It Snowed Overnight - Shoveling Might be Tricky

Today will be my first day back at the shop since my surgery. Of course, it's been snowing overnight, and I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a water jug. That's going to make clearing the front and back of the store difficult. I probably can do it in small increments, but I can't really throw the snow effectively onto the sides of the walkways. *sigh* No choice. I'll bring my power shovel along with me, that might be helpful. 

I will have to be very careful about my movements as I clear 
the snow away from the front and rear of the store. I don't 
want to strain or tear any of the surgical sutures internal or 
external. My power shovel should help a lot with that, but 
it won't do everything for me. 

But it's 3:45 am and I've been up for an hour. I think all of this lazing around and sleeping here and there over the past two days has maxed me out on sleep. I'll probably regret the sleep loss tonight when I fade, but that's then, and I have a long day ahead of me before I get there. I charged up the batteries for my power shovel overnight, so I have two freshly charged batteries ready for it. Now if I can just remember how to turn it on LOL - it's a little tricky. 

I have a power shovel similar to this, although mine 
is green and a different brand. I'm not expecting too 
much from it - mine was a very inexpensive Taiwan 
knock-off that arrived in the poorest packing job I've 
ever seen before for an overseas shipment. Still, you 
get what you pay for, right? I didn't pay much! LOL

I was going to make some soup yesterday, but simply didn't have the energy. I lazed around all day. My doctor phoned in the early afternoon, confirming that they had removed a malignant tumor of approximately 10mm diameter from my right breast, but that everything else tested out negative. I see her again in a bit over two weeks. Claire will accompany me again - she's been an amazing, wonderful friend. 

We had been hoping my tumor would be in the 6mm-8mm 
size range, but it turned out to be 10mm, so in the next 
category. I deal with beads and mm sizing all the time, I'm 
rather staggered to think that my tumor was 10mm big! 

So, despite the fact that I'm up at almost 4:00 am when I wanted to sleep until 6:00 am, I'm considering this to be a win. A decade or more ago, it would have been a death sentence. Medicine has come a long way with breast cancer in the intervening decades, and I totally approve of the strides that have been made. I'm off to the shop today, and to figure out how to use my power shovel - LOL. Have an excellent Saturday, I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

Tulips, Phones, Pineapple and Prayers - I'm All Over the Place Today

So here we are at the end of another week, and the end of March. When I next post, it will be April and Spring will (should) finally be here. We still have the last of the snow on the ground, but that's quite normal. The fact that we have snow at all on the ground, after this "Winter that the Snow Gods Forgot" is quite amazing. The ground and trees and other plants desperately needed the moisture, though, so I'm happy we at least had a bit of Winter come around to play in our area. This year may have been Nature's apology for last year's record-setting snowfalls, but our lack of moisture might be very harmful to our trees, etc this year. 

DH is all worried about the tulips we have that 
are already sprouting leaves above ground. But 
everything I'm reading says no worries unless there 
are already blossoms, which we don't have. So, I'm 
sure his flowers will be just fine, despite our late 
snowfall. 

I wanted to give all of you an update on the "horrible phone screen takeover" from earlier in the month. If you recall, somehow I ended up saying "Yes" to a "do you want to switch to "Easy Home Screen" around the middle of the month. Big ARGH! I absolutely HATED it. My apps were suddenly in alphabetic order, instead of clustered into the groups that I access the most. I actually had to write a list of the apps I use first thing every morning so that I could go down the list in order and not miss anything. It totally sucked. 

Easy Homescreen was anything BUT easy for 
me. Suddenly my apps were alphabetic and scattered 
all over the screen. I have my apps grouped so that 
I'm finding them in order of use. Alphabetic was 
NO help at all. And I couldn't find the app to uninstall 
it. The fact that I stumbled over it randomly and was 
able to remove it and return to my old set-up was 
a total blessing! 

According to the app, I just had to find it to be able to eliminate it, but that wasn't easy either. Some time last week, when I was fiddling with my screen, the app's home page came up on my screen with an option to "Return Settings to Prior View" and I grabbed it - said YES (rather emphatically), crossed my fingers and hit the confirmation. Voila! My screen returned to the settings I had been using. My apps are grouped together once again. My phone is once again mine - not the property of an Evil Empire. I couldn't be much happier. Easy Home Screen might be perfect for some of you, but for me it was the ultimate failure. I hope I don't fall down that rabbit hole again. 

