SNOW!!

We're in the middle of a huge snow dump.  I think we're solidly over a foot already, and it'll keep coming for a few more hours.  I believe the forecast says it'll knock off this afternoon, Daniel and I will get out and clear it then.  He's got no school tomorrow or Tuesday, so as long as I can get out, we're good.  We have a freezer full of food, an extra gallon of milk, lots of toilet paper, and we have a puzzle

It's been quite a week.  Ugh.  On Tuesday morning, as I drove in to work, I noticed a State Trooper vehicle parked on the lawn in front of one of the houses on property.  Odd, but not concerning, I thought.  As it turns out, I was wrong.  Our dear friend Angela, who's been at the Harbor for years, seasonally, had died, I believe in her sleep.  We are a small crew through the winter and her death hit many of us very, very hard.  She had just celebrated her 45th birthday, the day before my 55th, and that timing shook me.  If someone exactly 10 years younger than me could die, then I am just on borrowed time, right?  Sleeping has been a little tricky, because honestly, I'm afraid I won't wake up.  I imagine it will pass, but Z-Quil is my friend right now.  The pain of those at work who knew Angela must better than I is hard to bear.  We had a grief counselor come in Wednesday, it was helpful, and agonizing, but it helped.

Mom, 85 and going strong(ish) has a date for her hip replacement surgery.  March 7.  I'm going to see about taking some of the week after off work to go help out with driving and such.  I'll float the idea here - at work it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway.  January continues its status as the suckiest month.  11 days to go.

Once we come back in from shoveling, I'll get the second corner sewn onto Laura's quilt - I'll finish the top this week, I think.  I've got as many HSTs as I need, and maybe enough solid edge pieces - they're easy enough to cut if I don't.  

JANUARY Discretionary spending ✔ Still good

Week 1 - Not eating after 8 pm ✔ Still doing it!

Week 2 - Extra 12 oz water daily ✔ It was not so easy, but I did it!

and this week, 10 extra minutes of exercise every day.  Today, that'll be shoveling. ;)

Nothing on the calendar this week, except Daniel's haircut Tuesday.

What's for Dinner?

20 Garlic Chicken
21 Grilled Cheese
22 Omelets & homefries
23 Spaghetti
24 pork chops
25 Pizza (Robbie Burns Day! we should have Haggis!)
26 Fajitas
27 Pot Roast
28 Deli Sandwiches
29 Stromboli
30 Laze-agna
31 Fried Rice & Eggrolls

Snow Day Sew Day!

Well, a couple of hours anyway.  School was cancelled today in advance of a storm that kinda/sorta busted.  We did get about 8 inches of snow, but most of it came after the busses would have been off the road anyway.  But no school means no after school, and no after school means no after school meal, soooo... I got a few free hours.  And I sewed!  No pics, maybe tomorrow - I worked on Braiden's quilt so a Christmas update would not be out of the question

And I knitted!  I'm on teeny hat #2 for the American Heart Association Big Hearts Little Hats (?) program, making tiny red hats for ICU babies.  Fast and fun and gosh, it's not like I don't have yarn (a lot!) lying around that  could be used for a better purpose than dust collection.

I didn't make that tiniest one, my friend Erin did, but it'll get sent off with mine when I have this next one day.  There are tiny babies with cold heads!

Oh look, here comes another one

Sheesh! We get it already - winter, Vermont, snow... the charming's wearing off.

A couple of teenage boys came to the door at 11:30 last night and asked if they could leave their dead car at the end of my driveway. They'd called a friend to come get them, they said, rather than risk the wrath of waking mom in the wee hours. "Sure," I told them, asking them to at least push it out of the way so the neighbours could get out for church (or skiing) in the morning. "Moms don't like being woke up in the middle of the night." heh, darn right we don't. They think it's the starter motor, and assure me they'll be back for it this morning; I wonder if I can get past it to get some doughnuts provisions and a paper before the snow starts up again.

Anyway, back to the business at hand.

This week

Needlework
continue work on Tori's sweater
start border blocks for string quilt

Other
Mail Christmas packages to Canada
Tuesday - Daniel school concert

What'd I do this week? Uh, none of that. Well, almost none - Daniel's concert was a rousing success. Otherwise, I shoveled, I plowed, I suffered and recovered from a head cold. I gave away my job. I amazed myself by NOT actually becoming chocolate after the multitude of sweets that made their way through the school this week. Holy moley, how do school staff not all become Jabba the Hutt at this time of year?!

