It's been a few days since I last blogged. Andy just loves that word. He cracks up laughing every time I say it. Anyway, winter weather definitely visited us this weekend! We had snow, ice, rain and wind. Yesterday the trees looked beautiful - first because they were coated with ice and glistening like glass, but then it snowed again and the snow stuck to every ice-covered surface and everything looked like it had been dusted with powdered sugar. This morning the trees were icy and looked like glass again, but I guess there will be no snow coming behind it this time. Schools were two hours late this morning. I love these mornings! I would love it better if school were cancelled entirely, but I'll make do with two hours late. I was able to finish most of today's work by the time Andy got up, leaving my day free for the really important things - like blogging, for instance!

I read something a while back that I really like. I just came across it again this weekend and wanted to share it here.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO! What a ride!"

The visual I get when I read that is hilarious! If ya gotta go, that sounds like the very best way to do it!

I should probably get back to my de-cluttering. Yuck. I'm trying to be ruthless, but it's terribly hard. One never knows when one might actually use that springform pan that one has had for eight years and never used. I could say that about a LOT of other things I am finding stashed away! Oh, well. Back to the dust mines (or mites, as it were).

There hasn't been much time for blogging lately. Work has really kept me busy. I think everyone must have decided to have their surgeries or procedures done this time of year!

I wrote earlier about getting old - turns out I might just live to a ripe old age! Just for fun I filled out this life expectancy calculator. According to this, I should live to be 79.5 years old! It also told me that if I cut down on my coffee consumption and stopped eating chocolate that I would live even longer. Nah - 79.5 works for me! According to this I will also outlive Jerry by about 25 years. His wasn't so good - his was 55. I told him I would help him make changes - just as soon as I called to have his life insurance increased! I do think seeing it in print made him think about making changes, though. I know that I could use changes myself.

Thinking about moving has made us take a good look around our house. How did we get so much stuff?! Just the thought of packing it all makes me tired! I am very thankful that we have never used the attic, though. That has been empty since we moved here 9 years ago. We have a lot of stuff, but at least we don't have an attic-full to deal with, too! (Mom knows about that!) Now would be a very good time to de-clutter. Even if we don't go anywhere, it would be nice to be rid of all of our "extras"!

Roll On!

Well, it finally happened. I was unable to breathe while attempting to put my socks on. When did that extra tire creep in around my middle? I already had a spare there and most certainly didn't need another, but there it is. I have been in denial too long, I guess. I blamed my weight on having diabetes while being pregnant and having a big baby. Well, the diabetes is long gone and that "baby" is now 10 years old! And I continue to pile it on! (The excuses as well as the pounds). Sitting all day does not help, but I must work, mustn't I?! Okay, that pile of snacks doesn't need to be there on my desk while I do it though, I guess. If I thought that it was official that I was old, it is definitely official that I am large. But this is like aging, too. I don't feel large! I just really, really look it! Time to do something about this, or I shall have to go barefoot the rest of my life.

Pass the Fiber, Please

It's official. I am old. I certainly don't feel old, but I must be, because I actually know (and sing along to) the songs on the oldies station. Because when I told my son today that Johnny Carson died, he looked blankly at me and said "Oh, wait - I've heard of him. Who was he again?" Because my son's friend, when shown 33 rpm vinyl records that I had recently acquired, said excitedly "Oh, I've seen those before! My grandmother has the thing that plays them". (I am not kidding).

I can remember when 30 years of age used to seem ancient. Now it seems young. I used to think that 40 was halfway to death. Now 40 is just halfway to 80 - and I feel like I have another 40 good years ahead of me. If I look at it that way, I'm just starting out! The first 40 was spent doing things like learning to walk, talk, going to school, enduring adolescence and early marriage years and toddlers. The next 40 should be a piece of cake, right?! Why, I'm just getting started! I will proudly don my running shoes (with the arch supports), adjust my sports attire (all cotton, because body types like mine and spandex don't get along), clean my contacts for better vision, fasten my teeth down with Fixodent, and let my Miss Clairol-colored hair flow in the breeze as I run - okay, jog - er, maybe walk quickly, okay, stroll - to the finish line of my life!

