Wednesday, November 29, 2006
*post-Thanksgiving musings...
Thanksgiving holiday came and went. It was busy, but enjoyable. The feast of food and family went well. We celebrated Mama's 93rd birthday with cake and gifts! The weather was great so we were able to get out without difficulty... visiting, working, etc. Ate too much... as expected. Too much good food and sweets, but sent a lot home with the kids.
Jack enjoyed the kids playing with everyone... the other cats endured it.... or hid. Rose liked the turkey!
Now it's time to start thinking of Christmas. I'm having a hard time dealing with this for some reason. It's like "... but I'm not ready to start thinking about Christmas". However, my readiness is irrelevant. Christmas lights are already popping up in the neighborhood. Christmas music is being played on the radio and in the stores. And don't get me wrong, I love the Christmas season and especially the music. It's just that it's all happening too fast. I guess it's a matter of perception. My perception is that it's happening too fast... so it is... for me.
Regardless, there are what? 26 shopping days left before Christmas?
Let's bypass this train of thought and go on to something else. How about "weather"? As per our latest forecast, there's a coldfront heading our way that should arrive in the next hour or so... dropping our now humid temperature of about 70... to the low 40's or possibly 30's.... and bringing with it rain, sleet, and snow by morning!
Hopefully, this is a worse case scenario and it won't really get that bad. I don't mind the temp dropping, or the snow... but the sleet and ice I could do without. Since DH and I both have to go to work in the morning, I'm really hoping that it won't get that bad. I've been a big wus about driving on icy roads ever since a few years back I was stopped at a light on the ice... and my car started slowly sliding horizontally towards the car beside me. It was the scariest thing. Luckily I kept working the steering wheel back and forth zigzagging until the light blessedly changed and the car on the side took off to avoid being hit.
It is now 8:52 am and the temp is now about 31 degrees. The front came in about 2 am with rain and sleet and the temp has continued to drop making the wet roads freeze. It's supposed to continue getting bad until early afternoon and then move on. But the roads may remain "iffy" for the rest of the day... DH went in early before things started to freeze. I'm going in around lunch and hopefully it will be OK.
1:45 pm update: I left early for work (10:30 am) in case the roads were bad. They weren't (then). My schedule today was 11am - 3:30 pm. When I got there, our manager asked if I wanted to work today.
Strange question... I said, "...uh... no?" He laughed. But I followed with, "I can certainly work if you need me.... but if not... no." Since there weren't many customers out braving the elements, he said for me to take the day off. So I smiled and ran with it. I stopped at the mall and picked up a few things mama needed, then called and let her know that I would be stopping by early. The weather was due to get worse and I figured that I'd better visit while I could.
This turned out to be a good idea as before noon it was sleeting hard. Now it's still sleeting and the snow/sleet is beginning to accumulate on the ground, streets, and roads. And it's really cold out there. Our two outside cats are huddled on the back porch. I gave them some extra food and some blankets... so hopefully they will be OK. I also put out extra bird seed.
If I get a chance I'll take my trusty Nikon outside and get a snap of the weather conditions to post. But it's actually turned into one of those serendipitous snow days where I'm free to hang about the house doing things I never take the time to do... sit by the warm Aga with the cats (OK, I do do this a lot), cook up a little chicken and pasta in wine sauce, maybe start a fire in the fireplace a little later... and even read a book in the middle of the day. When I stopped on my way home at LaMadeleine's to pick up some French Roast coffee beans, there was a man there watching the snow and sleet, saying "I love this..." I responded "Yes, it is nice... as long as you don't have to drive in it." He agreed.
Think I'd better close and post this entry. I may not get a chance to get back later. Take care and have a safe drive home on this sleety winter day!
-Rian
