Monday, November 3, 2008

Signs of Winter

As most of you are aware, I have been (quite impatiently) awaiting the arrival of winter, or at least a real fall.  Here are a few signs from the last few days that winter is indeed on its way.

1. Stomach flu.   Saturday we went to Visalia to pick up a few things from Target and gas up at Costco ($2.43! Woohoo! We may buy a few Christmas presents after all!), and Doug decided to pull into A&W's drive thru to treat us all to a cold rootbeer (so yummy).  So we're driving along, everybody happily sipping away at their soda, when all the sudden Dylan starts spewing half-digested goldfish crackers everywhere (since that is the only thing he'd eaten all day).  All over his shirt and pants, booster seat, hat (which was unfortunately sitting right next to him), and the seat of the car.  He holds up his disgusting hands and, in a rather distressed tone, tells me, "Look! Yuck! Look!!"  Since he was so upset, we decided to stop at Walmart and buy him some cheap clothes and clean up the car seat a bit so he didn't have to ride home like that.  This was quite a sacrifice, as we both despise Walmart (you know all those trashy stereotypes you hear about Walmart? In California, they're all true).  So I tried to clean everything up as best I could while Doug ran in and got a shirt and some pants.

Ok, so we think we've solved the problem.  He's clean, seems fine for a few hours and I think, "Just a fluke.  Too much Halloween candy."   Still, when we get home, all he would put in his mouth was water or milk.  So about two or three hours after the first incident, we're in the livingroom, and he starts spewing curdled milk.  And walking back and forth like he's trying to get away from it instead of just standing still til he has stopped puking.  Then he holds up his hands to me (once again unfortunate casualties) and says, "Loo-ho-ho-hoook!!!" as he starts to cry.  I tell him its ok and say, "Do you want to go get in the tub?"  To which he responds with a sad but enthusiastic "Yes!"  He's all better now.  Poor guy was not happy about it (neither was my livingroom carpet or my husband, who was charged with cleaning up the livingroom carpet while I cleaned up the child).

2.  Head cold.   I was a lot more tired than usual the last few days, but I just attributed it to the fact that I seem to get bigger and more uncomfortable by the hour.  The real reason was, however, made very obvious this morning when I woke up with a stuffy nose, scratchy throat, pressure headache, droopy eyes and mild nausea.  Some Sudafed seems to be mostly doing the trick. . .or at least making me feel better than I did.  I hate colds when I'm pregnant.  

3.  Cold weather.   As late as last week, we were still hitting the mid to high 80s some days.  This disgusts me, as I have not been hesitant to share.  But this weekend we had some serious rain (we could see the Sierras and the coastals!!!!) and this morning when I walked the kids to school it was a delightfully nippy 45 degrees.  For most of the rest of the week, the highs are supposed to be in the mid-to-high 60s, climbing to around 70 over the weekend.  I can handle that.  It was so nice to be able to see my breath this morning.  

4.  Fog.   It was also foggy for the first time this morning when I walked the kids to school.  Fog here is akin to the first dusting of snow in Montana.  This morning it was a light fog, but in the middle of winter, it can be rather thick and oppressive (one morning last December, I couldn't see McDermont from Dylan's room--a huge steel building literally across the street).  White Christmases here are foggy ones, rather than snowy ones.   If the fog is rolling in, it means the holidays are, too, and that excites me.

So it seems that winter may be on its way after all.  And though the first two signs were not pleasant ones, the second two more than make up for them and keep me excited and anxious for Thanksgiving, then a new baby and then a Christmas in our home with our three children, nestled inside our warm house while the cold wet fog surrounds everything outside.  Its not snow, but I'll take it.

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