Sort of. I’m still about 25% miffed, but I guess it’ll pass. The house was pristine when I got home last night; he even used that funny little long-handled duster-thingy on all the ceiling fans, and made sure that he didn’t leave so much as a crumb on any of the counters or tables, or anywhere else. And, he was so damned miserable that I just couldn’t keep on pretending he wasn’t there. So, I just told him that as far as I was concerned he could do one of two things: take on some consulting work and be out and about, or take better care of the house if he’s going to be in it most of the time. I don’t really care which. He says he’ll start by taking better care of the house, and make a decision about consulting work somewhere down the line. I know he doesn’t want to do it; he worked for 40 years as a software engineer & project manager, and it was frequently very high pressure, trying to meet deadlines and all that (of course, not unlike MY job, in that respect) and he’s really enjoyed being able to devote time to his art and writing and all, but as far as I’m concerned, we need to SHARE the day-to-day responsibilities, and if I’m off at work for 11 hours every day, then, logically, he should do the lion’s share (Translation: ALL) of the housework. And he should do it properly; not just a quick wipe-over, etc. I THINK we have reached an understanding; we’ll see how it goes. The next time, it won’t be an IMplosion, it will most definitely be an EXplosion, with him right in the eye of the storm. Or is that actually where it’s the calmest? If that’s the case, he’ll be swirling about on the outer edges for sure!

Okay, last night we had the leftovers from Sunday - the meal I cooked, but didn’t eat any of on Sunday - pork roast, baked sweet potatoes, homemade apple-pear-cranberry sauce, and spinach. Yumm-o!!!! Not a lot of calories, and good fiber content between the sweet potato and other fruits/veggies. This morning I had my Instant Quaker maple/brown sugar flavor DIET oatmeal, and just about fifteen minutes ago, a small apple sliced and dipped into a tablespoon of Teddie’s all-natural peanut butter. Not hungry, so that’s good. Homemade chicken soup for lunch - I took the last Glad container out of the freezer. Time to make another batch. I haven’t weighed myself, because I have always found it depressing - until I get a little closer to goal, and I can tell when that is just by the way my clothes are fitting.

It snowed again. What a broken record that sounds like. Snow and more snow. Tiresome. No wonder I’m at DH’s throat. (Well, that and his laziness). I’m tired of looking at the stuff. It was very winter-wonderland-ish this morning driving down the ‘Pike - the sun was shining brightly and the snow everywhere was just sparkling. Great for postcards. Lousy for everyday living. Island-girlie, you have no idea how many times I think of you - and Annie, of course. You BOTH made such good decisions about where to live your lives. Mine, in comparison - and in retrospect - seems incredibly stupid. I could’ve gone anywhere, done anything. And now here I am, STILL in New England, which is pleasant only in late spring and mid-fall, and I’m pretty much locked in, with twin grandbabies on the way. It wouldn’t be an optimum time to announce that I was retiring to warmer climes. Oh, well, the bright side of being my age is that time really does fly - whether you’re having fun or not. I can hardly believe that it’s already February. It seems like we just finished Christmas a week or two ago.

Well, today I’m planning to walk a block or so down the street to a place called “Souper Salad” where you can get, not surprisingly, a vast variety of soups and/or fill your own plate from a  well-stocked salad bar. Since I can’t really trust them to make soup according to my own personal standards, I will be having a nice big salad. Going to use Annie’s dip-your-fork-in-the-dressing method, too. Thanks, Annie!

Over and out for today,

Hugs,

Z