You want your pineapple to look as golden as possible, and 
the one I bought yesterday was absolutely the poster child 
for the perfect pineapple. I'm really looking forward to eating 
that one - it dehydrated beautifully. 

Yesterday pineapples were 2 for $7 at the store, and there was one beautifully ripe one calling my name. The store, even though I only bought one, has to give me the discounted price - a lawsuit from a few years ago required stores to honor sale prices, even if the purchase isn't the full quantity. So, I went home with groceries and another beautiful pineapple which I immediately cut up and put into the dehydrator. I set it for 15 hours, shifted the trays every hour until I went to sleep, and rescued my dried pineapple this morning. washed the shelves of the dehydrator and put everything away properly. I've got a yummy munchie to add to my container of mango and pineapple from Wednesday. Nom, nom! 

I'm thinking lots of positive thoughts for my oldest 
nephew, but more positive thoughts from you, my 
readers, would be appreciated. He's got a long hard 
road ahead of him, if he's going to beat this cancer. 

So that's about all I know right now. My oldest nephew, the one with abdominal cancer, just finished his fifth course of chemotherapy since January. Now they'll reassess whether they can do anything surgically or not. I'm hoping for the best, of course, as is the rest of the family. Any positive thoughts you can spare in his direction would be appreciated, of course. It never hurts to get some good things moving through the ethos. On that note, I'm out of here. Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate that holiday, have an excellent day and weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning to welcome April alongside all of you. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It Was a Wet and Heavy Snow

The snow is finally done and cleaned up. It was a typical Spring snow - wet and very heavy. DH dragged the snow blower from the garage to get the driveway cleared yesterday, while I shoveled the walkways. It was a miserable job, but we got it all done. The next door neighbor lady was struggling with her shoveling, but when we were done and looked over, she was nowhere to be seen, so we shrugged, put the snow blower back into it's home in the garage, and continued with our day. 

DH immediately pulled out the snow blower yesterday, and 
that made all the difference. It was a wet, heavy snow, and 
it was still a mess to take care of. But it was SO much easier 
than shoveling the driveway. 

When I got home in the evening, I saw her back outside tackling the driveway once again. I told DH I was going to go and give her a hand with the shoveling before coming into the house, he shrugged, and off I went, shovel in hand. It turned out to not be my neighbor, Colleen, but their house/dog sitter Hannah. My guess is they are on a quick Easter vacation - maybe to visit their daughter at college in Michigan. But Hannah was glad of the help. The snow was VERY waterlogged and extremely heavy, and had a nice frozen crust that needed to be broken through to get down to the concrete driveway. I let her deal with the slope - it was a bit icy and she's considerably younger than I am. I tackled the plow scree, which was heinous, but I managed to get that cleared out for her. Good deed done - LOL. 

There's nothing much worse than snow plow scree, that 
snow that gets kicked up on the right side of the blade. 
It's wet, heavy, and pushes a long way into any driveway. 
It's a PITA to shovel or snow blow. 

It was slow at the shop yesterday. I put it totally on the weather. The snow had stopped falling, but the streets were in the process of edge to edge clearing, and my landlord was just finishing clearing the parking lot with his CAT when I arrived in the morning. I'd say we got about 5 inches from that storm - depending on location. It was a typical Spring snow - very moisture laden, so very VERY heavy. 

Our shop landlord has a lot of different heavy equipment, but 
he loves using his CAT. He gets a lot of use from it in the 
winters, using it to clear the back parking lot at the shop so that 
customers can get into the four businesses in my little 
group of stores. He does a good job, too. He's been a great 
landlord over the years. 

I started building a snow wall at the shop when I shoveled there, but I'm fairly sure it will melt again before the next storm comes through - if we even have another snow. We're late into the winter now, and snow is at a point where it will be sporadic, heavy, but melted quickly. I'm pushing for the melting part - LOL - although our trees desperately need that moisture. So, I'm off to the swimming pool. Have a fabulous Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Ready For a Late Winter? It's Here!

