French renovations, Day 41: Tête de Chien hike

12,669 steps

In the early afternoon we met up with two other families to hike the Tête de Chien, starting in Cap d'Ail and doing a circuit around the cliffs overlooking Monaco. 

It was one of those idyllic winter days on the Riviera, with full sun, no wind, and a high of 58° F (14° C). The kids wished they'd worn shorts on the way up, as we were in the full sun. But the way down was mostly in the shade and pleasantly crisp.

We did this same hike 4 years ago. Look how teeny everyone was! 

Zari took LOTs of closeup photos....I had to narrow it down to just four for this post.

Tomorrow Eric and I want to plan out the mezzanine in the back room and make a list of materials we need to purchase.

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French renovations, Day 40: Welcome to The Freeze Depot

9,289 steps

I slept until 8 am! Ahhhhh. When I got up, the kids had just started playing a card game with Eric (Skull King). I got dressed in my usual renovating outfit--so stylish!--and headed downstairs to clean and organize. Eric came next and, one by one, the rest of the kids showed up. It's like we are magnets and they just can't resist being away from us!

We spent about 3 hours sweeping, organizing, sweeping, pulling nails, and sweeping. Just with the leftover bits of plaster and wood and dust, we filled over 14 bags! 

 

Now we have our own personal lumberyard, with everything stacked by type and length.

After a shower and lunch, I video conferenced with my dad about some engineering ideas in the back room. He can build just about anything, but he was stumped when it came to my questions because the construction methods are so different over here. For example, how do you properly anchor something into a thin interior wall (cloison) that is less than 4" or 10 cm thick, given that there are no interior structural elements, just plaster and earth and whatever else was added into the mortar, with a few random pieces of wood here and there?

In the US, our walls are built with wood framing (ossature bois), covered either by plaster and lath (in old houses) or drywall (in houses dating from the mid-20th century and newer). There are almost always structural 2x4s, spaced in predicable widths, to which you can attach things securely. Some houses might have solid exterior walls (an older brick house, for example). But we have nothing comparable to these interior walls that are mostly just...earthy-y mortar covered by a thin layer of plaster. I'm not even sure what they are made out of.

Eric, Zari, and Dio went to an activity in the afternoon, taking their bikes. It was a good ride: 3 km each way but very hilly. Inga and Ivy did coloring pages. I couldn't convince them to go outside and I was feeling too tired to herd them out the door.

Finally, with less than a half hour left before curfew, Inga wanted to go out. We hauled 14 bags of trash to the garbage depot and then went for a fun walk in the rain. She was hoping to find some money but we didn't luck out this evening.

We finished the first season of Blown Away. We would watch one episode, and the kids would say, "Just one more...please?" We ended up watching four!

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French renovations, Day 39: Lose 4 tons in 3 hours!

15,398 steps

Want to lose 4 tons in 3 hours? Just follow these 3 easy steps to a lighter life!
#1: Smash down all the walls & ceilings in your apartment
#2: Put all of the rubble into bags
#3: Carry it all down 2 flights of stairs.

Yeah, that's what we did today. We had so much that we had to fill the dump truck TWICE. The first load weighed 3 metric tons (6,600 lbs)!!!!!! The 2nd load was probably 1 ton, give or take. 

 

Fortunately, this time we had a big group of helpers--13 people including us. We had people from all over the world: US (me), Canada (Eric), France, Italy, Argentina, Peru, Turkey, Spain, Belgium, and at least one other country. We couldn't have done it without them, and I mean that in full sincerity. It was an enormous job.

After the first truck was filled, we took a break for snacks and drinks. Then everyone left and Eric and I did the second load ourselves. It wasn't too bad as all of the bags were already down by the front door. We just had to get them in the truck and emptied out. Then, of course, carry all the wood down.

Once Comrade drove away with the 2nd truckload, our work wasn't done! Nope! We had to clean up inside and out. We swept down the entire staircase and entry hall and all around in the street. Then we washed everything down by hand to get rid of the dust.