Andy and his rosy cheeks!

Jerry carrying kitty back up for another ride down!

Hang 10, kitty! Er, I mean 5. The picture is blurry because he was moving.

No, Andy - you're supposed to be IN the sled!

Snow Day - The Sequel

Another snowy day! Somehow it doesn't seem as much fun if school isn't closed because of it. We didn't get as much snow as was predicted. As of now, 7:44 pm, there are 2 inches on the ground and the snow has stopped. The snow was taking turns with sleet most of the afternoon. We ventured outside this evening and discovered that because of the sleet, the snow was nice and slippery - just right for riding down the driveway! We let our cat come outside with us. He loves to be outside, but because of his having only 2.5 legs, he's not allowed out without us being right there with him because he gets himself into too much trouble. For example, the day we were out having our snowball fight we let him come outside with us. After a while I didn't see him so I was walking around the house looking for him and followed his tracks up the deck stairs where I found him sitting on the top rail of the deck, calmly giving himself a bath. I was very afraid that he would fall off before I got to him. He really can't afford to be breaking any more body parts - he doesn't have many left to spare! Anyway, I got him off the rail and put him in the house. I figured he had had enough adventure for one day.

Andy rode the sled (okay, it's not a typical sled, it's more of a plastic-toboggan-like-thing named The Torpedo) first, and then Jerry put the cat on it and he rode down the slope a few times. He actually didn't mind, except for the last time when we got him going a little too fast and he bailed out of it before he got to the bottom. Actually, Andy did the same thing! We weren't being cruel to the cat - he's really pretty dim and does all sorts of un-catlike things. Once when I was walking on the treadmill, I had just started walking when the phone rang. Rather than turn the treadmill off, I just hopped off to answer the phone and when I returned, the cat was riding on the treadmill. He would jump up on it, ride it down to the bottom and let himself be slid off onto the floor, then come around to the top and do it again. He did this several times before he got tired of it and went to go watch birds at the back door again. For some reason none of our pets has ever been very bright. Hmm - could be a reflection on the owners.

Above are some pictures from this evening. We'll call it a snowy day, since a snow day is when school is closed!

Things That Bug Me

There are four things that bug me. Oh, on a day-to-day basis there are lots of things that bug me, but these four consistently bug me. Three of them are English language and grammar changes that some yahoo must have started, for they are the most unintelligent-sounding words I have ever heard. At first when I came upon them I thought they were typographical errors but then after having come across each of them more than a few times, I realize it has apparently become the norm.

The first thing that bugs me is hearing someone say, "I'm going (somewhere), do you want to go with?" Go with? What is that? Go with whom? With what? With you? Absolutely not - you can't even speak proper English. If someone who says this cannot manage enough breath to eke out the word "me" at the end of that sentence, they really have no business being upright for as long as it would take to go wherever they are going.

Next is hearing someone say or see it written that something is "on sell". This is apparently a new one. The first time I came across it was on an online message board and I thought it was a mistake. Then I saw it in print in a newspaper article. I have seen it and heard it more since then. How did this come about? Is something that is "on sell" even more of a bargain than something that is "on sale"? I realize that when "on sale" is said, it can sound like "on sell", but this is a word that is not supposed to be spelled phonetically, as it sounds. Next I suppose I will see ads for long-distance fone survis.

The third thing is when people say they "waited on line" at the bank, grocery store, wherever. No - unless they were using their Palm Pilots and actually using the internet while waiting in a line, they were not on line. One can be in a line, but one cannot be on line unless one is sitting on something with lines on it or connected to the internet. I have heard this spoken as well as read it in print.