Until just a few days ago, we had been experiencing a winter of no snow. It was astonishing and quite fun. The fun is now over, and early Spring is giving us what Winter refused to - snow, and a lot of it. Of course the worst part of Spring snow is the humidity factor - it's wet and heavy snow, not lightweight flakes floating down. Instead of drifting on the breeze, it's pelting the streets, cars and houses. 

Wet heavy snow is great for sledding, cross country skiing, and 
building snowmen. It's crappy for driving and clearing the snow 
from walkways and driveways. We're going to get a wet, heavy 
snowfall of up to fifteen inches starting around noon on 
Sunday and continuing through Monday. Ick! 

I went outside to shovel the driveway clear around 8:30 or so in the morning, and was a bit shocked. I had come in from the movies Thursday night, parked the car in the garage, and went to sleep. When I entered the garage in the morning to grab my shovel and take care of the snow, there were two four-foot long 1x6 boards lying across my car, just missing my windshield. Too weird! I know we have squirrels in the garage, but these would have been a bit heavy for squirrel power. All I can figure is that we might have a raccoon in the garage. That would be a large enough animal to push the wood off the beams. DH stores his extra smaller wood pieces up above, leaving the wall space for the sheet lumber. I'm grateful Minion is unharmed, but a bit concerned about possibly sharing my garage with a larger animal. 

The refrigerator door has five containers 
of my Ogre Juice for the next week. I rely 
on it to get nutrients I wouldn't get 
otherwise, and it's an easy lunch to have 
at the shop. Very green - LOL. 

But I got the car unlumbered and the driveway shoveled, and headed to the grocery store to get veggies for my week's Ogre Juice batch, and my salmon for dinner. Then I came home and cooked - a lot. As you can see in the photos. The upper photo is my week's ration of Ogre Juice. That usually will take me an hour from start to finish (initially, when starting WildFit, it would take 2-4 hours for this - a good blender and lots of experience sure helps cut that time down). 

Here, taking space in what had been empty 
shelves, are my cooked fruit, butternut 
squash, roasted carrots and in the white 
containers, eight individually packed stuffed 
"mini" peppers. I'll be eating good over this 
next week! The white, wrapped pack at the 
bottom is my fresh salmon for last night's 
dinner. Now all I need to do is reheat things, 
if needed, and add my salad. I'm set for the week 
ahead. 

The second photo, of "my side" of the refrigerator shows eight containers of roasted butternut squash, four containers of roasted mini carrots (so good!), eight containers of cooked pears and apples with cranberries and crushed nuts, and my package of salmon at the bottom, waiting for later in the day to be baked and broiled. The white containers holding stuffed peppers were cooked on Wednesday. 

We already got a couple of inches from the first bits 
of the storm, but we're going to get hit on Sunday with 
up to 15 inches in that 24 hour period. In the photo, we're
right where the 20"+ is located - LOL. Getting to work 
on Monday might be interesting, and I'll actually have 
to shovel out the store for the first time this year. Uck! 

We're supposed to get a LOT of snow starting on Sunday and continuing on into Monday. I'll need food for all of that shoveling. DH wants take-out for his Sunday, but I'll make a final decision on that based on the weather and the roads. I wouldn't mind a meal of Moo Shu pork from our local Chinese restaurant. We'll see what the weather brings - we might be getting our entire winter's snowfall in a single large storm. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Be kind, enjoy life, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's Snowing! - a Good Thing - and Kung Fu Panda!

We've finally had measurable snow! It's expected to snow on and off until 9:00 am, and then shoveling will commence. It's WONDERFUL - just seeing snow again. This late in the season it won't stay for long, so we can enjoy it for a few days and then return to thinking about the garden. It hasn't gotten chillingly cold, so the few plants who have popped above ground should still be nice and cozy in the dirt. My best estimate is that we got somewhere between 3-4 inches from the storm, or at least will have that by the time it leaves the area. 

