Whatever it was it isn't any more

Kept an eagle eye on Cleo for the remainder of the weekend, and she seems much better. If she had been a human with those symptoms, I would have thought food poisoning or some other sort of intestinal virus, but she has rebounded. Brian wisely suggested she may be experiencing another poo-blockage, and so we made provisions, then waited.

She now seems to have herself on some sort of diet - which is fine as she tips the scales at just over 20lbs (if our scale is accurate). Her meals have been very restricted; smaller in size, and when she keeps it down for over an hour, I will give her a small teaspoon more, with a good deal of water added to it. She doesn't seem to mind, and she hasn't been begging for more, more, more as she always has in the past.

Last summer she suffered from some sort of intestinal blockage, and a couple of times it was necessary to watch her activities when a poo was imminent. Cleo would prowl and scoot to the litter box, frantically stand in it and try to launch a biscuit, only to fail and maybe push out some very brown fluid, which typically would drip on the floor or carpet as she walked. (Now you know why she was watched so closely).

She would try to evacuate without success, then would wander around yeowling, then wretch - her ears burning - then finally, with much effort, she would produce a small, very hard stool. But you could tell it wasn't all, and she repeated the activity a good number of times, so Bud and I set up a poo triage infirmary for Cleo in the library, where we could shepherd and watch her, making certain to keep the mess as contained as possible, while keeping her comfortable and less frantic. After a couple of days she seemed back to normal, but we have kept her on the same liquid-y restricted diet, and even the vet agreed.

Since her bladder stones a few years back I am afraid too much of the dry she once enjoyed with her sisters would be detrimental to her health, so she gets a canned meal (with water added) and the girls get a small portion, too, to keep the peace. Cleo eats from a saucer beside the girls' plate just so she can remain social - she is definitely a pack mentality girl.

Anyhow, things are back to normal, and she is doing well! So whatever it was....it isn't any more.

Just another day

Upon waking this morning I permitted myself the luxury of hanging out in bed and finishing a book I began reading Wednesday - during the dental day. The girls were obliging, and as it was early their stomachs were not sounding an immediate alarm, so instead of covering a couple of chapters I dove in and finished what there was left to read. It was utterly refreshing and very grown up (I thought), and perhaps it will happen again in the near future. I love to read but don't generally allow myself that sort of leisure time, although that may change...who knows.

To be fair to the girls for having allowed me to read (with only minor pauses and prutting interruptions), I immediately clamored out of bed and began a vertical day.

It's my habit to make my bed every day....as soon as I get out of it....unless I plan on hopping back in - which almost never happens. And as I drew the sheet and covers up over the pillows this morning, I was struck by how warm they still were in my hands. It was strangely comforting the warmth of the two blankets and the sheet. How is it I have never noticed this before?

And then I began thinking how badly I wanted a quilt of my own on my bed. Where that thought came from I can't say (it had something to do with the squishy bed warmth), but it quickly translated to a compelling urgency to head to the sewing machine and really dig in to the current quilt taking shape.

Fed the cats, looked over email and job sites, witnessed Cleo begin a day of vomiting (still trying to ascertain what and why), cleaned up behind her then sat with her for a while to ease her little kitty psyche. Once Cleo seemed OK, I set to work on a row of blocks for the border.

Seaming the four squares was a breeze, applying the new row to the side of the quilt top was a bit of a A) headache; B) pain in the butt; C) challenge; D) task requiring three sets of hands.

Don't ask me why, I have tried to figure out the mechanics of where the row attaches with ease and a perfect fit along one edge, but becomes a mathematical Mount Rushmore nightmare on the next. However, I am armed with plenty of patience (and a pair of scissors) for the remaining two sides.

Hey! Whatever it takes.

Anyway, the intersecting corner of the two completed sides looks pretty darned good, so there is hope for the remaining half. A photo of the corner (and the interior sashing borders I had to add for mathematical reasons) resides on http://www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com/2011/02/whew.html. Tomorrow I will begin to mark the top for quilting, and I really hope to stretch it and get down to quilting by next week.

