It's a Big, Quiet House...

How the next few days were supposed to play out:

1. Thursday afternoon -- Benton would head to the orthodontist to get his first round of braces-type hardware (a palate spreader -- he'll wear it for six months); he was pretty excited about that.
2. Friday evening -- Julie would take the boys and headsto Wadsworth; Alana would stay with me
3. Saturday -- Julie and the boys would head up to a "slopes"-based fundraiser for a charity her cousin is on near Cleveland; they'd spend a few hours riding inner tubes down the slopes and then head back to Columbus after dinner; Alana and I would hang out all day and grab dinner at The Bogey Inn. We went there with just the two of us on Super Bowl Sunday, and she points that out every time we drive past (it's 3 minutes from our house). Julie and the boys would arrive back home some time later in the evening.
4. Sunday -- Julie would take Alana and Carson to Disney on Ice, while Benton and I would continue to work on the "hideout" in the basement (two levels, 3'-6" W x 8'-0" L, carpeted on floors, walls, and ceiling...and with electricity).

What actually happened: we woke up this morning to news that there would be a winter storm advisory starting at 7:00 PM this evening and running for 24 hours. And, the storm was coming from an odd direction, so it is actually clearer to the north.

Julie made the call to head out this evening instead of tomorrow evening. Benton did get his palate spreader installed -- the thrill is definitely gone there...but, if he's used to it by Monday, I suspect he will be excited to show it off at school.

Julie also decided to get some work done on the minivan. Today. The great news is that it looks like we've found a good mechanic -- nearby, highly recommended, and our first experience was very positive (including the fact that she drove it to them this morning, and they "test drove" it to assess the problem by driving her back to our house and dropping her off).

Since she left this evening, and I've got to work tomorrow, she took Alana with her.

There were clear skies when she left ~6:00 this evening, but we've already got a good coat of fresh snow since then, so it looks like she made a good call. They're still planning to return on Saturday evening to make Disney on Ice on Sunday. For my part, I'm planning on getting re-acquainted with my workshop on Saturday. I'm hoping to finish rebuilding the supports for the canopy of Alana's bed, which was Julie's as a child and her mother's when she was a child. The rebuilding required has nothing to do with the bed's age and everything to do with Abbey, our late, great, coolest chocolate lab on the planet...who had a penchant for lumber. I'd forgotten just how much solid 2x2 she had consumed on those things! I'm replacing an 8" second on one end and a 13" section on the other. And that doesn't count the nibble marks that extend farther up!!!