It's finally snowing! After a winter of no snow, I'm 
looking out of my windows and seeing white. I'm 
thrilled. I'm not much of a fan of snow, at least not 
in the amounts we got last year, but some snow is 
necessary for us - we're in the north - we should have 
snow in our winters. This was a green winter, and 
it's almost over. It's a bit of a relief to see snow again. 

"Kung Fu Panda 4" was a total delight, as I knew it would be. Chickie and I weren't the only people in the theater, but we were the first people in and the last people out. We always stay for all of the credits before we leave after a film. We each played games or whatever on our phones until the actual film started - we have no interest in the junk that plays beforehand, unless it's a preview for another upcoming movie. It took no time at all to be pulled back into the wonderful animation of Po and his newest friend, a perky, lovely fox named Zhen. 

Zhen was a great character - smart, wiley, 
able to get in and out of trouble like a fox. 
Oh yeah - she's a fox - LOLOL. 

The one thing I really loved was that it was established, without hesitation, that Po's two "parents" - the panda and the goose, are both male. They both consider themselves to be Po's father, and they're not shy about telling others. I'm not sure Po would have survived this latest adventure without their help. The various and sundry assorted animals depicted were fabulous, as always, and the villain was SO GOOD! I can't wait for the next Minions movie this summer. We'll definitely be back in the audience for that one! 

"Despicable Me 4" is coming into theaters this summer. I can 
hardly wait. At least I won't have to think about snow, although 
rain is certainly a possibility. 

So today I'll do some cooking and some cleaning, I'll shovel the driveway when it's closer to the end of the storm, and I need to grocery shop as well. I'm totally looking forward to some serious kitchen time, and then I'll crack open the laptop and continue working on my crystals inventory sheets so that we can actually hold our Swarovski Crystal sell-down sale - better late and done well than early and a disaster - LOL. So, this is a short post today, but there really wasn't much to report except a delightful day. A total winner. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

 

Happy Leap Year Day - It's a Rare Day and a Freaky-Warm Winter

Good Leap Year Day to all of you, and Happy Birthday to my oldest nephew. I've always thought it must be an odd day to have a birthday because even though you're aging like the rest of us, in "actual" birthday celebrations, you're under ten - LOL. But today is a "bonus day" for the rest of us, a day to catch up, or have a fling, or do one thing that you would never have dreamed of the last time Leap Year came around. 

Happy Leap Day to my nephew, and the 
best of Birthday Wishes to him as well. 
This is my nephew who is fighting 
abdominal cancer, so I fear celebrations 
will be very low key. But he's still fighting 
the disease and that's one very positive thing. 

An online friend has stepped in and offered to pay some of the cost of the beadwork repair for my fixed income customer. I'll take you up on that (and message you directly), and I'll see what she can manage to do. It really isn't something I want to keep - I want it to be back in her home, not on my "pick-up" shelf in the back room. 

Although I am delighted with the lack of snow, I know 
it's hitting bars and resorts really hard. People who 
would normally go North to vacation doing ice fishing, 
snow shoeing, cross-country skiing and other winter 
sports are getting hit hard. I suspect there will be quite 
a few bars and/or other entertainment venues that will 
go out of business because of our lack of snow. 

I'm absolutely exhausted, and at a high weight (for me), so I'm not starting today out really great. I just feel a bit "blah" today, and I'm sure I've got a ton of computer work waiting for me when I get into the shop later this morning. *sigh* It's the story of my life. BUT, on the positive side, our "snowstorm" of Tuesday turned into less than 1/2" of snow in my part of the cities. I can totally deal with that. So far this is the "Winter That Never Came" and I'm happy to be living through it. 

This is "The Year that Winter Never Came". I know 
some people will have a really hard year ahead because 
they're not able to take advantage of our usual snowy 
conditions, but I am grateful. I'm quite happy to not be 
shoveling the driveway, and DH has only had to pull 
snow from the roof once this season (although he 
probably could have skipped it completely). We live in 
the "Frozen Northlands", but you'd never know it 
this year. 

