DOARS- Week 7 Day 1- Snowday

Welcome back! Long time no see, ha! So I'm not sure why but the pictures for this chapter look pretty low in quality. I'm sorry! I really have no idea why they're all pixel-y.
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Dear Diary,

Today it hit me like a ton of bricks. The very malevolent force I'd been fighting on an individual level for all of my time here in SV was committing genocide against a more or less harmful race of aliens.

Just pause and think about that for a moment.

Tony wasn't just a threat to my sanity he's a threat to life in the universe! He really was trying to kill me and my family. How was he killing the aliens? Zhiddezoe didn't go into details, she just said it was gruesome and I'd be better off not knowing. While I appreciate that, I think I'd be able to help more if I knew a little more about it. Well, no matter, I'm sure there's nothing I could do anyway.

Zhidd basically just told me to keep being the awesome sports star that I am. How is that going to help them?

Cycl0n3 and I have decided that we need a break, a real vacation. Who knows when we'll actually get around to that, with everything going on.

While I was lingering in my room, trying to make sense of this Tony situation, the kids were taking care of breakfast for themselves. Which reminds me that I was supposed to be making up my absence to Raquel this morning. Oops, well her pancakes look good! Actually I think they're Cycl0n3's leftovers, they don't look burned or anything, and I know for a fact that neither of my children can cook.


Hector has been getting into exercise, which is surprising. It seems like the aliens had him focusing on mental activities. It makes me wonder if this is a personal thing he's doing for himself, or if it's part of his assignment. I'd ask, but I'm kind of scared that he'd start telling me about a girl at school. I am SO not ready for that! I remember when he was a baby. How did he get to be in high school already?

Speaking of Hector, he and I haven't talked since I found out about the war. He had an interesting insight that I hadn't thought of. It was about Cycl0n3's garden. It seems like Tony is actually trying to starve us to death, since pretty soon we will have to become totally self-sufficient in feeding ourselves. When I asked why, he said that we couldn't trust outside food sources. Is that what happened to the Aliens? Did Tony contaminate their mass produced food? Or is my son just following after me in paranoia? Well, no matter, apparently we have to find a way to bring our garden back to life, winter or no. Since time is of the essence, Cycl0n3 and I are going to have to spend the next few days figuring this one out.

After our long chat outside, Hector had to go in and take a bath, because unlike his sister he's not a fan of the cold. I told him to watch the time and get to school, but it's a snow day! Color me surprised, with a foot of snow on the ground, apparently they decide to close the school. Who knew?





Meanwhile the cooking channel had a special on cooking with home grown vegetables, and in light of my conversation with Hector, that seemed useful, so I tuned in for a bit. Apparently it's a more cost productive way to live, which I already knew, and there's not much else that's different. Oh, and we can expect the taste to improve. Well that was a waste of an hour of my life. Shouldn't specials tell you something you don't already know?



Now, I know you thought I forgot about Raquel, but I didn't! How could I? I love Raquel, she's my baby. I said to myself that she would really enjoy something in particular. So I stole her away from her dad and the chess board for a little bonding time. She was going to love what I had in store for her!


Before we get to that, though, Hector spent the rest of his day sleeping. Apparently he didn't go to sleep last night. He really got fortunate that today was a snowday!



My surprise for Raquel was that I wasn't going to put off teaching her to drive! That's right, we got started right away and spent about 3 hours in a "driving on ice" driving lesson. We're still alive, so I'm going to call it a success.

And, as usual my afternoon/evening was consumed in work. Which was actually going really well! Everyone keeps telling me that I'm quite a talented soccer player, of course, I tend to agree. I am quite talented, as I am, after all, Lynn Sword.




While I was working my daughter convinced Cycl0n3 that a snowball fight was just the thing to ease the tension and stress. I can't say that I think spending that much time in the cold is a good idea, but it does make Raquel so happy.


Raquel won.

And our ambassador made an appearance! I can only guess that he is confirming the fact that we need a way to garden in the middle of winter. It's a pity he's not more helpful! We'll figure something out... somehow.

When I got home from work, Hector was working out again, at this rate he'll be as buff as his dad! Actually, you may have noticed, Cycl0n3's focus has been on other things and he hasn't been working out as much, so he's actually lost a lot of muscle tone! Now I still find him attractive, but I must admit to missing his muscles. Hopefully he'll start working out again. Maybe Hector working out will be just the thing to get Cycl0n3 into it, too! It would be nice if they good do that together. You know, they don't really spend that much time together. Maybe I should encourage them to spend more time together...

Anyways, Cycl0n3 was hanging out in the hot tub, no doubt with the intention of warming up after spending the entire day in the snow, and though it's still not a vacation per se, I was happy to join him for a few hours.

Before I knew it, the day was over. It was a nice normal day in the midst of all the craziness. We're still just waiting and hoping that something will save the aliens, but in the meantime, it's nice that we haven't forgotten how to just be us.

Waiting for the other shoe,

Lynn Sw0rd





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