Brian has gone to hang out with friends in Holly, playing some card game or other. The weather is awful - more snow endlessly falling from early afternoon til dark (most likely it is still falling). Weather dude said there was a possibility of receiving three inches or more, so needless to say I am none too thrilled about Bud out driving in this stuff - especially after dark. Ah well, he'll soon be 25, so one of us will have to stop being such a mom I s'pose.

Karl reluctantly spent some time working on 'the monster' (editing suite) this afternoon - and it took a good deal of nagging to get him there. He loves Maya, but getting him to work in the program lately has been a real "......" (see earlier multiple choice answers).

Made potato pancakes this morning (can't figure out why when I could have thrown frozen waffles at them from across the room and been done with it). The latkes were tasty, though, so it worth the effort and time. Need to find a way to drain off the liquid from the shredded spuds without having them turn brown.

Today I enlisted Brian's help and had him stir and squeeze off the spuds in a colander until they were much drier - but of course, that doesn't mean anything 30 minutes later! Potatoes are an endless source of liquid. Period!

Just received a text from Bud asking me to move his laundry, please, into the drier. Seems he forgot to do that before he left. Yup, that and the cat box. [forehead smack]

Boys!

With that, I bid you a "good night" and head off to tend to a couple of small things before I decide how to spend the balance of my snowy Saturday evening.

Oh, you silly drug-taking people

To all of those anabolic steroid users out there, I apologize.

I used the word "annoying" as a blog entry title, so of course when you folks search for anabolic steroids, you also find a link to my blog because the search engine popped up something that looks similar in spelling.

Well, it's not that similar, but if you are of the ilk who commonly misspells your words....get a dictionary.

[I'm just saying.]

Otherwise, happy reading!

The last of it

Well! I took myself to Flint yesterday for my own appointment at the dental school, and had my teeth (and mouth) probed, probed, probed some more, scraped, probed, slathered with gel for the exposed root, and then probed and finally ultra-blasted by an intense sonic waterpik. Apparently that is the latest fad in dental hygienics.

It's like a Splash Mountain waterride result for your face - only with a shrill screaching at times.

A dog whistle for the dental patient, if you will.

My teeth are clean (dental clean) for the first time in about two years. Before this, my last cleaning took place after an 8 year dental hiatus. Aside from the ominous uttering of the words "suspicious spot" three times during the exam (by a dentist, after the hygienist student), I had remarkbly good teeth and gums. Oh, and those 'suspicious spots' are going to have to remain so for a while longer I'm afraid. Ah well.

The boys had been ferried to the same place, each in turn, over the last couple of weeks; and so now our dental obligations have been fulfilled and my fears allayed for a little while. I seem to be the only one of us with possible cavities to tend to, or at least spots to have looked at by a dentist who can/will do the dirty deeds if necessary.

Perhaps after another job - another paying job.

Those trips to the dental school in Flint make for a long day. Up around 6:15AM to get ready and out the door for a long drive north (about 35 to 40 minutes) and then to the office/school. Paperwork to fill out and the appt to pay for, before a 20 minute wait (or there abouts) until you are shepherded into the lab where the day will progress.

Being a school, there is a lot of paperwork for the students to fill out all throughout the exam. They have you floss and brush to show them how you do it, then they perform the same tasks (in your mouth) with you watching them (using a handheld mirror). BPs and heart rates are taken and measured, with double-checking by their instructors (so, lots of waiting in between each piece of the exam), and then a break for lunch.

After lunch, you return to the room and continue with the note taking and graphing of your mouth; existing dental work, notations on where plaque resides, a precursor poking to locate and other problem spots or interesting things (such as how your teeth line up - or not - when you bite, or whether you have an overbite and how severe, etc.), and then they are OK'd to proceed with cleaning (which is also checked and signed off on).