So, as I sleep-drive to the gym to wake up in the pool, I'll wish all of you an extraordinary February 29th. Enjoy this rare opportunity to catch up on things. As usual - be kind, and stay safe. I'll be back with you tomorrow to celebrate my Dad's birthday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Cooking, Recipes and a Touch of Snow

It actually snowed late yesterday! After this "Green Winter", that was a bit of a shock. As I recall (I haven't looked outside yet), we're supposed to get approximately an inch, so it's not much of a snow. But still, it's actual white when I'm driving to the YMCA today, and the streets might well be icy, so caution driving will be a wise decision. 

I do love my "days off", even though I'm working just as 
hard on those days as I do at the shop. 

Of course, it's a "day off" of grocery shopping, errands (office supply shop, mainly) and cooking. I'm in the mood for a stew, so I pulled out a couple of possible recipes from my stack: Hungarian Goulash and Wrangler Stew. I'll read through those again before heading to the store, and decide which of the two I would rather make. I'd normally be making a chili, but I think a bit of a switch would be wonderful. I still have one portion of my "Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato" soup left, and it's been lovely. With the colder weather today, replenishing my soup/stew portions would be a great idea. 

Although I pulled two different stew recipes from my stack, 
it's this one I might try - Wrangler Stew. I'd drop out the 
potatoes, but I can easily deal with the rest of the ingredients, 
and I think it would be a lovely stew. 

I also pulled out the recipe for a Pomegranate Molasses Barbecue Sauce. I'm actually still in good shape on my Bar-B-Q sauce, but I wanted to take a closer look at this recipe and think about whether I'd like to give it a try. Not all recipes I try are successful, and my time for experimentation is quite limited, but this one is whispering to me. We'll see if I indulge or not. I have everything on hand except the pomegranate molasses (which I actually MIGHT have in my top cupboard). If I have the molasses on hand, I might just mix up a batch of this. 

I'm pretty sure I have a bottle of pomegranate molasses 
in my cupboard. I haven't used it for a couple of 
years, but I only needed a small bit in the recipe I 
required it for. I'll have to take a look through my 
cupboard before heading to the grocery store 
later today. 

The other thing I have to make is my baked fruit. I make that to have for breakfast every day, and I love it. I usually make it with pears or apples (or a combination of the two fruits). I add raisins or dried cranberries, chopped nuts, and seasonings and it's a lovely meal. I'm down to a single portion left in the refrigerator, and after my meal after swimming, I'll have none for tomorrow. Therefore, my baked fruit is a high priority item. I can toss together a pear bake within an hour of kitchen time, but I might want to change things up a bit ... just for the heck of it. 

I make a baked fruit to have for breakfast most 
mornings. It's not always the same fruit - it's what's 
available that looks good. I toss the cubed fruit in 
with nuts and dried cranberries, maple syrup and 
home-made pumpkin pie spice mix, put it into the 
oven, and let it do its' thing. It's a perfect meal 
first thing in the morning. 

So, life goes on. I've got bills to pay in front of my computer - I'll have to check the bank balances this afternoon and pay what I can. I shifted some personal funds into the joint account a week or two ago, and I'm unwilling to donate more of my funds unless I have no choice. I don't have that much at hand, so I need to be a bit careful. DH has increased his monthly donation for the bills, but there are some quarterly bills that we get that can punch a hole into our budgets, and two of those came through this month. *sigh* Death, taxes and utility bills - the guaranteed things in life - LOL. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

A Tale of Snow, Winter, Spring and Life Lessons

It actually snowed last night! Our ground looks white. The roads look fine, I think it melted on contact with the roadways, but there are probably a few icy patches so I'll be cautious when driving. I'm going to leave tire tracks on my driveway - DH "gave me permission" to leave "bunny tracks" in the driveway and he'll shovel them up later today. This is a quick storm - in and out and then back to our crazy winter once more. But it's really nice to awaken to the supreme silence that snow can bring. 

There's a silence to snow - it's like Mother Nature took 
her down comforter and pulled it over her head - pushing 
the world and all of its' sounds out and leaving the 
peace of total silence unmarred. 

Have you ever experienced that blanket that Mother Nature places over the world with snow? It dulls sounds, mutes them into the song of the stars so that you can hear and feel the rhythms of the cosmos much easier. It pulls color away and shows the world in shades of grey - brown-grey, black-grey, and all shades in between. The colors of Winter are unlike any colors for any other season. Every color in the neutral spectrum is contained within a 24-hour after a deep snow. 