Tomorrow we'll clean and organize the front room.

I am tired. I'll probably have some sore muscles tomorrow.

After cleanup and lunch and showers, I baked 4 loaves of sourdough bread and went on a short walk while the bread was baking. Eric went to the park again, so I took care of dinner too.

I think I'd like to lie down and read a book. Except I'd fall asleep...that would be bad since it's not bedtime yet.

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French renovations, Day 38: immigration

8,867 steps

Do you ever have days that seem so packed, you wonder how you fit everything in? Yeah, it was one of those days. Yesterday was even busier, though!

We met with an immigration specialist to go over our visa application. It was super helpful to hear all of the things that you're supposed to do, in particular everything that is unwritten but basically required. We have a few translations that we're waiting on, and then we can mail it off!

Apparently in Paris visa applications are taking a matter of weeks to process, but here at the Alpes-Maritime prefecture, they are taking a year or more, and 3+ years for citizenship applications. Our local prefecture has also become increasingly strict and selective (due to local politics). The counselor told us that our application would pass for sure in Paris or Lyon or Marseille, but who knows here in the Alpes-Maritimes?

Zari and I bought treats and drinks for tomorrow's crew who will be helping with the debris removal. Then I had to go to the store again to get a few more ingredients, hurrying to make it before the 6 pm curfew.

I made dark chocolate mint cookies (for the work crew), sourdough bread, and persimmon fruit leather. And threw dinner in the oven, but I'll be honest, all I did was *literally* put cassoulet in the oven. It was Eric's night to cook but he was playing with the kids at the park (which I highly approve of so we're all good).

I also edited more videos for the Breech Without Borders grant application.

It's 10 pm. Time to NOT work and do something fun before bedtime!

And tomorrow...dump truck round #2!!

Pictures from today: Dolly and Indy doing situps. "Owww, my abs!"

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French renovations, Day 37: Braces & soccer

10,633 steps

I had a good work morning (video editing). The afternoon was fast-faced. Eric took Inga and Ivy to soccer right after lunch, while I brought Zari and Dio to the orthodontist. This was our first visit, just a quick visual exam and a few photos.

Zari definitely needs braces, including some palate expansion. Dio is mostly fine, just some "petits défauts" so we won't do anything for the moment and we'll see how things are in a few years. Orthodontia is less expensive over here than in the States, but not as significantly different as I had hoped. Sigh...

Our carte vitale will cover a small amount (once it arrives) and if we manage to get a French mutuelle (additional health insurance) then that would reimburse a modest amount as well.

Zari ran off to soccer practice as soon as we were done, while Dio went to a friend's house. We're trying to find ways to let the kids socialize while not being covid-stupid...so I agreed that he could go if he wore a mask. Plus they had their windows open, which is probably even more important than masking.

It's hard to know where the proper boundaries are. I take covid-19 very seriously. I'm definitely not flippant or dismissive of it. Yet we all live in the real world, which is messy. For example, our kids go to school all day...so is it unreasonable to let them play with one friend after school if they continue wearing masks indoors? I don't know...

Anyway, I dropped Dio off, then turned around and hopped on the tram to pick up Ivy from soccer. We did a quick grocery run at Aldi on the way home. I was SO hungry at that point as it was 2:45 pm and I hadn't eaten all day. Back home for a quick lunch, then Dio came home, changed, and we walked him up to soccer at the chateau. Ivy and I had an "adventure" and a nice walk around the chateau hill.

Dinner (green vegetable puree and tomates farcies), then 2 episodes of Blown Away, then bedtime for the littles. That was our day!

Oh, a friend of mine found this old photo from our first year in France (2014-15). Ivy and Dio are in the foreground and Inga is in the background.