By 2:50PM I was ready to go home, and I did just that; but first I stopped in at the lovely little quilt shop north of Davison to procure a little more yardage for the binding of the pink and brown quilt. Wheeee!

Today is garbage day, so the bags are due to make it to the curb very soon. Looking out the window I see that it snowed at some point last night after the sun set, and now it looks a little foggy. The weather goofs were saying to expect freezing rain with our snow, but I didn't hear the usual noises I can associate with rain, so I wonder if we dodged the bullet in our area - again.

Although, upon further inspection of the cars in the drive, it could very well have happened - that rain thing, I mean. Windows look completely glazed over, so there may very well be a crust of ice either above or below the new blanket of snow. Guess I will find out soon enough.

Today, I am back on a regular me-like schedule. That is to say, nothing much planned beyond job searching, more cleaning and sewing. I lost a lot of time yesterday not quilting, and I really want to get the pink and brown quilt sandwiched and pin basted by the end of this weekend. By the time I returned home yesterday afternoon all I wanted to do was take a nap! Agh! So, check in another time to see where the day takes me.

If I manage to make up for lost time and finish the top, I will post a photo on the quilting blog site. Have a great day.

Annoying

Solicitors.

People who knock on your door and disturb your day. People who are not invited or desired, who arrive to offer you a service you do not want or can't afford. They act as though they are offering you the greatest thing since sliced bread. They try to finagle their way into your home as though bravado their will prevail. They won't stop trying even as the door closes in their face and you've said "no, thank you" for the sixth time - and it's freezing and my door is open (but not for long).

Those schmucks who choose you because of the icicles hanging from your gutters. Or because the two trees in your yard are meeting in the middle. Or because your sons haven't shoveled your driveway, yet (although Bud and K did make a valiant effort late yesterday afternoon). Or because your driveway doesn't have a black tarry coating on it - like everyone else's. Or because the weeds and crabgrass outnumber the blades of actual grass in your lawn.

Well, maybe I like it this way!!!!! Did you ever consider that? And hey! What are you trying to say, anyway?

Of course, there are many other sorts of solicitors:

The religious set. [ahem] I believe in God and I do not need to discuss my faith with a stranger, but if you thump your bible on my porch, I will thump your head - on my porch, down my driveway and out into traffic!

The aluminum siding set (I have a brick house - duh).

The new windows and door set (my windows are new, and if you knew your business you would have been able to discern that before knocking on my door).

The insulation set (been there, done that - you snooze, you lose).

The timid set who bombard your mailbox and leave their "ads"/fliers in your box (shame on your people), or wedged in the flag on your mailbox (this is why I removed the flag on my box).

The Fuller Brush set (selling general trash or leftover frozen goods out of their truck).

The help-me-through-college-and-subscribe-to-four-magazines set (hey, sonny - I already receive three issues of the newspaper I can't finish reading in a week!).

Oh my gosh, the list goes on and on, and we haven't even gotten to the phone dweebs, yet. But let's tackle that brand another day, shall we?

Unlike those doggone solicitors, I know when to quit - because anything more on the list would have been annoying.

If you're looking for my quilt updates, all blogging and photos are at: www.truenorthquitler.blogspot.com

If the last one was "Snowmageddon"....

...what does that make this snowy episode?

The snow began it's delicate dance right about 2:30 PM, but quickly changed from a whimper of snow flakes to crazed vengeful snowfall in a matter of minutes, and it's been falling 'fast and furious' ever since.

In just the first 40 minutes the ground went went from a tinge of white to a total 'dusting' to all-out covered! And now, as the sunlight (OK, daylight) wains, the houses and trees across the street appear as a light grey suggestion of themselves through the falling snow, and it's still coming down at such a pace you would think the sky would run out of it soon.

The cars in the driveway are covered; they look like those marshmallow treats you buy at a 7-11. You know the ones....those half snowballs of squishy marshmallow goo, completely covered in coconut. Mmm and ick!

