Banished to the Basement

It's a good thing my hubby is a computer tech....it's a bad thing that we still have to pay for computer parts...
Several computer parts have started going wonky, which means we had to order new ones, and in the meantime us old, extra ones he had lying around. So here I sit, a day late, in my basement, on a Frankenstein computer (a little of this, a little of that...)...and try to think of what I missed...
Oh yes. Saturday was a gorgeous day. packed the kids onto their snowsuits and chucked them into the backyard while I did some shovelling. Hubby came up to me at one point, and asked if we'd be interested in a little road trip. Okay, I said....to where? He says "How about supper in Swift Current?". I look at him as if he's lost his mind....the last time those particular words came out of his mouth would have been a little less than 6 years ago, when the drive was about 45 minutes. at this point, it is a 2 1/2 hour drive. He explains....he has been suncontracted by a certain convenience store, and has been servicing their computers here lately....but the head office called and asked if he could change a battery in Swift Current...that's right...5 hours round trip for a 5 minute job. He explains to them the time and distance, they tell him they'll pay gas and driving time, plus the job fee. Okie dokie. So he figures it might be nice to have company. So I pack the kids into the car with snacks and juice and books and toys and blankets, and a novel for me, and off we go. We had a nice supper at Joey's Only. I was the one to drive home....but didn't quite make it. I think I lasted about an hour and a half in the pitch blackness that typifies the highway through the province at night...then decided maybe I'd better let him drive....I was having trouble staying between the solid line and the broken line, and curves were giving me a lot of trouble. So we pulled into a gas station, took both kids to the potty, I climbed in the passenger side....and slept all the way home. I think everybody was glad I'd made that choice.
Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day, so after church, we took the kids to our local tobogganing hill, Mount Pleasant. We spent an hour and a half with the kids, up and down, up and down. The only two problems we had were that Daddy and Daughter mowed somebody down once, and on the last slide, Daddy and Son went down, Daddy fell out, tried to climb back in, but it didn't happen, and Son went roaring down the hill, a VERY long way, all by himself, with Daddy running frantically behind, trying to catch up. I'm not sure who was laughing hardest, me, the other people on the hill, or Son. He thought it was a real hoot. :)
We then went to the video store and rented 2 videos...American pie Band camp and George of the Jungle 2. After the kids were in bed, we started the Band camp one...turned it off after 30 seconds. Not what we were wanting. 8-O So we put on Ghostbusters instead. It's been a loooooong time since I watched that one (like, 10 years or so?), but I bought it on DVD with birthday money last year, I think.
I am a member of a group called Freecycle, which is really great....people give away stuff that is too good for the dump, but that they don't think is good enough to sell. It's amazing what some people offer on this group...Frozen bread and buns, meat, clothes, car parts, books....anything you can imagine. I actually got something recently that is amazing, and it leaves me stunned that this person did not try to SELL this beauty....it's a vertical grill. It looks a bit like a toaster, but it cooks meat. i have used it for chicken legs, pork chops, smokies, polish sausages...this thing cooks your meat in about 15 minutes, and because it's vertical, the fat drips off into a little tray in the bottom, which slides out when the machine is cool for cleaning. It's amazing how much fat comes off the meat this way! Tonight we are having chicken legs. I'll put a bit of seasoning salt, lemon pepper, and flour on them, stick them in the grill, and ohhhhhhh it's going to be good! :)
Well, I have the laundry on and the dishes done, so I guess I should go back upstairs and start working on tidying up the floors so I can vacuum. No papers today, since it's Family Day, so I slept in...which means I am behind in the housework. Off I go.