White Today....

And so.. today we woke up to white stuff -- wasn't flour or confectioners sugar either. Soon it had turned to sleet and then freezing rain. Now it looks like dirty ice soup. Not much movement around as school systems quckly changed status from being delayed two hours to why don't you guys just stay home today and come back on another day. So today there are lots of "jerk parents." You know who I mean -- the ones whose children evoke the jerk response -- they push and push until you turn into a jerk. Kids are unpredictable -- you never know how far up the wall they will drive you! In other homes around town are teenagers whose parents have figured out the best way to keep them off the roads today --let the air totally out of the tires and hide the pump. So for all of the Moms of school age kids today we need to throw a life preserver.
There are things you can do to survive -- like be sure to feed your family from the three basic food groups --canned, frozen, and take-out. Always buy products that say tastes homemade.
And don't forget to be yourself -- so that no one can ever tell you that you are doing it wrong.
Going off to spend my day with two canines. Sorry that yesterday was the deadline for all complaints.

Weather Whether or Not....

I am a winter grump! I sometimes post things about my disgruntled feelings and I suppose folks get tired of hearing me. But winter makes me so miserable. Currently the weather is so very cold and winter has not officially started. My skin dries out and cracks around my fingers and on my feet. Sometimes the cracked spots bleed and sometimes my fingers and joints hurt and are sore.

So, it sounds like I dislike the way winter makes me feel physically and emotionally.

Old people do not fare well in the cold of winter because their body systems are often compromised even before having to endure cold temperatures. Young people often do not fare well in cold temperatures because developmentally their little bodies aren't prepared to cope. We must wrap and bundle them up really tight or I should say try to. As a former school marm I can tell you it was almost like fighting to get them to wrap up to leave the school building to either play or go home. Students would leave coats, hats and gloves strewn all over rather than wear them. They eventually wound up in the "Lost and Found." Occasionally as you passed through the area you would find a parent anxiously looking to find the lost clothing of their child.

As I write this I have a little black schnauzer girl curled up beside me sound asleep. Today has been miserably cold but she didn't seem to know it. She and her sister have been in and out the door over and over to take care of business and play in the yard for as long as I would allow. I have tried to be careful that they did not stay out very long. They always have on their own little furry coats but I felt they weren't sufficient for very long.

I am tired of hearing about the buckle in the jet stream. One reporter on CBS forecasted tonight that it looks like this weather pattern with Mr. Jet Stream out of whack will probably last through the end of the year. Who knows what then?? Could be MOS!

Being Cold....

I detest cold weather. I can not think of one redeeming feature of cold weather. Now, I guess I should define cold weather. Cold weather, to me, is anything below fifty degrees, but more specifically anything below forty degrees is really cold. If it is below thirty degrees it is down right brutal in my mind. Lest you get any bright ideas about my opinion(s) I have lived in and through some truly cold stuff.

I have this thing called light affective disorder or whatever. It simply means that I am really sensitive to the loss of light during the months of the year when daylight hours are shorter. So.. I have no love for the months of November and December due to the number of really short days and long hours of dark. I could never live at the poles or even in Palin's beloved Alaska. She can have it---and see Russia all day!!!

Each year I live for the days of January when the days start to lengthen by one minute a day. Wait, don't get me wrong, I didn't say I loved January. I was just saying that I appreciated the fact that the days begin to lengthen out each day in January. Gradually over the months until the latter part of June our days get longer. In my tiny mind, cold weather == short days and short days == cold weather.