New Year's Eve

It's new year's eve, and here I am at my blog. N and J are watching something on TV with Mr. K, and K has been put to bed. We had sugar cookies and Pringles with grape pop and sparkling (and hard) cider. We got the hard cider for Christmas. Mr. K and I decided it was quite drinkable if it was well-mixed with the sparkling cider. We were supposed to have creme soda, but Walmart didn't have any when Mr. K took K there this evening.

I thought my vacuum cleaner was broken, but it worked fine when I took it in and tried to demonstrate the problem. I hope it stays fine.

I'm thinking of folding clothes and changing my sheets and then going to bed.

Happy New Year!

More political influence?

I just got more political influence (although twice zero is still zero). I nag my senators and representatives rather often now, but I really wanted to nag the senators in Michigan. They wouldn't be interested in anything I say since I live in Virginia.

I found out a way. My dad is politically very similar in thought to me, but he'd never get on the phone and call a politician's office, e-mail them, or write them a letter.

I wrote a couple letters to them for his signature and e-mailed them to him, telling him to change anything he didn't like. He enlarged the font. Then he signed them and put them in the mail. Now I can nag twice as many senators on issues on which my father agrees with me and is willing to spring for the cost of stamps, paper, and envelopes.

Black Coffee

I am so cold all the time that I'd like to drink coffee all day long. In order to do that, I'll need to have it decaffeinated and black. Personally, I enjoy it sweet and well whitened with cream or half-and-half. I have tried tea, but I just don't like it as much as coffee. It may come down to my preferring tea, though, to black coffee.

I tried to develop a taste for beer years ago, and I failed terribly. It is nasty. I doubt I'll succeed in drinking black coffee, but it can't be as bad as beer (or can it?).

Maybe I'll settle on coffee with skim milk and fake sweetener, which still doesn't tastes very good.

Shopping and the Recession

I did a very small bit of shopping today. I took the girls to Ben Franklin crafts and let them get some art supplies. I was stunned by how busy the roads and parking lots were.

I also went to Staples (office supplies), and there were perhaps four customers there, which is busy for Staples.

Finally I went to Walgreens (a drug store), and the place was a madhouse. The parking lot was packed and cars were pulling in and out of spaces.

Anyway, you can't tell from the stores, parking lots, and roads, that we have been having a recession. I have noticed longer lines at some stores earlier this season, due, I think, to having fewer employees working at the stores.

Of course, one can't tell from all the cars and people out and about how much they are spending and how low retailers have made their profits just to bring people in.

Cold

Our overnight lows have been quite chilly (low 20s). I think it will help the snow hang around through Christmas morning. It will warm up some on Christmas and rain. The entire weekend is supposed to be above freezing. That, combined with Friday's rain, I think will remove most of the snow.

I had J and K out for a while. We took a trip of to our neighbor (Mr. T) who lives in the shed. We didn't expect him in, and we were correct. He had called me from his friend's house the day before it snowed, and said he was going to spend the storm there. We think he's probably staying through Christmas.

We have been invited to a Christmas Eve open house. It will be the second party of the season to which I've been invited. I guess you could call it my fourth if you want to count K's preschool party and J's Girl Scout party.

I missed the gym today and yesterday because I am sore from shoveling. I'm hoping to go tomorrow.

Shoveling Out

J and I spent quite a while finishing up the shoveling of our driveway. Yesterday Mr. K shoveled the entrance and exit where a ridge of snow had been tossed by the snowplow. He also shoveled a little more than enough snow to pull a car into our driveway.

Today J and I dug out my car and shoveled the rest of the driveway so that we can get out both my car and Mr. K's business truck. He tried to start the spare truck yesterday, but it (I guess the battery) was dead. He ran my car today for a while to get all the snow melted off of it. Now I assume I can go anywhere if I need to.

Shoveling went much better after I sprayed the shovel with cooking oil spray so that the wet, sticky snow quit sticking to the shovel.

I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow. In the afternoon, I have to take N and J to the orthodontist's office. All three of them are home for this week and next week. We'll drive each other crazy.