Did the grocery getting early on to try and avoid the people hysteria-shopping and the potential early drop of the white stuff. Turns out I definitely avoided contact with any snow, but failed to avoid the people masses.

S'ok, though, I got out and home, unloaded and relaxed in short order, and even had Brian help me cast rock salt on the driveway to keep the (predicted) ice from sticking too badly to the pavement. At least in theory it sorts out like it might work. We'll see tomorrow when the shoveling commences.

Have fun in your snowy kingdom, and here's to surviving "Snowpocalypse."

Randomness

Update: I usually do not go back into an entry and make changes, but this one deserved a preface as I had a note or two regarding "WTF?" The title says: "Randomness" - what do you suppose the content of this blog entry might include?

Ah-haaaaa.

Carry on. (and don't say I didn't warn you)

My bladder said "get up" and the cats said "stay up, we're going to require 'fooding.' " That was about half an hour ago. [yawn]

Had another sale on Halfdotcom (finally).

Received my first - ever - real crew shirt from a production! I've been on several projects, and a few of them had shirts (or talked a good game about them), but this was the first shirt I've ever received, and I couldn't be prouder.

Making progress on that quilt - are you checking in on that at all?

Saw a good movie yesterday - actually, two good movies. Well....one terrific movie and one pretty sweet little film. Alright. Well, uhhhh....more like an Oscar-nominated (and soon to win) film and a picture that went straight to DVD.

They couldn't have been more diverse, these two films. One was shot in the UK and had a beautiful cast of superb actors (and Helena Bonham Carter), and the second was shot in MI and had a lot of names in it as well (and many unknown young actors). That's right, I am talking about The King's Speech and Flipped. It was my first outing to a theater to see a film in ages, and I am glad I didn't waste it.

Wish I had walked outside while the temps were agreeable. (I am such a ninny.)

Didn't get (take) that job in NY, mostly because they were not going to cover the travel -- and I wasn't going to, either. Not for a "lo/no/deferred." Yes, I am "passionate" about the craft. No, I am not a patsy. I will choose for whom I will work for free, thank you very much.

Received another (really late) W-2 in the mail yesterday. Feel like sending the dude a note and say "thanks, but I've already done my taxes. Now what?" Jeez, it's really becoming de rigueur for employers to mail those darned things whenever they feel like it, and not in a timely fashion, isn't it?

What's on deck for today? I guess we will find out together.

Boy, this was random.

53*F!

Really?!?

Yes, it's over fifty degrees out there! Don't tell me you didn't get outdoors today! Ay carumba!

Well, fret not you pasty, winter-weary curmudgeons. I think there m a y be another day of warm stuff before more snow hits the fan - again. Tonight, I think we're in for some rain.

[gasp!]

Oh look! There's that missing January newspaper.

P.S.

Regarding the first blog of the day: The things on my "to-do list" have nothing to do with the "list of things I want to do" (see an earlier February blog entry).

Although you may see one or two items listed this morning that appear to be a 'to-do list' sort of activity, I suppose it's possible these sorts of things can exist on more than one list at a time.

But then, hey! That only means once those things are completed I can knock that task off of more than one list.

Win-win!

Where to begin

I look around the house in the quiet morning hours and wonder "where to begin?"

There are so many things requiring my attention and time, and it's that age-old (or at least, my age-old) problem of choosing something - that one thing - to tackle. Where to start. Where?

If you've read here before you will know that my anguish lies in the flood of guilt, remorse and pressure of having started at the wrong end of the to-do list. Typically I will begin one project (large or small), only to realize I should really have focused my attention on another chore (or two) and left activity one to another time, and so I stop doing whatever it is (usually before I have successfully completed it) to stew about the lost time and inactivity of not having worked on another needful undone something.

Did you follow all of that?

At any rate, I now sit in thought as to what I should do to begin the day to make the best use of the gorgeous sunlit hours.