This week

Dinner Menu
Sunday - Chicken Cordon Bleu
Monday - Tomato Soup and grilled cheese
Tuesday - meatloaf
Wednesday - lasagna
Thursday - turkey (maybe? ham?)
Friday - leftovers
Saturday - chicken pot pie
Sunday - pork loin

Needlework
continue work on Tori's sweater
start border blocks for string quilt

Other
Mail Christmas packages to Canada
Christmas!

Still snowing

Measuring at a spot I know was snow free yesterday, we've got just a hair under 14". Most of the yard already had 8" or so on them, so I guess we're officially snow covered. New England at Christmas... is there any other way?










I'll get out and plow shortly, but it looks so pretty out right now, I want to just enjoy it from in here. That, and my jeans are in the dryer. The temps rose overnight - it's a balmy 7 right now. Another reason to stay in, the way I see it.

Breaking weather news...

Hey, it's snowing. Again.

Phone Tree

I just got the call, tomorrow's a snow day! Don't set the alarm, pull down the blinds, turn off the phone; no school = no kids, no kids = no lunch, no lunch = no lunch ladies. Woohoo!

weather.com tells us we're in for a foot or so of snow. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Oh the weather outside is frightful... The northwind may blow, and we shall have snow...

7:30 pm

Still coming down, fast, but not so furious. 16 1/2" mean we've got 10 inches since this time yesterday. Since the Winter Storm Warning is in effect for another 12 hours, who knows? Snow day tomorrow? The kids are sure hoping so. I could go either way. A delay would be a nice compromise. Couple extra hours to lie around in bed? Works for me.

5:00 pm

Yeah, it's snowing again. It started about 4:30 and it started with a vengeance. We're at about 13 1/2" now which means (fingers...toes...fingers...) 7 inches. We've had an inch and a half in about 45 minutes. They are still saying 15" or more - it seems like it's going to have to snow all night, I think. The warning is in effect until 7 am tomorrow.

We had a tiny bit of sleet around 11, just as the snow stopped, but it didn't really amount to anything. With the sun down, it's getting colder, so I think ice is less likely. But what do I know?

I have a counter full of sugar cookies, a chicken and baked potatoes in the oven, a pan of rolls waiting their turn. I'm dipping into my dwindling stash of Swiss Chalet sauce mix, too. What the heck, it's Christmas. :o)

Noon

We're in a lull right now, it looks like the storm is going a bit north of us for a while, but there's a big pile of it still coming.

I've been out and plowed again, and one of the chains has come off a wheel. Poop, I'll have to get that taken care of once I warm up. Some cocoa and another scone (chocolate chip with dried sour cherries) are working pretty well.

More later, I'm gonna go get those chains back on, then make some soup.

9:30

We're closing in on 12", so 5 1/2" accumulation so far, and it's coming down harder than it was earlier. We've still got, according to the forecast, at least another 12-18 hours of this. Great.

Anyone missing some weather? I think we've got it up here in the northeast. Check out this map, the rest of the country looks kind of left out, huh?


I got the driveway plowed, came in to change my pants (soaked through!) and went out to get a paper. There are scones in the oven the the kettle's on. Frank Sinatra on the stereo (gotta love those 40s swing takes on standard Christmas carols). XM 104 (862 on DirecTv) if anyone wants to sing along.

7:30 am

Yardstick says 9" so we got about 2 1/2" overnight. It wasn't snowing when I went to sleep around 11:30, but it's coming down steadily now. No wind, just straight falling light snow. I think I'll go plow now, and then go get my paper.

Tanya, when we have no electricity, we have no heat. Many houses here have wood stoves (or pellet stoves, corn stoves etc) or fireplaces but we have neither. Our house is pretty well insulated though, so maintains heat pretty efficiently. We don't have forced air anyway, our heat source is a boiler fed baseboard system - it's quiet, dustless, and works pretty well. Except when the power goes out. That boiler is also the source of our hot water.

More later. (sorry) ;o)

In Vermont, in winter, we talk about the weather

A lot.
We are expecting another storm tomorrow, the prognosticators are saying 12-18 inches of snow, with strong winds, and temps in the twenties. Not much we can do but be prepared.

Yesterday I mixed up batches of 4 different kinds of cookies, stuck them in sealed bowls and stashed them in the big fridge (the garage) since there's no room in the regular fridge. I have enough milk, bread, pasta, fruit, veggies and water to last until Valentine's Day, I think. Too bad I couldn't pre-buy tomorrow's newspaper, I'd be all set.Tomorrow we'll watch movies and bake cookies and decorate and eat until we roll. Unless the power goes out, in which case we won't bake or watch movies.

I stuck a yardstick out the back door. This is the "before" shot - it's 6 1/2 inches deep out there. Let's see what tomorrow brings.