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French renovations, Day 36: Darth Vader & daughter demolish the hallway ceiling

Zari didn't have class this morning, due to teachers' strikes. Vive la France! She helped me take down the hallway ceiling, which was composed of: a thin layer of plaster, 1" thick wooden boards, a medium layer of plaster, and a super thick layer of plaster. At least this all came loose easily!



The only thing remaining to demolish is the separating wall in the middle of the hallway. It's 3" of solid concrete and has plumbing embedded inside. Our main water shutoff is rusted shut, so now we have to replace the shutoff valve before we can destroy that wall. I doubt we can jackhammer the concrete without bursting a pipe!

Comrade is coming back on Friday with his dump truck. We have well over 400 bags of debris and another load of wood. Then...we start on the back room. We'll move all the tools & bikes into the front room once we clean up all the dust.

After that fun morning working with Zari, Eric and I went to the beach to read in the sun. I'm still working my way through Obama's recent memoir; I read about 1 chapter of his book and then 4-5 other books in between.

We all went to the park right after school. Dio didn't want to go. I had to literally force him out the door--toss his shoes into the hallway, nudge him out, and lock the door behind me. He was crying, "I just want to stay home!" He moped for a few minutes, then next I saw him, he was running around with siblings and enjoying himself. Sigh...

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French renovations, Day 35: Fun with power tools!

6,629 steps

After a productive morning of work (the "sitting in front of a computer" kind), Eric and I got out the power tools. This little wall was a HUGE job but we got it done.

The wall was around 12" (30 cm) thick in most places and composed of multiple layers: 1" of plaster, around 3" of lime mortar (we're guessing?), another layer of plaster, then a super thick layer of something very hard, like concrete.

First, I scored a line with a diamond-blade multitool. Then Eric got out the SDS+ rotary hammer. I helped as much as I could bagging debris, but much of the time I stood by and offered "quality control" since I didn't want to have chunks of plaster or concrete falling on my head.

 

We cleaned up until we ran out of bags.

Tomorrow we will tear down the ceiling in the hallway (it's about 3/4 of the way up) and the little dividing wall in the middle of the hallway.

What else? Piano lessons after school, then dinner, then some family fun watching "Blown Away," a reality show about glassblowing. The format is so canned and predictable, but it's really fun to watch the artists work.

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French renovations, Day 34: Outdoor picnic in the sun

8,396 steps

Wow--sun again! The kids joined me on a walk from Cimiez down to our apartment. Then we hurried and made spicy crab sushi and chocolate chip cookies for a picnic at our friend's house (the ones who live up in the mountains about 20 km outside Nice).

Zari brought her telescope, which we still haven't used since Christmas. The rainy weather and 6 pm curfew keep getting in the way! So we figured out how to set it up and looked at distant mountains in lieu of the moon.

Zari also helped our friends pick kakis (persimmons). These aren't the small, bland American persimmons. They're as big as apples and have a brighter flavor. Our friends made a huge batch of persimmon habanero jam. Yum!

We brought some home to make fruit leather. I hope it turns out better this time. The batch I made in the States was still way too bland, even after adding lemon juice.

Then back home for a light dinner, piano practicing, talking to family members on the computer, and last-minute homework.

Zari drew Ivy today.

Ivy showed off her muscles again.

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French renovations, Day 33: Lots of work, little progress!

8,401 steps

I suppose a better title is "Some work, little progress" but that's not very dramatic. Eric and I ended up having a lot of (non-renovation) work this morning. However, we were able to give away the old mezzanine staircase!

After lunch we took advantage of the sunshine and went to the park. Ivy met up with her usual group of friends. Inga broke her soccer juggling record: 63! She was on fire.

Zari and I took a walk around to the port and enjoyed watching the waves crash against the rocks. The ocean was stained brownish-green from the sediment washing down the Paillon river. This happens after heavy rainfall.

I still wanted to get something done on the communist apartment, so I started on the little wall above the hallway. Ivy and Inga geared up to help, but unfortunately there wasn't much work for them. We could only have one at a time on the scaffolding.