Oh, what's that? I heard someone yell "make a list."

Well, for your information, I have a list...and it doesn't help. I want to accomplish all of the items on my list, but where do I begin? Even if I pare out those things that can't be done outdoors until the weather improves, I am still left with a huge amount of things to weed through and decide from.

There are multiple items on my list which hinge on other activities happening first to make it possible to work on those items of needful doing...but of course, I can't work on them because I haven't the cash to make any of those things happen.

Perhaps I should work on the list itself!? I could refine it to represent outdoor activities, monetarily motivated activities, daily activities, fun activities, and so on. Hmmm.

There are things I would love to do if only those things didn't involve making noise (which would wake the boys). Of course, it is late enough in the morning that they should be up anyway.

So maybe that is the first thing I will stop feeling badly about - the possibility of waking the boys - and just start living my life my way.

There's a novel approach on where exactly to begin!

A stitch in time

Worked on the Ohio Star quilt a little bit yesterday, but most of that work was pre-shrinking the last of the backing and border material and/or cutting out triangles for the extra border configuration.

Today I will cut the lengthy strips that will bound the interior rows, as well as the pink triangles that will finish the outer border. Hopefully, I will also get a good start on producing the final blocks for the border and then begin that whole assembly process. Keep in mind this particular quilt has just about doubled in size from the project I originally set out to make.

And for all of the planning and final tweaking, the changes here and there, I am coming to the part that worries me the most - it's also one of my least favorite portions of quilt making - marking the top for quilting. Finding the perfect stencil (or planning how to quilt the "sandwich") is like naming your child. I believe everyone has an Achilles heel in the quilt process, a least favorite chore, and this aspect of it would be mine.

Marking a quilt top is painstaking enough, but I can never get to that point without much debate, self doubt, over-critical over-analysis, and trepidation. Settling on the design is nerve wracking (for me), and I can take forever making up my mind.

Yeesh!

If you want to take a peek at the progress thus far and keep up on the quilt in process (or any quilt project I have going), head over to http://www.truenorthquilter.blogspot.com/, I post photos there of my quilt work. Leave me a note and let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking in, and I hope you get a chance to enjoy the winter warm-up the meteorologists are predicting for the week ahead. Cheers!

Am I still feeling blue?

Yes, I am. Sort of mostly deep in my core and then around the fringes...but the blue is definitely there.

Rats! [mutter, mutter, mutter]

One of "those" days

It's been one of those days. A little of this and a little of that. Lots of sunshine. An averted stupidism with the garbage dudes. Phone calls and email; quilting; more quilting; read a newspaper and avoided housework.

Tomorrow I'll sew some more, because to tell the truth, I hated stopping. (See photos of the latest project on the quilting blog - True North Quilter. A link is here on the blog page.)

Keep warm everyone!

It's been a very long day

Up at 6AM to get a jump on the day.

OK, not really "up" so much as 'awake.'

OK. So not even "awake" so much as 'aware of the alarm going off.'

Alright! OK. Ya caught me. I was snoozing for the second time at 6:15AM! Heroically trying to convince myself to get up and get moving so Brian could be at his dental appointment in Flint by eight o'clock.

Yes, I know the boy can drive and navigate his own way there (probably), but I opted to drive to keep the excessive miles off of his sweet old car. He already does enough stupid 'tripping' hither and yon, so I figured the best course of action was just to drive him myself.

ALSO, I figured he probably hadn't had much sleep (he and Karl were still watching Craig Ferguson when he signed off at 1:30AM); this way I could keep from imagining the worst over the eight-and-one-half-hours it took for the entire ordeal.

That's right, from the time we left the house to the time we returned, it was over 8 hours!

It's all good though, he has no reported cavities and his teeth were cleaned and fluorided (is that right? - you know what I mean, right?) for $25 and the investment of time. Well worth it.

