Happy Hump Day ladies,
Wow! I'm the first one in today, and it's 11 am Pacific time! I hope you all are warm and safe.
Ever since my fantastic weekend at the conference, I've felt very run down. I thought relaxing Monday and Tuesday evenings would help, and it did...but not enough. So I've cleared my evening calendar for the remainder of the week, with the exception of the poker game on Friday evening.
It rained here on Sunday, which was wonderful! And it's supposed to rain tonight and into tomorrow morning...and maybe again on the weekend. We really need the rain...so no one is complaining. I just hope the rain doesn't turn drivers into idiots on the freeways.
An update on my friend who has cancer...he's going to have to take disability retirement which was a bit of a shock to him. But he can't sit for long stretches now and will probably never be able to sit for more than a couple hours at a stretch without lying down, so he can't return to work. He's going to have a needle biopsy next week, and then the surgery to remove his new tumor will be sometime after that.
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Happy - You are having a brutal winter! Especially if you still have your first snowfall on the ground. I do not envy my friends (including you lot) in the Midwest. I'm glad I got out when I did. We aren't having the upper 60s temps that Ceejay is having. But it's around upper 30s overnight and into the upper 50s by mid-day. I will most definitely enjoy it for you. I hope you don't run out of propane. As for your comment about me being in a better location to enjoy conferences and good stuff like that, you're right. San Jose/Silicon Valley gets lots of great conferences/events, and the ones we don't get in San Jose, we can get in SF, which is an hour away. Living in WI, it always seemed that the best events went to Chicago and to drive to Downtown Chicago and fight the traffic, as you know, is no fun...and adding unpredictable winter weather...meant I didn't go to Chicago very often...or when I did, it was to the suburbs to see friends. I'm still waffling about the writing workshop. It's a bit pricey.
Shad - What a lovely avatar! Beautiful hills to take your walks and runs. I will take photos of the hills near my work, but they are more brown and sparse with trees...usually this time of year they are green...they just get brown in the summer. Thanks for sharing the photos. I like the architecture of the parliament house and the "beehive" building is interesting! Somes/Matiu Island sounds lovely. Peanut Smurf is adorable! Happy is right, your family does make pretty babies! Your lunch with your niece and the in-laws sounds very nice. Speaking of beehives...when you suggested I get honey at the health food store awhile back, well, I'm still learning my way around San Jose so I don't know where all the shops are...other than downtown where it's impossible to park. But it turns out a co-worker of mine is a beekeeper. He lives in the nearby mountains and the honey he collects from his bees is a Star Thistle blend and is VERY yummy. I don't know if it has all the special properties of the ones you recommended...but I really like it. I purchased two jars and am nearly through my first jar. I use it in my tea 2 or 3 times per day while at work. You're doing a great job with the walking, hiking and running! Good on ya'! I hope you have a wonderful few days at home!
Ceejay - When I got this last cold, I was taking Zicam. They have a crystals pouch that you let dissolve on your tongue (and then don't drink anything for 15 minutes). I swear it helped me get over my cold much faster than usual. I'm glad you were able to enjoy work on Sunday without Mr. Arrogance. I used to have to deal with arrogant "baby geeks" as I call them...usually guys in their early 20s either still in or fresh out of college trying to tell me that the error I'm seeing which plainly states it's in the part of the code they wrote couldn't possibly be anything they did wrong. To which I used to say, "I've been programming since you were in diapers...I think I'm understanding the error message correctly." Sure enough, they fixed their code and everything worked fine. Oh no, sounds like you had an awful night at work with between the freezing rain and the power outage. It's no wonder you had a headache. And to hit icy patches on your way into work! Scary! I'm glad you have all wheel drive in your Rav4.
Annie - Thanks for the pork loin recipe and the recipe book! Do you peel the apple before you cut it up in half inch slices and place the slices in the slits? Yikes, Annie! Was the storm as bad as predicted? 6-10" on top of ICE! Be careful, girlfriend. Once C gets healthy enough to get a flu shot, he should get one. This season's shot has the H1N1 in it, and people are dying of that out here (the H1N1 virus, not the flu shot).
Susie - Good for you on posting both a scale and a non-scale goal! I'm glad your DH's procedures went well and yielded good news.
I sure hope the Midwest and Eastern states have enough propane AND road salt/chemicals to last through the winter. Southeastern WI had a salt shortage one winter and had to use sand...but that doesn't work as well.
Sending all my Worldly friends in the Midwest prayers for safety and warmth. I hope you all are ok.
Much love and many hugs,