That wall was a beast! It is at least 8" (20 cm) thick concrete/plaster/lime and gives way millimeter by grudging millimeter. I worked for an hour and a half and made frustratingly slow progress. 

 

Dinner was Thai larb salad. Eric made crêpes for dessert. Some kids had "banana split" crêpes with bananas, nutella, & whipped cream. I stuck with 85% dark chocolate and whipped cream.

Ivy showing off her muscles.

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French renovations, Day 32: Middle-of-the-night meetings make you TIRED!

4,063 steps

Eric had a 2 am virtual book reading...meaning neither of us slept much last night! But he enjoyed the reading.

I was busy working on breech projects all day, except for a short nap in the afternoon. We thought about doing some renovation work, but settled for doing it tomorrow. The kids are excited to help.

To answer the quiz questions about my ER visit:
1. The entire visit took 1 hour
2. The final bill (ER fee + x-ray) was 48 Euros, around $58 USD. I was anticipating about twice that amount based on Ivy's ER visit last winter in Chamonix.

When I was paying the bill, I saw this price sheet taped to the checkout counter. I asked the woman if I could take a picture, and she said, "Sure, go ahead!"

To those of you who live in France or other countries with a single-payer healthcare system, this might not be remarkable. But for those of us in the US, it's unimaginable.

When we seek medical care in the US, we usually have no idea of what it will cost us beforehand. The hospital usually cannot tell us, even though they are the ones creating the bill! We go in and hope that we can afford it, and then we wait a month or two or more and get a bill that is usually shockingly high.

Case in point: Zari had to get a rabies shot when she was 4 years old. We had to get it at the local hospital as it wasn't stocked in our pharmacies. The final cost? $7,000! Even with our insurance, we had to pay $1,500 out of pocket. It's outrageous, and we patients are hostages to a system that lacks transparency or accountability.

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French renovations, Day 31: Goodbye debris!

The debris isn't gone, but it's all hiding away in bags now. I estimate we have about 400 bags in the room. All of which have to be carried down and disposed of...but I'm not thinking about that tonight! I'm celebrating the conquest of Debris Mountain.

 

I woke up at 5 am this morning and couldn't sleep, so I read in bed for a while. I had just fallen back asleep when the 7 am alarm rang. I asked Eric to take care of the kids and I went back to bed!

We both worked in the morning ("real" work, not renovating) and headed down to the communist apartment after lunch.

After dinner I went to a grant planning meeting. I now have deadlines for a rough draft of our grant application. Yay? Writing grants is a necessary evil.

ps, Eric is doing a reading today (5 pm PST, 8 pm EST). You're all invited! https://www.writingxwriters.org/event-details/readings-by-writers-eric-freeze

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French renovations, Day 30: Cleanup and ER visit

I slept terribly last night, thanks to my zombie finger. I finally decided to have it looked at this morning. Why? A) I'm a violinist and this finger is VERY important, B) I'm left-handed and I like being able to write and type with my dominant hand, and C) it really really hurt.

I had to remind myself that it's okay to see a doctor and even--gasp--go to the hospital. We're in France and even without insurance, healthcare is incredibly affordable. So off I went to the emergency room at the large university hospital.

(Why the ER? My family doctor didn't have any openings until next week, plus she doesn't have an x-ray machine in her office.)

So...just for fun, let's play a guessing game called "Rixa at the ER"

Question #1: How long did Rixa's ER visit take, from walking in the doors to walking back out? Some of the things Rixa did while in the ER:

• checked in at the front desk and took a number
• waited for her number to be called
• checked in at the nurse's desk and filled out all of the necessary paperwork and explained what happened
• walked to the trauma department and waited to be shown into a room
• was examined by a resident ("interne") and a medical student (they both looked like they were in HIGH SCHOOL!! Well, okay, maybe undergraduate...but still...)
• sent to the radiology department for x-rays
• went back to the exam room and waited for the x-ray results
• discussed the x-ray results (good news: no fractures!)
• had a supervising doctor poke holes into her fingernail to drain the blood
• got bandaged up
• went to the checkout desk for pain medication prescriptions (which Rixa doesn't need) and paid the bill

Question #2: What did the ER visit cost? (Remember, we are paying out of pocket at the moment as we still haven't received our medical insurance cards).