There's something very restful about the neutral 
colors of Winter after the color riots of the 
other three seasons. It allows the palette to 
delve deeper into thought, and the body to reset 
for the challenges that lie ahead. We haven't had 
much of a winter up here in the Frozen Northlands 
this year, so having these few inches of snow 
is a relief. (We should normally have had 35-40 inches 
of snow so far this year, and we've had NONE 
until yesterday). 

This, isn't a "deep snow", this is only a few inches, and it's not sticking to the roadways at all, just the lawns and driveways of the houses fronting the roads. This is a baby snow - but it's a welcome one. It's on the far side of Winter, and will soon be gone, but it served to remind us that this year has been an anomaly - that rare thing in the Frozen Northlands. We've had an almost snow-free winter, and that's as rare as hen's teeth - in other words, it really doesn't happen. 

Winters up here without snow are as rare as hen's 
teeth, and this year was turning into one of the driest 
winters of our history. I'm grateful to see a few inches 
of snow on the ground. We desperately need the moisture. 
But, if we dive into a deep freeze, we'll lose trees and 
other plants that have sprouted early, and some of the 
animals are also ahead of schedule with their young. 

Our plants will be happy for the moisture that a snow brings, but our trees and plants will be confused. We've had a rare Green Winter, and many of them have already formed buds. If we get a truly deep freeze, it will be very hard on the trees. But I think we'll be all right. We're actually heading into the time of year when we usually see the most snow. But this crazy winter ... well, who can tell? We'll just take it as we take life - one day at a time. I'm off to the pool, have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Progress - We're Progressing - Winter Is Still on Vacation and the Sale is Fun

Yesterday's "50% Off Clearance Sale" was all about the beads. My first five people came in solely to shop whatever beads were on sale. And even though one of them switched from sale beads to other beads, it was a bead morning. In the afternoon we were a bit more varied, but the sale definitely is bringing people in for that bargain, and they're loving it. 

50% is a HUGE discount, and my customers are 
absolutely delighted with their choices and the 
total of their sale. It's a total win/win. We're not 
doing something like this often (in fact, this is the 
first time we've offered savings this big), but our 
customers are loving it. 

We're loving it too. It's fun to visit with customers, help them find what they never actually knew they needed and achieve those "I Must Have This" moments when they see the perfect thing. Happy customers, happy sales people = the perfect combination. The method I had developed for pulling and selling the beads is working quite well too. We'll see how Chickie does today. Hopefully I won't be getting any calls from the shop asking me to come in. That's always hard on days when I have things in the oven. 

Usually I have a pretty good idea of what I want to cook 
on my Wednesdays, but today, I haven't a clue. I know 
I need to make some dinners, but what? I'll have to figure 
things out pretty quickly before I head off to the store after 
finishing my swim at the YMCA. 

I'll get some shopping done, buy gas for the car (although that can wait until Friday if necessary), and grumble at how DH has been taking over my little section of the freezer. I took at look at it last night when I was checking something and I'm NOT happy with how his three sections are overflowing into my little single section. I need my own space too! GRRRR 

We shouldn't be seeing bare ground in 
January, but my front yard (which this is 
NOT) has NO snow at all. My roof - usually 
a hell spot - also has NO snow. DH hasn't 
had to pull snow from the roof AT ALL this 
winter so far! It's not going to help our 
drought conditions, but I'm loving this 
winter so far. 

We're ending the month of January with bare ground and above-freezing temperatures. So bizarre (and so welcome - at least by me - LOL). It's an absolutely CRAZY winter up here in the Frozen Northlands. We're barely living up to our nickname this year. I suspect we'll be losing a lot of wild trees, etc because of lack of moisture. That's going to be a problem. But it's not like winter is a spigot that we can turn on and off at will. Mother Nature has her own agenda and She really doesn't care about anything outside of that. So, I'm off to the swimming pool. I hope you have a wonder-filled Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. How's YOUR weather. Is it all topsy-turvy for you too? Please share. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's Time For a Few Days Off - A Christmas Wrap-Up and Thank You

Today will be my last post until Wednesday the 27th. I'm working today, then taking Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off for my Christmas holiday and DH's birthday. I plan on doing very little - cooking my 5+ pound roast "beast", cooking a set of spareribs, and enjoying the fact that I can easily allow myself to sleep until 4:00, maybe even 5:00 am without problems. It's a luxury, and one I don't want to fall into for long because that kind of luxury leads to too many pounds put on and too much hard work to get them back off. 

