(no subject)

The local schools closed today due the very cold weather. The policy is that, if it hits -20 F including the wind chill, they close. They made the decision by five o'clock this morning. I'd known it was likely, so I checked the website after Scott's alarm went off and then turned off my alarm and Cordelia's.

Cordelia got up about eight-thirty. Fifteen minutes later, at the time I'd normally be dropping her at the school, we got two phone calls in quick succession. The first was from the mother of the little girl with whom Cordelia is scheduled to have an afternoon playdate. The other mother wanted to let me know that she could pick Cordelia up for it. The second was from a mother who lives about a block from us. She'd missed hearing that there wasn't school and was panicking because she couldn't get her car started (she has a not yet walking younger child, and the sidewalks aren't currently stroller passable) to take her daughter to school. She was very relieved to hear that she didn't need to bother.

Cordelia's off on her playdate. I have a friend's four year old son here this afternoon as his pre-school is closed due to being attached to the public school system. I've watched him once before, but that was for a very brief time, about an hour. Today, it will be four hours, and I expect I'll get to know more about him. I also suspect that I'll resort to PBS hypnosis for a good chunk of that time as I've already got a headache that's resisting everything I throw at it (all I haven't tried yet is relaxants/sedatives, and I won't do that when I'm at home with a kid. Better to have a headache and be reasonably sure of my judgment and alertness levels than to tinker with those to get rid of the pain).

Right now, I'm trying to come up with a list of things I should get done today that I also might be able to do with B here. Let's see....

( The List )

With some luck, ticking things off the list will help the headache. I think that part of what I've got right now is Impending Doom sense. I think the episode summary and the birthday presents need to be first priority as they're the most time sensitive and the most likely to inspire guilt stress.

Oh, and I do thank you all for the input on the question of the mini cheesecake. I think I'm going to throw it out. I'm too scared to eat it. I'll probably do that first thing. I don't want Cordelia to see me do it, and she's not here right now.

(no subject)

I'm getting things done slowly.

I've thrown out the mini cheesecake. After all my agonizing, the decision was made easy by the tiny bit of green fuzziness that I found on the back.

The laundry is now running.

I've selected and ordered my nephew's present. I had a little stress as I searched for the address book. Then I remembered that I didn't need it. I've sent him stuff via Amazon before.

The ordering for my niece has hit two snags. I found a doll set I like, but it's currently out of stock. I also can't find her current address. I know it's around here somewhere. I've e-mailed her father (he's the one who checks his e-mail most often) to ask for it.

On to the episode write up, I think. B is currently watching Caillou on demand. I think there will be enough episodes to fill most of the time we have. I just have to get him to eat his snack soon-ish. His mother provided it, so I don't have to worry about allergy issues (he's got a dairy allergy that he seems to be outgrowing, and I wouldn't want to make any decisions about what level of dairy is safe for him).

(no subject)

It occurs to me that burying this bit in my to-do list and putting it behind a cut wasn't a winning strategy for finding help.

Anybody free to beta a short Vorkosigan fic or a Harry Potter/Belgariad crossover or a Harry Potter/Sandman/xxxHOLIC crossover today or some time this weekend? Both of the first two are under a thousand words, and the last story doesn't quite reach three thousand words. All three are safe for work, and the latter two are gen while the Vorkosigan story is Aral/Cordelia.

I don't think the tiny Weiss fragment I wrote for fandom_stocking is ready for beta reading at this point. It might be later. Maybe.