Now that the global warming data is coming into question and also it would appear we are cooling or holding steady, I have a suggestion for the global warming crowd. They've already tried changing the term to "climate change" from "global warming." How about trying "climate instablity." Then any kind of bizarre weather (such as a huge snowstorm in Richmond before winter even begins) can be blamed on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, and any other extremely severe or out-of-place weather can be blamed on carbon-guzzling countries. No computer modeling will be needed so that no one will have grounds to question the religion of climate instability. The one world global governing crowd will have much higher chances at succeeding in its goals, and the wealth of the riches countries can be transferred directly into the pockets of the dictators of the poorest countries.

That's the new buzz word--climate instability. I'm sure cynical.

Chocolate Chip Blondies on a Wood-Burning Stove

Mr. K built me a fire in our wood-burning stove this evening so I could finally be warm. I recently read in one of my weird magazines about using a Coleman oven (made to be used with a Coleman stove) on top of a wood-burning stove. It warned that it doesn't heat up as high as a regular oven using it this way, so things take longer to cook.

I happen to own one. It had been my mom's. She gave it to me years ago, before I even had a Coleman stove of my own. We used it camping a few times when I was a kid.

I did succeed in making brownies, but they probably could have stood to have been cooked a bit longer. I got tired of waiting. Next time I try it, I'll use a recipe that makes thinner ones. I don't think a cake would come out so well because of the lower and variable temperature.

Anyway, it was interesting to me so I thought I'd post about it.

Morning snow update

It looks like over a foot of snow outside. I want a shower, but the kids have gone out to play in it. Because K is so little, I don't want to be in the shower if they need me, so here I sit at the computer, where I can keep an eye on her. Mr. K is still sleeping. As soon as he gets up, I'll get a shower.

I think I'll make a loaf of bread in my bread machine once I've had my shower. It should make the house smell cozy, plus I got some almond butter at the store a couple nights ago. Coupled with my homemade peach jam, I think I'll have quite a treat.

Right now it is sleeting. It is supposed to switch back to snow as the day progresses, and we should get significant accumulation on top of what we have. I'm not sure what the totals will be, but it will be impressive, especially considering it is fall and winter doesn't start until Monday.

Snow Update

It's falling! It started as we left for J's birthday dinner. Enough is accumulating on our deck that N is out making snowballs. It wasn't accumulating on the roads, yet, when we arrived back home from dinner about 20 minutes ago. Also, our Cub Scout pack meeting for tonight has been canceled.

This is pretty early in the season for us to get snow around here.

Busy

It's J's birthday. I tried to get her a turkey sandwich from the supermarket where I picked up her cake this morning, but the store was packed and they were sold out of turkey sub sandwiches. I did a Burger King run instead and brought her Burger King for lunch at school. Thankfully, she was happy with that. I was worried she'd melt down when I didn't turn up with the turkey sandwich she had requested. Maybe age eight is more reasonable than age seven.

The supermarkets are packed because we have potentially lots of snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Everyone is out stocking up on everything.

I spent sometime in our mudhole back yard this afternoon, trying to gather up any dry twigs I could find. I broke them off of dead limbs on trees to try to get the ones that are as dry as possible. It's rained so much lately that I'm not sure anything is exactly dry. Our yard is a marshy mud pit. I had to feed the animals myself (with K and J's help) in the dark last night, and I couldn't believe all the mud my feet were sinking into. (Mr. K got home very late.)

Anyway, our power loves to go out with any kind of a storm. Our heat pump runs on electricity, so I figured I'd try to get some of the tinder and kindling needed to start a fire in our wood-burning stove before it gets covered in a blanket of snow. Our woodshed has sufficient large pieces of wood to keep us warm until power can be restored, but we don't have any bags of pine cones stocked in there this year. It's just been too wet to get some together.

None

I noticed that my Bull's Blood beets, the ones with the red leaves, are doing fine even though we've had a hard frost. I no longer see any leaves for the few regular beets I planted. I guess they froze and died. I'll find out for sure in the spring when I see if any green leaves come up.

Our back yard is so wet and muddy that I almost never go there. We had so much rain, and it just isn't drying up. I did put on rubber boots again today, though, to look at my beets.