It's time for a winter holiday, and we, here in Minnesota, in 
the far North of the US, have NO SNOW! At least, not in 
the metro area. It's a good thing the ski areas make artificial 
snow or they wouldn't have any customers. 

DH has his eggnog and at least three different types of Christmas cookies, he has chocolates and gummies, he has his computer games to yell at, and football to watch. We'll probably also have some ice hockey to watch as well. All in all, I'm rather looking forward to our three days off, and I hope he won't mention work for most of them. Then, on Wednesday, we start our End of the Year Four-Day Sale where everything in the store is on sale. Those days can be hectic, and there are no more days off until Sunday the 31st when we will go to our youngest niece's home for a family celebration for a few hours. 

I'm giving you this in Extra Large sizing because it can 
be a tough one to really see properly without that 
larger viewpoint. Last year's Christmas time we were 
deluged with snow and ended up with one of the top-ten 
snowiest seasons on record. This year we seem to be 
at the other side of the pendulum, with NO snow 
on the ground at my house, at least. NONE! 

All in all, I'm almost exhausted reading all of that, but it's a Green Christmas - very rare in Minnesota. The National Weather Service released the graphic above - detailing our snowy history for the past 70 years. We've had a Green Christmas approximately 20% of those years (defined as one inch or less of snow on the ground). Rarer still are years with NO snow on the ground - only three of the past 70 years. Right now, my front and back yards are bare - totally bare! What an immense change from the never-ending snows of 2022. 

The majority of my friends live elsewhere, and many 
of them I've never met, although we've been friends 
for years. I treasure each and every one of you, and 
wish you a safe, happy and wonderful Holiday season. 

The holiday cards continue coming in and my mantle is looking quite festive. Thanks go out to my friend Lokbiiviing from Finland. I got your card yesterday, and it's delightful. Thank you SO much for your thoughtfulness. Every time I glance over at my festive fireplace mantle, I'm thrilled and I feel so very fortunate in my friends both near and far. I'm an only child, and live a fairly solitary life with DH, so having friends is VERY important to me. You've shared your seasonal joy with me, and that, in turn, causes my joy factor to increase exponentially. 

Merry Christmas to one and all. I hope you have 
a wonderful time with friends and family, and 
please, if you color in my card, send me a photo 
attached to an email or a message on one either 
Live Journal or Dreamwidth. I LOVE seeing the 
way everyone is coloring in my gnomes - they're 
all different, and they're all wonderful. 

So, have a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate that holiday (I celebrate everything I can - why not? LOL). Enjoy your friends, family and surroundings, be grateful for your online friends as well because many times they are a lifeline, and try to make life a bit easier for at least one person this holiday season. I'll be back on Wednesday the 27th. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's Not a White Christmas - It's A Colorful One With Cards and Gifts

So, it's official - we're having a "green" Christmas this year up here in the Frozen Northlands. On the one hand, I'm very happy. Although it's cold, it's not bone-chilling cold (yet!), and it's actually really nice to head to the gym in the mornings without having to shovel the driveway. Of course, I know that won't last forever, but damn. It's really nice. 

Isn't this a sweet card? I saw it on-line and thought 
it depicted a "green Christmas" pretty well. All of 
those multicolored trees of different shapes. So very 
much like our area (without the mountains, of 
course). 

The lack of snowpack up here in the north, however, will mean lack of water for farmers and for those living south of us, which isn't a good thing. And that brings to mind the reality - one small thing happening to a single person can affect a wide circle of other people. Our warm December might bring wilted crops to those planting farther south which could cause hardship for others while I'm reveling in the fact that we might reach 50 F over the weekend. Crazy temps for a December when Christmas Day is Monday. 