Today should have been our second trip to that school in Flint, but with last week's storm everything was shifted a week and Karl's date in the dental chair has been moved to next Wednesday. My own cleaning (which originally was next week) may have to be postponed for a while longer.........since now it looks like I may have a short gig in the Big Apple!

Prayers muttered, fingers crossed, hopes cast to the wind, please let it be so.

After Brian and I arrived home I searched my email quickly for work (as I do several times a day), and opened an email box I have begun using to filter production email responses - but I somehow missed this new email from over a day ago.

I read the script they sent along, responded to their questions regarding time frame availability and interest, then added my travel question to my own response. Now, it will be a quick waiting game to see if I get the job with them footing the travel expenses. "Quick" because the filming will commence before the end of the month, and plans will need to be made in haste if I am still to join their crew after they find I am not a NY local.

Oh yes, it's been a very long day, and I think I need a nap before I wash the dishes.

I'll let you know what the outcome is as soon as I know it myself.

Thought I should start this now - too many have gone by the wayside; Some of my favorite vme's and text messages

"Hey, Beth, it's just Aaron, your older brother. Um, just thought I'd give ya a call and offer ya the opportunity to guess who started, 'Business 1A: Financial Accounting' today. Let me give ya a hint - I'm wearing his underwear. Umm.....at least I hope so.

"Anyway, I got started and, uh, she says that she promises it will be hard work and difficult. So I'm looking forward to it.

"Talk to ya later. Bye." -- Tuesday, Jan 25, 2:57PM EST

- - - - - - - - - -

"I'm hating Accounting 1A." -- Sunday, Feb 6, 9:24PM EST

Things I want to do

...this year.

Things I want to do this year.

That's how that title should have read, but I am not going to adjust it. So there - nyah!

Side note: Foreigners won't get the sarcasm. Mom will get it, and won't much like it (love you, mom). Friends'll get it, understand it, and smile at it. I'm not sure about the rest of of y'all.

Normally (I believe) this sort of entry would have been more of a resolution-type thing, but since I am no longer keen on making resolutions (for many years now and for obvious reasons) I figured if I wrote this entry far enough away from the beginning of the new year, it wouldn't be viewed as a new year's resolution so much as just a statement of hope and determination.

A dream.

A deep desire to stretch and do more...become more.

Oh, but now I've gone and drawn that almighty invisible line from point A to point B, and some of you sharper pencils might already be filling in the blank page with an actual mark. Well.....don't! Stop right there and put your pencils down! I mean it. Don't make me turn this paper over!

OK, so-o-o-o-o.....here -

I would like to complete no fewer than three quilts this year. Not wall hangings mind you, but honest-to-goodness full-size, utilitarian quilts.

Finish the kitchen (OK, specifically the island and all of it's bits and pieces and the painting...oh, and insulate the two cold walls, too. No sense in making things unobtainable).

I would like to start and finish two animated shorts, at least five minutes long - each. OK, maybe three minutes or more (no sense in making myself any crazier than I already am).

Humph. [ruminating]

Well.......maybe one really good animated piece, somewhere between 3 to 5 minutes long would be a great start.

Put photos in the frames over the stairwell (to replace the ones that came with the frames).

Oh, and that wall also needs repair to a [nice] crack that has reappeared. Hey, is this a new line item or a continuation of the last one?

Silkscreen some things I have been thinking of creating for several years. Too many years.

Finish installing the wood floor on the lower level. 'nuff said.

Reconfigure the furniture in the lower level (and stop talking about it).

Garden.

Be more positive.

Get the boys back into classes. (I can dream.)

Win the lottery.

Hey, get off my back! This is my list of things I "want" to do - and who doesn't want to win the lottery???

[taking a beat]

Hmmm...maybe I'm getting too far from personal accomplishment-type things.

Anyhow, this is my list of "wants - of 'dreams' - for the time being. Of course, getting work (whether full time in an office or more jobs on productions is a large never ending goal) and making it unnecessary to accept help from mom any more is the primary thing I want.