I am hoping to get my Johnnyseeds catalog soon. I want to get my seed order ready for this spring. A lot of the new, interesting seeds sell out early. I've saved a few heirloom seeds from my garden to plant again next year. For instance, I won't be needing to buy any pole beans. I've got some rattlesnake bean seeds and some white mountain half-runner seeds saved.

J had a Brownie awards ceremony last night. She got some patches, including one that she earned all by herself by working on things at home (eco explorer). I think she'll probably try another one over the holidays. She's going on a snow-tubing trip this Sunday with her troop. They'll go to a ski resort in the mountains because that's where the snow is.

J's birthday is Friday. She'll be eight. Her presents are wrapped in birthday wrap and put under the Christmas tree with the Christmas presents. I just ordered her cake from the local supermarket bakery.

More life

I got my hair cut two days ago when K was at preschool. I had six inches removed from the back and four inches from the sides. Now it's shoulder-lengthed. I told the stylist that probably no one in my family would notice I had a haircut, but if anyone did, it would be my daughter (J).

At dinner I announced I had a haircut. No one had noticed. I guess we all just assume we look the same every day and don't look closely. I know I miss a lot of dirty faces until I glance at the kids out in public.

I'm trying to sort out my cupboards in my kitchen. I'm trying to get all the chicken broth together in one place, all the canned beans, all the canned tomatoes, all the cake mixes, all the pasta, etc. I had areas these things belong, but if I got home from the grocery store and there was no room, I just shoved the product anywhere it fit. I'm sure it will all get messed up again, but it's much better as I fix it.

I need to go to Mr. K's office later this afternoon to pick up the corporate monthly report stuff. His office manager won't be in on Monday, which is when I need to take it to the post office. Unfortunately (or not), she won't have it ready until it's almost time for the bus to arrive, so I will be leaving K with Mr. K while he waits for the school bus to bring N and J home for the weekend.

We're going to get our Christmas tree tonight. I don't know how far we will get with the decorations this evening, but it will be very nice if I can wrap some presents and get them out of my closet this weekend.

Christmas Vacation

I guess Christmas vacation begins for me today. I took my exam this morning, and got 32 of 33 problems correct, so it went very well. I won't have any class stuff until after the first of next year.

Kate has five more days of preschool left before her school is out, and I hope to get a few things cleaned around here. Already I'm coming up with a lot of things that I need to do, though. On her last day of preschool, I need to attend, too, to see her Christmas program.

I had lunch with my friend Debbie after my exam. We went to a Vietnamese place instead of our usual Mexican place. It was very good. I had what she had--some kind of pork/noodle salad with fried spring rolls. I'm hoping to meet up with her for lunch again next Wednesday.

I got a little more Christmas shopping done. Last night Mr. K and I unloaded our closets and checked out all the stuff we'd purchased. K had almost nothing. She'll still need a few more things, but the good thing about very young children is that they don't notice if you don't spend as much on them as long as they get enough things to distract them.

Just Life

My final exam in my math class is tomorrow. It was supposed to be last Thursday, but K spent most of last week home sick from preschool so I couldn't take it then. I really need to take it tomorrow. I am running out of time to get it done, and the testing center is filling fast.

Originally, I was going to meet my friend Debbie for lunch at 11:30 tomorrow. Now it will be much later. I'm going to call her when I get home from the exam and then we'll go to lunch. Last time I met with her, I had K with me, and K got a stomach ache so we had to leave just after lunch arrived at our table.

I think I'll have five days of K in preschool but not tests, quizzes, homework, or studying to do. I really, really need to work on some basic cleaning around my house. I need to start in the kitchen because I think Mr. K is having the Cub Scout pack committee chairman over to teach her how to make Slovenian nut bread. At a campout, we discovered she's also of Slovenian ancestry, and her grandma died before she got the family nut bread recipe. Mr. K has corresponded with his grandma until he now makes his own nut bread.

We've had so much rain in the past month that my back yard is pretty much a mud pit. I don't go out there without rubber boots.

Speaking of rubbers, I saw a used one in the parking spot next to mine when I went to N and J's school to drop off some paperwork this morning. It looked fresh. I told them about it in the office. I am hoping someone will get a biohazard bag and some latex gloves and dump it.

I'm about 85 % done with my Christmas shopping. I think I'm completely done with what I need for Mr. K.