Snow Night and Day and Afternoon?

Well, I think we are going to get between 8-12 inches of snow in my Northern town tonight and all day tomorrow. Should be a school cancelling event. Not that I want it this week, it's Regents week, our kids are in the middle of English Regents ( a 2 day event, it gets thrown out if there's a snow day, can't retake till June). Tonight, we'll head to the village library, because if we are home tomorrow and can't go anywhere, you better have a fresh stack of new books for yourself and kiddos. Our tradition on snow days is egg salad, stop drop and read, and an afternoon movie date complete with popcorn. Sometimes we scrap book too, and I know I have laundry I could do ( I do laundry 5 times a week). The last snow day we had, we made snowflakes in honor of Snowflake Bently's work and story, painted them with shiny white paint and strung them on yarn for a winter banner. There's no telling what fun we could get into tomorrow. So, here's to snow.

Self Sufficient

I was thinking today all the things my husband and I do that I am sure other pay people to do. We installed the new furnace ( ok, he installed it). We go pick up load of the corn for it instead of having pellets delievered. We fixed the dishwasher this morning armed with a useless users guide ( it said if there was a clog to call a plumber). We took it apart and snaked it out, ran some main line cleaner in it and voila! Fixed. We do all our snow removal and roof raking (I just came in from cleaning snow off all the roofs. This old victorian has lots of porches that are lovely in the summer, but in the winter, hold lots of snow on them). We fixed the fridge last year. I googled the make and found out it had a desgin flaw, too many sealed drawere, no air flow, the bottom half froze things. Pulled out on drawer, put in a suction cupped temp guide to moitor, and again, voila! Fixed for the cost of the temp guage.
A couple of weeks ago I was chaperoning a basketball game at school. Some guy had a dead battery and had asked countless people if they had jumper cables. Nobody had them.......except me. I went out in the cold, got the cables, pulled up next to the guy and as his kid help up his cell phone for light, we jumped his car. Came back in and everyone was astonished that I could help. Hello.....isn't anyone self sufficient anymore? I asked what everyone did for dead batterys.....they all said they had AAA. Well, so do I for roadside rescue, but for batterys and tires, I can fix those. My VP said " oh that's right, you grew up on a farm." I would have expected the guys to have jumper cables. I mean, we live in the north country. It's pretty country out here.
I am glad I am self sufficient and that I have some basic skills. The guy whom I helped jump his car, his son goes to my school. I think he thought I was some kind of super hero for being armed and knowing how to use them. I am going to pass my skills on to my daughters. Miranda already likes to help in the kitchen and they love to help Brian on projects. I want them familiar with power tools, car maintenance, and just be able to help themselves.

Groovin'

Having fun in 2009 means keeping current on my tunes and being able to groove to my MP3 player. Charged her up tonight, grabbed the dog, and despite the fact that the mercury said 10 degrees, headed out into the northern NY night. The moon was a half cresent, many homes still a glow with their christmas lights, the air brisk. Daisy was excited to be out in the snow, plowing through with her nose and whiskers. I was excited to finally have time to myself, to smell the air, walk in the crispness, and listen to my music. No matter what the day delievered, an evening outing such as this puts me in a good mood.
When I got home, I decided my tunes were stale, so I headed out to my friend JP's site to see ( hear) what was new, followed a link to some DJ's site, and had to have what he was offering! OH baby, it was love. LOVE. Why is it gay men have the best taste in music? Please don't think I am stereotyping, it just so happens that the men I know that are gay listen to really great tunes, and the straight men I know are stuck in 80's rock, or country. I got a mix of the new Beyonce song that I love. Made me very happy. I really need to go to bed, as I head back to work tomorrow, but I can't stop listening to this mix. " If you liked it you should have put a ring on it, oh oh oh........"

2009 Should be Fine

Thank god it's a new year. I am so done with the last one. 2008 had it's ups and downs, but overall was not our best. Between Celiac Disease diag, the price of gas driving up the cost of everything,and aging parents, 2008 was kind of stressful. 2009, I am sure wil have it's fair share of stress, as my parents have decided to move from their current home into a smaller place near hear so we can help them out ( driving, cleaning, etc....). It's the right things to do, don't get me wrong, but it will entail painting and cleaning up their current home to sell, and then the actual finding of a new place and moving. So there's that in 2009, 2009 will also bring 20 year school reunions for both Brian and myself, a wedding ( Traci and Mark), and a community musical that Miranda and I are going to try out for.
I'll take the good with the bad, and have decided to schedule in some fun for 2009 to help even things out. My resolution this year is simply to have more fun! No specifics, no rules, just play more, laugh more, get into more trouble. To start things off, we are going bowling today. We wanted to play in the snow, but it's far too cold today to take the girls out to tube or sled ( currently -5 here, not including wind chill). Tomorow the girls and I are taking a ride to Syracuse to get Anna's birthday present, that should be fun, and I am going to plan a ski night at Woods Valley for Brian and I this month ( I love night skiing, love it love it love it........). We'll get a sitter and go, just the two of us. We'll close the mountain! ( ok, it's really a big hill to me, but just the same......)

Whatever your resolution is, it should include some fun. Life's short, embrace the day, celebrate the new year, it should be just fine.