mood: 
stressed
music: distant crackle of fireplace
Well, this weekend sucked.
Let start with the weather. Today it was cold and rainy. I guess that beats yesterday, when it was even colder and icy. Dawn slid into a curb, trying to avoid sliding into the car in front of her, and did some minor damage to the hubcap. Nothing like that today, so I guess it was an improvement, but cold and rainy still makes for a rather dreary atmosphere. Added to that it was very windy, so despite the not-as-cold temperature, it felt cold.
Anyway, we wanted to see the Gypsy Guerrilla Band at the Dana-Thomas House. Lando slept in until 9:30 today, so we figured we could try to sneak it in before his nap.
Big mistake.
First off, despite having lived in Springfield for more than 21 years now, I had never been to the Dana-Thomas House, so I wasn't sure what to expect. (For those who don't know, the DTH is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright between 1902 and 1904. It's something like 12,000 square feet, plus a 4,000 square foot carriage house.)
It turns out that you don't just wander through the house, but instead go on a tour that lasts about an hour. In our case, the tour lasted about 3 minutes. Tours start every 20 minutes, and given the weather and the time of day (1:30 on a Sunday), we were the only ones on our tour. While watching the 7 minute video that marks the start of the tour, Lando started sucking his thumb and saying he wanted something to drink. Uh oh. That's Lando-speak for "I'm getting tired and could use a nap".
Well, we started the tour of the house, which was decorated up beautifully for Christmas. In the very first room, we could hear Jim Lillquist playing the hammer dulcimer and pointed out the sound to Lando. The tour guide asked whether we wanted to tour the house first or stop to see "our friends" (meaning the Gypsy Guerrilla Band). We said we would tour the house first, but then Lando turned very cranky, not wanting to leave the room, so we said we'd see the GGB first. Lando still didn't want to leave the first room. I picked him up to physically carry him up the stairs to the musicians' gallery, at which point Lando began having a meltdown.
We went upstairs to the musicians' gallery, me with a screaming toddler in my arms. Jim and Joyce Lillquist were there, dressed in their period costumes and playing beautiful music on the hammer dulcimer and autoharp. We spent about 30 seconds there, saying basically, "wonderful music, we'll be back some other time" and left.
End of tour.
During Lando's nap, I decided to make a fire in the fireplace. Nice! After Lando's nap, I noticed that it was a bit nippy in the rest of the house. I knew that a fire in a fireplace tended to cool down the rest of the house (due to air currents), but when I checked the thermostat, it said that it was 66 degrees! The furnace had been running continuously, but when I held my hand over the vent, I noticed a distinct lack of warmth in the air coming out. The blower was blowing, but no heat!
So, as I speak, Dawn and Lando are settling down for a night on the floor in front of the fireplace. I'll be joining them right after I post this.
Lastly, Marta's red blood cell count is dropping, which probably means a trip to Champaign to the U of I College of Veterinary Medicine for more tests, including one to see whether the cancer has spread to her bone marrow.
Oh, and I forgot to post yesterday, ending my streak. :-(
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