While I was having my ER adventure, Eric, Ivy, and Inga played a round of Skull King and then bagged rubble. They worked through about 1/3 of the remaining pile. I think we'll get everything bagged by this weekend. Then we have to haul everything down and out again!

 

This afternoon was filled with soccer pickups and dropoffs. I love that we can easily hop on the tram to get the girls to Cavigal, and Dio's is just up at the chateau.

During dinner we watched the US presidential inauguration. My favorite part was the poet laureate Amanda Gorman (Zari says "Yes, me too!") It's so refreshing to see values that matter to me laid out from the very start: compassion, diversity, inclusion, respect, empathy, environmentalism. And it wasn't just in Biden's words--it showed in every aspect of the inauguration ceremonies, from yesterday's Covid-19 memorial to the diversity of prayers/poems/speakers/presenters/artists.

My finger still hurts, but not nearly as much as it did before my hospital visit. I tried draining more blood when I got home, but the holes had already dried up. I don't have the guts to poke through my own fingernail.

Oh, during my hospital visit, the supervising doctor said, "I'm going to poke two holes into your nail." He explained to the intern and student why two holes worked better (one hole to let the blood out, the other to let air in, much like having two holes in a milk carton helps the liquid empty better). But then he proceeded to poke not 2, not 3, not 4, but FIVE holes in my fingernail! Aie!

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French renovations, Day 29: Goodbye, mezzanine!

9,105 steps

We suffered our first renovation casualty today: my finger. Aieee!!! I was prying some plaster loose with a hammer and somehow my finger got in the way. I predict that my fingernail will fall off soon as it's already crooked.

I called it a day after my injury. Still bleeding slowly many hours later...Zari calls it a zombie finger.

But, at least the mezzanine is all down!

 

Okay, those of you who are doctors or otherwise qualified to give medical advice: is there anything I should do for my poor finger besides wait until it heals?

Good news: Eric got his carte vitale (French health insurance)! Well, he got his final carte vitale *number*, which means the card itself will be coming soon. I'm still waiting for mine. The kids' application, which we sent back in July, got lost so I have to mail a new one in tomorrow.

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French renovations, Day 28: More wall demolition

6,287 steps 

I spent the entire morning getting paperwork ready for our visa renewal. I'm not done but at least I'm much closer than before. 

After lunch Eric and I did a "little" demolition & cleanup, just 2 hours. We stopped because we ran out of bags. At this point all of the dividing wall is down, except for the part holding up the mezzanine. We're going to bag all of the debris and then tackle the rest of the mezzanine. 

I wish we could skip the cleanup stage of demolition. 

Piano lessons and dinner took up the rest of our day. Now kids are finishing homework, reading, and playing their 15-minutes-per-day of Minecraft.

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French renovations, Day 27: Vitamin D therapy

3,846 steps

The sun was out, so we spent the afternoon at the beach, basking like lizards.

This Christmas and 6 years ago, the kids' Canadian grandparents sent us Canada hoodies. We re-created a photo from 6 years ago, complete with the same stuffed animal that Inga was holding.

Zari and Eric napped and read books--I love this photo of the two of them!

 

Inga and Ivy built a fort out of materials washed up by the last storm. 

Dinner was Savoy cabbage sautéed with bacon, garlic, & duck fat and pan-fried cod fillets with sourdough breadcrumbs. It might sound fancy but it was another "what is in the fridge?" meal.

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French renovations, Day 26: Sledding!