We're having a "green Christmas" - no snow, and no 
snowpack. This might be a problem later on when 
our waterways have low levels, but right now I'll 
enjoy it as a really nice change from last year's 
early and horrible snows. 

I got two more cards in yesterday's mail, and thanks go out to "Sam" and my longtime overseas friend Curious Wombat. The cards are absolutely lovely and are joining a nice line of cards along my fireplace mantle. It's such a treat to get cards from my on-line friends. It seems that every day is bringing me another small bit of happiness in the day's mail. 

I don't get holiday cards from my family any more. 
Their kids are growing up and very active in a 
million things, and it's relatively expensive to send 
cards too. I rather miss those, however. It was nice 
to get them - photo cards or not. Still, it's not as if 
I don't see them over the year - we do get together 
several times and will be getting together again on 
New Year's Eve for an afternoon get-together. 

So, although I may not have a "White Christmas" (and really, I'm not minding that at all), I'm still determined to have a good holiday. I work today and Saturday, then I'm off for three days before diving into our four-day "End of the Year Sale" days. The beast is slowly defrosting in the refrigerator (it'll probably have to sit out on the counter too - it's a big hunk of meat), and I have one final day of grocery shopping tomorrow before the holiday. I'm quite sure the grocery store will be busier than usual. May your day be bright, may everything you plan come to fruition, and I'll be back tomorrow. Have an excellent Thursday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

We Got Snow and A Bit of Envy

I have no idea how much snow we got last night, but we're under a Blizzard Warning today. That really won't hit the Cities, but the rest of the state, away from the major residential areas, may be impacted quite seriously. If it gets really bad, they'll close the interstate highways until the winds die back down again. 

We haven't had a Blizzard Warning for the past three 
years here in the Twin Cities. But we're right on the 
border of Winter Storm Warning and Blizzard 
Warning, so I'm pretty sure we're getting a little bit 
of both. That's us - right there in the middle of the map. 

I know we were expected to receive somewhere between 5"-8" of snow overnight, the wet, heavy Spring snow that we get at this time of the year. We were located on the fringes, however, and I'm really hoping we're on the lighter end. Looking out of my front windows this morning really wasn't telling me much. The walkway is protected by my huge snowbanks on the East and the wall of the house on the West and North. I won't see the driveway until I'm ready to go to the shop, and I might have to wake DH to come out and snowblow if it's too much or too heavy for me to handle on my own. 

If it's too much snow for me to handle on my own, or if 
it's really heavy, I'll wake up DH and ask him to go out 
and snow blow so that I can get Minion out of the 
garage and onto the roadway to get to the shop. 

I had a lovely day off yesterday, spending most of the day in the kitchen cooking a batch of Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup and another batch of Ogre Juice. I realized this morning that I started Year Three of WildFit a couple of weeks ago. I don't even think about it any more - it's become second nature and I'm delighted with the food choices I make and the body I've settled into. 

I've been on a lot of "diet" plans over my life, but WildFit 
seems to suit my lifestyle perfectly. I haven't really minded 
the changes I've made to the food choices I make, and 
I've really enjoyed getting back into the kitchen and cooking 
again. 

DH's Urologist phoned late yesterday to let him know that his MRI was excellent - no cancer or pre-cancer showing at all. That's a relief. The Doc seemed like a really nice person, and DH really likes him, but he's retiring this year (lucky guy!) and recommended a specific PA in his group for DH's future appointments. DH, on the other hand, is extremely disappointed that Dr Moore won't be available any more. It's almost like he's taking the Doc's retirement as a personal affront. Bah! I'm just jealous. It's a lot easier to retire when you're employed by someone else than when you're self-employed. 

Considering all we have to do to retire, when Doc can just 
put down his stethoscope, sign a few forms, and leave for 
the last time, I guess I'm a little envious too. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up, finish drinking my morning tea, and take a look at how cruel Mother Nature was overnight. I guess I'll be getting some snow-clearing exercise in, no matter what, since my walls at the store have already melted down into nothing. That means shoveling out there will be a total PITA. Have an excellent Saturday and wonderful weekend, I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.