Okay - here's the fourth thing, which was called to my attention today because of the impending snow this weekend. The headline on the news story read "Grocery stores packed. Shelves emptied in anticipation of snow". The story went on to state that "milk, bread and toilet paper were flying off the shelves in anticipation of this weekend's winter storm". I do not understand this. Is this the only time people use these items? During a snow storm? "Yay! It's going to snow! Let's break out the toilet paper and live like kings!" Don't most people already have these things in their homes? I should hope so - as at least one is, well, kind of a necessity.

Well, now that I have vented and feel immensely better, I can get on with my evening. Just as soon as I go wait on line for toilet paper because the snow is coming. Want to go with?

My flag, which is finally appropriate for the season!

Jerry, taking aim at the photographer!

Here is Andy, gearing up for our snowball fight!

Snow Day!

Today was our first official snow day this year. Actually, I'm not sure how much of a snow day it really was, since the schools already had a 2-hour early dismissal today and then most other schools were 2 hours late - if they had done that, it would have been a very short school day, indeed! We went out and had our obligatory snowball fight. I would say Andy won since he beaned me with a snowball right on the side of my face when I wasn't paying attention! I took some pictures outside today. My flag on the house is finally appropriate! After I had taken down the Christmas flag I put up the winter flag, but last week when it was so warm and we were wearing T-shirts outside, it almost looked obscene and definitely out of place. I left it there, though, hoping that it would bring corresponding weather - and it must have worked!

A dark-eyed junco getting seed out of the snow.

Lots of little chickadees were here today.

Here's a squirrel helping himself to the suet.

A bluejay getting suet.

Snow!

Yes! It finally snowed. Two inches of snow fell here. A little more than the "dusting" they had called for! The roads around here were a mess. We had the scanner on and kept hearing about accident after accident, and lots of reports of abandoned cars! That made us laugh - people just walked away from their cars. One report we heard was an abandoned car left in the middle of the road! The weather wreaked havoc with the school buses, though. Jerry and I waited at the end of our road for Andy's bus for about an hour. We knew from hearing it on the scanner that the buses were running extremely late, so we knew we would be waiting a while, but this was getting ridiculous! Finally a man who lives on the next street came over and told those of us waiting for the bus that he had called the school and Andy's bus hadn't even arrived yet to pick children up, and that they were asking parents to pick their children up. When I got to the school it was 5:00 and they had the waiting children in the gym and the principal was keeping them entertained by having them sing and tell jokes. I feel sorry for the bus drivers who, after having such a horrendous afternoon, have to drop off the buses and make their way home. I also feel sorry for the teachers and staff who had to stay until all the children found a way home. I think the weather was a little worse than was anticipated. I was thankful to see the snow, though! It was so beautiful while it was falling.

Apparently my yard was the place to be today if you were a bird or a squirrel! I had seed in the bird feeder and had put suet out for the woodpeckers early this morning, but I didn't realize how many visitors there would be. Normally we see each of several different kinds of birds throughout the day at different times, but today they all seemed to be here at the same time. The squirrels were battling it out with the woodpeckers for the suet. A couple of years ago I found a recipe for suet which uses shortening, peanut butter, flour, sugar and cornmeal or oatmeal - whatever's handy. I decided to try it and ever since then the birds won't touch store-bought suet cakes. I have spoiled them and now I have to make a pan of suet every week or so. I don't really mind, though. For three years now I have seen two pairs of woodpeckers bring their babies to the suet in the spring and summer and it's fun seeing them. We have cardinals that nest in the bushes on the side of our house and they bring their young'uns to the feeder, too. We have LOTS of bluejays. They are a nuisance sometimes as they will shriek and chase smaller birds away from the seed. Last year right at the edge of the woods there was a bluejay nest and we would watch the mom bluejay on the nest. We tried not to get too close, but she wouldn't budge off that nest for anything. I believe we could have walked right up to the tree and she wouldn't have left - but we probably would have a gotten a painful lesson in leaving her babies alone! We have seen mockingbirds swoop down and peck at our cat when he got too close to one of their nests. That was funny to watch. The cat didn't see it that way! I probably should not have spent my afternoon watching snow and birds, but it was worth it!

One of Tom's pictures of snowflakes.