Always.

Ugh! and Aahhh!

So many books!

C'mon, folks....buy 'em up!

After the first sales showed up at the beginning of the week I became very excited, but then...pfft! Evaporation time. I would like to remain hopeful (really, I would) and think happy thoughts, but seriously? Two sales in less than two days (within 15 hours of each other) and then nothing?!

I know, it appears as though I am impatient and looking at a half empty glass (versus the whole "glass half full" thing). :P

Well, what of it? There's no rhyme or reason to what happens, I know this, but it just seemed odd to open my inbox later on Tuesday and find two sales where there had been none when I checked Monday evening (before starting dinner).

After I stopped doing the happy dance I got busy with next steps. You have to print off mailing labels and invoices, respond to any additional email from the buyer and get the merchandise ready to travel. Package the [books] and take care that they won't get ruined during the shipping process, then get yourself to the post office in enough time to catch the evening mail truck.

Three out of four ain't too bad. [sheepish grin] I actually ended up driving to a local large mercantile, after the PO closed, to ship the books out ahead of the snow storm - just ahead of the storm. The roads were already covered and slick when I pulled out of my driveway, and the longer I was out the deeper and more treacherous it became.

Needless to say, I was happy to have gotten the packages out of the house when I did; and I am happy to report that the first one was delivered to its final destination by 9AM on the fourth! Yup, that's right. One beautiful book made it all the way to Bowling Green, KY from Michigan, through a nasty storm and a long ride in less than 2.5 days!! The second parcel is stuck somewhere in IL mail hell.

According to the tracking provided from the USPS, the second book, which went to a buyer in Illinois, has yet to be delivered! I know, right?! Go figure.

I am still holding out hope that it will arrive where it's supposed to today.

Of course, I am also hoping for many more sales in the near future, just to make inputting all of that information into the data base worthwhile.

http://shops.half.ebay.com/funnyladyinred_W0QQmZbooks

Thanks for spreading the word!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Ah, yes!

And that puts me in mind of one of my favorite movies - certainly in my top 10! Right this minute Groundhog Day is at the top of my movie mania stack...and the DVD is queued up and ready to roll, so you'll have to excuse me. This is no time for pithy prose and info sharing.

I've got a fresh pot of chicken soup simmering on the stove for the boys to help themselves to so I can burrow into the sofa cushions and cover myself with a trusted old quilt.

There'll be a tall glass of water and some pita chips and hummus at my fingertips, and a smile on my face in no time.

Anybody wanna snowshoe over and join me?

First of February

Yahoo! Goodbye January and hello shorty-mcshort-short month!

Of course, hello to "Snowmageddon", as well. This storm has been widely publicized and forecast and on the 'dread this' list for a week, and now it's finally here...or will be soon.

People have been in a real panic over the eventual arrival of this monster snowfall for the last two days, so I am glad I went to the market for provisions when I did. Store shelves were cleared of any bottled water (drink your tap water, people, it's good!). Bread, milk products and eggs were non-existent, and many other items were low -- and the lines were long, long, long.

Oh, I hear you: "If you already went shopping, then why did you feel the need to go back? What did you forget?"

I went to the store for two items that we really could have done without, but because I was out anyway on a different mission I figured I would make good use of the time/chance to grab plain baked chips for Karl (he doesn't like flavored ones), and fennel.

"Fennel?!"

Yes, fennel. Bud and I watched Jacques Pepin make a dish which requires fennel, and guess what we don't have on hand. That's right!

We do have fennel seed, but not the actual bulbs, and I think the dish would be better with fresh fennel. Sadly, the store had none, so it looks as though we will have to make do with fennel seed after all. Ah well.

Oh, and the reason I was out and about anyway, was to take two books to the PO for shipping! Yes! I've sold my first two books (to different people) online!!! Yea, and thank you to you lovely people!

February FIRST, indeed. :) ;)