Get a golfball sized one. The noise is annoying, but the momentum is crucial.

So not the vendo machine ones. Where do I get bigger ones? Toy store kinds of places?

This is going to be awesome! I swear, Puppycat is all cabin fever and stuff. And she doesn't go outside. Ever. But she's bonkers and it makes me bonkers and she stole my Bluetooth headset earlier to bat around. I need to find bouncy balls.

Erin, both curtains are white. The short ones or long ones?

I have no idea, this was an xmas stocking random. Try the dollar store? Vending machines at KMart? My mom's favorite place to find random stocking stuff is dollar store, so I suspect it came from there. This one is a dense semi-translucent orange with a black cat embedded in it.

I've got an index card box full of fake mice and glittery things, but the ball takes up more time than the fake mice and mylar thingamabobs.

Glad to hear your folks are back up and running, sara.
 
I guess I owe an update here because my day went from bad to worse. Climbed up in the attic, an ordeal which involves emptying my office closet. The furnace had ice all up in its condensate tray. Which I melted as best I could with a hairdryer. This got us to the point where the furnace would fire then quit.
 
So I went back up, unwrapped the insulation tape from what I thought was the drain, but it wasn`t the drain, just a cleanout maybe. Drain is actually routed to the plumbing, which is good. But anyway, it`s clear that this has frozen and backed up into the vent pipe, which I can hear gurgling when the burners fire. So I think the pressure valve is kicking to say it can`t vent, so the burners turn back off. That`s my best guess, so I hope when temperatures rise it will resume draining. I wasn`t able to do more because...
 
while I was up there, the power started to flicker so I hustled down the ladder, convinced I`d blown a circuit. Wrangled with the electical panel, no dice. Totally melted down, talked to the SO, then realized the power wasn`t out, just low. Called APS, yup, outage.
 
So when rehearsal is over, the So & band leader are coming to get me and we`ll be in a hotel tonight. There`s only so much I can take. This is all going to cost a fortune.

And now power`s totally out. Which I hope is a precursor to it coming back, but I am so over this.

Hotel sounds like the smart move, Liese. I hope tomorrow is much much better.

{{{Liese}}}. Stay warm and safe - the money thing sucks, no doubt, but the important thing is that you're taking care of yourselves and each other in these conditions.

oh Liese, get warm and try to get sleep.

Tomorrow, temps will be normalish. Curl up by the fire or hotel cable with the Biscuit and SO and wait it out. Do you think it is too cold to stay in the house? Fire up lights by the plumbing and open plumbing cabinets. t / you probably already know this

God, I feel for the SW right now. It's not designed for this on a household level, and on a state level? No way. This is a century storm.