some small kindnesses

I walked into Ai's room this morning and saw all his stuffies seemingly looking toward the rays of sun shining through the blinds.  I felt like I was walking in on a moment of sun-worship (except for sinister Max) and it made me smile, glad for the moment.  This hasn't been a week of much fun.  S has been bogged down with work for far too long, but preaching the past two weekends meant the rest he might have had from his 9 - 5 job just hasn't been happening.  He's tired.  I'm tired.  The weather is cold.  Very.  My joke as we wrapped up the illnesses last time, that "I have two weeks of freedom before the next virus hits!" isn't very funny when it happens!  It's been the pattern since October 1st for Ai and Iz, along with a couple of the rest of us, to get sick for the beginning of each month (but with a five week month, it started this week instead).  That said, they are just mellow colds so far.  I still sent Ai to school.

S needed the van today, so dropped him off this morning (one of the few times he's now made it to school on time all year!).  Meant that Iz and I had to retrieve him by sled, which I was anticipating with the new (used) sled.  Our old plastic double-seater had worn through a couple of weeks ago, so I was happy to find this one on Kijiji.

The seller opened the door Tuesday night and had an "oh!" expression.  I reminded her so much of an old friend from Banff that she totally refused any money for it, insisting that I take it in honour of her friend.  Wow!  How nice is that!  This morning was the maiden voyage and I realized I should have tried it before I took the 2.2 km trip - each way - with the kids at -27 C, windchill -39 C.  It was brutally heavy to pull, making me wonder how to make it glide better (and at one point, wonder how I was going to continue home as I was so cold and out of breath!).  I put ski wax on the bottom tracks, but it feels no better.  Was thinking of stapling on some magic carpets.  Any suggestions?  Dad?  :)  I love that it has two separated seats to help cut-down on toboggan scraps (which are much worse than scraps in the car seats)!

two toque heads recovering with Lego after we got in from the cold

Different topic.  I've realized that I haven't given an update on our whole house situation, dealing with the permit "problem".  Originally we had a court date set for the end of November, but thankfully that was postponed until January 24.  A week before the date, the City called to say the permit for the back porch/overhang area (the first problem needing to be dealt with), was ready for pick-up.  As a result, the City postponed our court date until March - giving us more time to proceed and show that we're doing our best to remedy things.  Our lawyer says there is a slim chance the City may stay the charges, but not enough of a chance to get excited about.  We were relieved all the same.

I picked up the permit  Monday and went back yesterday to apply for the electrical permit.  This one is not covered by Title Insurance, but I was prepared for the $119 fee.  What a shock to discover an additional $320 penalty - for getting a permit after the fact.  We'd already paid that for Monday's permit, but apparently for each permit we'll need, there will be this additional fee tacked on.  I asked the cashier if there was anyone to talk to and was directed to another building, with little Iz in tow.   I approached the inspector to ask about the possibility of waiving the fee (since we'd already paid a penalty on Monday, since it was all a result of the previous owner with us paying much already financially, but also in emotional strain, hassle, etc.) - but he started to lecture me before I could say 'boo.'  Or in my case, "boo hoo."  It didn't take much to get my tears flowing which was embarrassing in front of all the cubicles of workers (though the admin assistant kindly came to my rescue with Kleenex).  Iz loudly asking in her husky voice,  "Mommy, why are crying in this big building?  Are you scared?!" actually provided some comic relief.  I didn't intend for my tears to force the desired outcome, but they did all the same.  The inspector mellowed, passed back my application with "The penalty fee is waived" penned across it and sent me on my merry way.  Though it was hard to be totally merry after such a performance and with his declaration: "You're still only at the beginning of your permit problems you know."  Sigh.

But, one step at a time and at least this was forward in a good direction.  Next step is to have one more contractor put in a bid on the job and then submit our three possible contractors to the insurance company with hopes of their approval.  So even in this whole messy affair, there has been much kindness shown to S and I.  Our engineer, Orly, has held our hands throughout the process.  Our lawyer still kindly won't send us a bill for his work.  I occasionally babysit a little girl from the neighbourhood whose dad works in the City's permit office.  I know he's put in a good word to help speed the process, too.  Small things can add up to a lot.

We have swings that hang from the rafters in our un-finished basement.  Two of my small things are happily swinging downstairs having figured out how to pump their legs.  Always little milestones that are easy not to notice, easy to take for granted.  My other not-so-small 'thing' is adaptable, flexible, funny.  Prone to nose bleeds in the winter, she takes it all in stride.   I found her like this the other day when I came up from the basement, not bothered at all.

Long winter days pass perhaps not as quickly as lovely summer ones, but they have their own little graces, obvious and hidden, interspersed to brighten the days.  But good thing we're into February tomorrow . . .