touch sheets and bedding that my cat - - - - - ed on, I decided to do all the laundry.

My washing machine is frozen solid. Did I mention that it has been 20 below here (with wind chill factor)? If you're not one of those sissies who mind wind chill factor, it is still a respectable 5 below. All of which means that my washing machine is frozen stiff.

Thankfully, I am not at a loss, and know just what to do. I must pour boiling water down the drainage pipe and set the little space heater on high for a few hours. How do I know how to do this? Well, before my most excellent husband built my laundry room for me, it was actually just a walled-in porch. That meant that every time the temperature went below 30 degrees, I had to thaw out my washing machine before I could use it.

Lastly, since I am in the "venting" mode, I have two very cranky children on my hands. Breanna has a legitimate excuse, because she's been teething and running a low fever all night. Peter is just sleep-deprived. How is it that a few hours less sleep can convert a child from this:

to this:?

Perhaps he's just upset because the Bears lost the football game. He does look a lot like the L--- men after the Superbowl last night!