12,000+ steps, all walking up or down a mountain 

We had a fantastic day sledding at La Colmiane, a small ski resort 80 km from Nice. I'm so exhausted and sore (in a good way) that all I'm going to do tonight is lie in bed and snuggle with my hot water bottle. And my human heater too 🙂 

We got home just in time for a live session for Breech Without Borders' online breech courses. 

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French renovations, Day 25: Wall demolition!

14,714 steps 

I was surprised to wake up with sore legs today--I was expecting sore arms! I've been hobbling around all day. 

We used the morning to work (Eric) and run errands (me). I mailed a letter and visited two thrift stores to look for snow gear. I found a pair of snowboots that will fit Ivy next year. 

 After lunch, we decided to break some stuff. Despite being tired and working more slowly than usual, we got half of the big dividing wall torn down. It was really hard to break apart! The other side of the wall had a thick layer of concrete. It was also less dusty than the first wall we tore down.

 

We filled around 50 trash bags and then called it a day. Plenty of work left for another day. But not tomorrow! Tomorrow is a play day. We're going sledding up at a small ski resort. The sledding is free as long as you bring your own sleds. We'll need to rent a few but they're only 6 Euros each. 

Inga decided she wants to do "exercises." She did upper body weightlifting today and will do abs/legs tomorrow. She is currently drawing out an exercise chart for the next 4 weeks. Dio gave her some weightlifting tips as he's now the expert after working out with Eric :)

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French renovations, Day 24: Saved by the dump truck!

18,869 steps

Uff da! I am tired out from today's adventure. Comrade came by as promised this morning with his dump truck. He managed to back it into our pedestrian street with just enough space for people to pass by on one side.

Then the work began: carrying down 300 bags (give or take) of plaster/concrete, one or two at a time. Down 2 flights of stairs, down the hallway, out the door, and into the truck. Then we had to empty each bag out, since plastic isn't allowed to be mixed with the "gravat" (a catch-all term for plaster/concrete/cement debris).

Then back up 2 flights of stairs for the next round...over and over again. One of our friends came to help--thank you so much!! Next time we need to use the dump truck, we'll assemble a bigger team as it took far longer than I had expected (about 3 hours) to carry everything down.

After all of the gravat was in the truck, Comrade and Eric drove it to the dump while my friend and I cleaned up the hundreds of ripped trash bags. We carried almost the entire load of wood down by ourselves before the men came back. We then loaded up the wood--which went so much faster than the heavy debris!--and Comrade took off to the dump again. 

 

The debris was all gone...but our work wasn't done yet! We had about an hour of cleaning in the common areas (staircase and hallway) and in the street. We swept, washed, & mopped until everything was sparkling. We also apologized in advance to our neighbors for the dust. They were very understanding.

Unfortunately, we also had an incident that we had to smooth out. Apparently while we were upstairs fetching bags of debris, the shopkeeper across the street asked Comrade to move his truck a little. And apparently he said some rude things back to her. We didn't know this, but the shopkeeper told her boss, who also lives across the street and is someone who's a good acquaintance of ours.

She and her husband came over to tell us what had happened. Initially they were very upset because we thought we knew what had happened and had condoned his rude behavior. Nope! We had no idea. So we apologized profusely and also made sure to visit the shopkeeper once she was back in. I think we've smoothed all the ruffled feathers now.

We also racked up some "good neighbor" points this afternoon. Our upstairs neighbor on the 4th floor (5th floor in the States) had ordered a huge custom piece of furniture from an artist friend. It's a combination staircase/cupboard. Anyway, it was the size of 3 large armoires, and we helped her carry everything upstairs.

So a bit of drama, a bit of goodwill, and a LOT of exercise today!

Dinner was leftovers plus "what's in our fridge that we can use up?"

I pulled all of our winter gear out of the attic. We're going sledding on Saturday. We all tried on our snow boots, snow pants, coats, & gloves to be sure they fit. We'll make it work, even though some kids' boots are too big or too small. I'll pop by the thrift store tomorrow to see if I can find some of the correct sizes.

