Brutal

This winter has been brutal, and is taking a toll on everyone.  Our property guys have been going above and beyond to keep the snow cleared from the walks around the church.  We hire the plowing done, but still have significant walks that need clearing.  We've also had two major leaks in the last three weeks.  A hot water tank in the ceiling of the janitor's closet right off the sanctuary began to leak.  We still don't have hot water, but new tanks have been ordered for both upstairs and downstairs, and they've done some plumbing work to prepare for the install.  Of course, in the course of their plumbing work a mistake resulted in more flooding. 


Yesterday ice dams on the roof resulted in a leak in a banner closet off the sanctuary.  Once again wet vacs were used on soaked carpeting and a fan was set up.  Yesterday we ordered a heavy duty floor drying fan for the church.  Hopefully we won't have to use it.  The weather has kept us out of the church several days, and the building issues have brought extra chaos to the church the days we have been able to be in.  In addition to the usual work involved with closing out one financial year and beginning another, we are also dealing with the preparation for the big board retreat, which is a week earlier than usual this year.  I ended up working on my day off yesterday, and Administrative Assistant will be working on her day off Monday. 


Daughter was extremely helpful on Thursday.  She did a ton of filing-- from items for member files to catalogues to putting the 2012 financial files into a box for storage to moving the 2013 financial files from the Administrative Assistant's file drawer to a filing cabinet across the office.  I picked her up again yesterday to help with our Friday evening children's program, and again she did well.  We could see the toll the winter has taken in the fact that we had 5 children who were registered but didn't make it-- 4 due to illness. 


People are tired and grumpy, and much of it is due to this weather.  Yesterday it began to rain, so now instead of ice and blizzard and wind chill warnings, we're living under fog and flood warnings.  Some schools missed all of last week due to bad roads.  Plowing has not been completed, and even roads that have been plowed are still treacherous.  There have been multiple accidents on area interstates due to black ice, resulting in closures and traffic messes.


Yet in the midst of all of this, we've had plenty of volunteers-- to deal with snow, leaks, finances, and our children's ministry. They have done hard work without complaining.  They have also given generously, with the result that while colleagues are struggling with deficits, we're dealing with surpluses.  We will able to be able to make gifts to several agencies that have had to go above and beyond to deal with needs created by the weather.


Daughter is busy cleaning the house.  She spent the night with me last night, and found the one pantry door that I managed not to get locked last night.  Two granola bars caused a very high blood sugar this morning.  I haven't decided what to do about that.  I'm letting her worry for right now.  It has prompted her to go above and beyond with the cleaning as she seeks to make amends.  She won't be with me at all next weekend because I will be busy with the board retreat.  Beyond that, we'll see.  It's helpful to have her come clean.  It gets her some spending money and saves me lots of time. 


I'm hoping that spring will be as early and definitive as winter was.  If not, I'm pondering a trip to Florida to visit all of our snowbirds.  I wonder if I could consider it a professional expense....


I'm hoping that spring will come