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French renovations, Day 23: Prefecture & soccer

9,014 steps

We spent the morning at the prefecture, the administrative building that does immigration, driver's licenses, car registration, and other bureaucratic things. I swear, it's set up to torture & stress people to the maximum!

We had an appointment to pick up the kids' visas (DCEM). Despite having ALL the correct paperwork, including a printed confirmation of our appointment at exactly 9:11 am, one of the security guards wouldn't let us in. "Every person needs to have a separate appointment confirmation. This is only good for one of the children." However, the computer system only allowed one RDV per family since our kids were all in the same application!

After waiting in the cold for about a half-hour, I was able to get me and Dio inside. We waited at another line and finally got to the woman at the counter. She was super friendly (whew!) and said, "Of course you need everyone here! Tell them to come in."

I called Eric and relayed the message. The security guard didn't believe Eric. The guard finally got on the phone himself and I told him the same thing, with the woman at the counter right next to me. He STILL didn't believe me and insisted on talking to the woman. But the woman said, "Sorry, I'm not authorized to take your phone."

Finally, Mr. Grumpy Security Guard came into the building, walked down the long hallway, and personally confirmed that our family was allowed in. Which we'd been telling him all along!

Meanwhile our kids were freezing--literally freezing, not just Freezing. They'd been outside for about an hour and were only dressed in hoodies, not winter coats.

We had soccer in the afternoon: the 3 girls at Cavigal at various times and Dio at the chateau. I ferried the girls in the middle of the afternoon and made a quick trip to Aldi on the way home. Then I dropped Dio off at the chateau.

Ivy talked me into having an "adventure" instead of going straight home, so we wandered around the chateau grounds and took all the little paths that we hadn't explored before.

I made spicy crab sushi for dinner. We're currently playing the card game Skull King and I'm still super cold.

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French renovations, Day 22: Waiting

3,018 steps

We met with Comrade this morning. He seemed excited to see what we've done with the apartment since we bought it.

We asked him about our big load-bearing beams and whether we could knock down the big dividing wall. One beam isn't even touching the wall, so that one shouldn't be an issue. The other was still touching the plaster.

He suggested chiseling out just a little bit underneath the beam, and then placing something underneath. If the beam is truly using the wall as a support, then it will settle fairly rapidly. So I did that this morning. I put a shim underneath and marked how much I could move it (about 1/2" to the right).

I'm still trying to get in touch with the structural engineering company but they have never responded! This is a place where a friend-of-a-friend works, so I would expect a response as that friend-of-a-friend said he'd pass our message along to his boss.

Anyway, Comrade offered to measure our windows and get an estimate for us at a wholesale supplier. Oh...and he's definitely bringing his dumpster truck on Thursday morning!

The rest of today felt like a holding pattern. I didn't have any big projects to work on, and most of the things on my list were checked off. I was also really cold and spent much of the day huddled next to our living room heater.

I had a bit of a panic this afternoon when Dio didn't come home after school. I waited...waited...and an hour later, I started to get worried. I first called the school to see if he had something come up, but they confirmed that he'd left on time. Then I called Dio's friend one street over (they often do homework or go to the park together). He didn't answer. Then Zari came home and said she hadn't seen him.

Finally I called Eric, who had been at the park with Ivy ever since school got out. It turns out Dio had asked permission to play with a friend--but Eric didn't think to tell me!

Inga went rollerblading with two friends after school.

Dinner was potato leek soup (store-bought, I admit) with croutons and saucisses de Toulouse. For dessert we had dark chocolate pudding that I had made with an Instant Pot.

I am currently huddled on the couch with a hot water bottle and felted wool sweater blanket. I'm wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a cashmere sweater on top. Still can't stay warm...

Oh, Eric's books finally arrived today! The best place to buy a copy is Bookshop (if you're in the US). Bookshop directly supports independent bookstores and also gives authors far more of the share of sales than Amazon. Go to bookshop.org/shop/freeze

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