Well, the furnace is now fixed. We called someone in to fix it when our pipes froze. So it is warm in the house, even though it got to -24 last night. It cost a ton, but we need heat.

I missed owrk yesterday to stay home for the furnace guy.

QOD: I was born in Madison, Wisconsin.

WSW - the condo sounds lovely. So exciting.

Cerise - I long for the sound of rain again. That is one of the things that makes winter sooooo long. Five months without the sleep that rain brings.

Amarantha - Strenths in the fight against the evil that is Krispy Kreme. Although I do not like KK, I sympathise with the whole shugar craving thing. I must go post on the evil food thread.

Hello, to everyone else, named and unnamed.

Anagram, I am laughing out loud! You are not a stick in the mud! There is something to be said for sticking around...ooopps...sorry....

WSW...great color choices...sounds very relaxing and restful...I've been here 15 years and still have 3 rooms and a lot of shag that need to be re-vamped!!!!

Fly-by postie...was too windy on the food thread...got stuff to do...where is Frogger and the tadpole? Wildfire? Arabella....you must be on month end you guys!!!

to all..

Ceara

Fly-by: Ceara, you called it, for sure! 'Tis the dreaded EOM, compounded this time by holidays, DS crisis, and trip getting in the way of work. I've just come to the conclusion that I can only do what is possible and must live with the consequences. Hopefully I won't get fired!

Love to all -- I've read your posties and wish I had time to respond, thinking of you all v. fondly indeed tho!

Yowza, guys! Fly-by for moi as well as I need to get at least one story done to stay even on deadline this weekend! Will post in food thread and NOLA later ... wanted to say howdy!!!! So, howdy ...

Well, ok, I'm back, having written two inches! As thou knowest, I have the concentration of a butterfly. Think it's lunch time and I'm NOT having sugar!!!! Going to food and NOLA thread now, then taking a break!

Arabella, I doubt if thou'll get fired ... maybe I will, but thou won't ... I'll pledge to get this week's work done if thou'll pledge to get thy month end stuff done! Hmmm?

Well, I need a facelift and more red in my hair, saith Amarantha. The little boy across the street (about 5) stopped on his bike in the street and stared at me when I was getting the mail.

"Are you an abuela?" he asked.

No, smiled I.

"Are you a mom?"

No, I'm just me.

Puzzled stare.

s, I must vent ... I remember my nephew at age 5 asking me why I didn't have a baby ... same deal many years later ... all the kinds of women the kid across the street seems to know about are abuelas and moms ... not worried abuela rather than mom being the first option he considered .. I'm beyond ancient as far as he's concerned ... just bothers me a little that in the 21st century, women are still so stereotyped that a little boy is having trouble figuring me out ... and now that I think of it that there are places in the world where he'd be having even more trouble if he tried to come to terms with where women fit into the scheme of things ...

Anyway, my firebug neighbors to the back are at it again ... actually I'm starting to like the bonfires and having all the people out there until 2 a.m., but I still think it's extremely unwise and dangerous ... I'd report them but it'd start a lot of trouble that I don't need ... anyway the police helicopters have seen it a number of times and they don't do anything so why should I worry if they burn down the neighborhood and kill us all?

Did anyone appoint me the world's safety monitor? I think not.

I'm going to bed and read! Bye all!!!

Hello all!

Empress! Our thoughts run parallel courses again! Grandmas, mamas, perhaps you will be that little bike rider's first example of Empress!!!
At least he felt safe enough with you to speak....

I know I have been going on and on about the speech contest (and wouldnt you know, weatherman says we might have snowstorm on Wed....hee hee, wouldnt that be a hoot...get myself in full charge to wind up shoveling my driveway....)
I did get a few ideas yesterday at the seminar and also am realizing I should use some of my own musing to deal with the entire contest process.....

My point is this: I am realizing that if we pay attention to our mindset when we choose to accept a challenge that we can learn a few things along the way.
More on that subject later... ( you didnt think I'd be done with one sentence did you??)


DH and I are headed out to avoid the crush of Super Bowl Party shoppers....

****
Today's thought is:
"Sometimes when you have everything, you can't really tell what matters."
--Christina Onassis

Question of the day :

"Do you try to get up the same time every day?"

******


By the way, I mentioned tea earlier this week that Dh gave me... I am enjoying it.. I'll be glad to list the website... I thought DH had ordered decaf ... ( which is available) and was drinking cup after cup.... Just a little lesson for me Thursday night as I wondered why I was so awake at 10:30pm.....

Live and Learn!

KETTLE IS ON!

Greetings, Fellow Royalties!

Not even going to try to catch up right now, but will later this evening. Been MIA for two reasons: No change in scale on Wednesday left me totally bummed out and wondering why I bother, and we've been having some internet connectivity problems in this area. Not sure how widespread it was, but seems okay today.

Just got off the treadmill and really need to shower, then off to treat myself to an Evergrey CD if I can find one.

Will be back later when everyone else will be Superbowling...not my thing.

Yea, K, perhaps he will keep me in the back of his mind as he comes to terms with alternative examples of womandom in his life!!!! I hope all the kids around here think of me as safe, but that's always a problem, too, as one doesn't really want them to trust too much, since sadly our world is filled with neighbors who aren't trustworthy at all. I know all the kids at that house at least think I'm strange ... the little girls stare at me also but not with hostility ... I do think they are cautious, though. Once a girl of about 10 asked me where I was going (I had the walking poles and the sun was going down) ... I said I was going for a walk.

She peered at me for all the world as if I were fragile and elderly in the extreme and heading off on a dangerous mission in some far-flung battle zone. "Be careful," she said sternly.

"I always am," I told her.

Re QOD: I don't get up at the same time each day as my schedule is so varied.

Wildfire, left thou a message on the food thread! Loved the recipe thou posted!!!! Want some!

Just finished work guys and off to la-la land now. My new food challenge be looking really good ... details on food thread. Later, gators!

Oh, on the where werest thou born QOD, which I belatedly realized had been posted: Dayton, Ohio!

Thought it was about our least fav cities and someone was bashing poor Texas!

Which is ok (no offense meant to anyone who might have bashed Texas, 'cause that's free speech n'all) but really, Texas is quite nice!

I'm confused. Ok, bye!

Ok, four in a row! To anyone who hasn't read the food thread, please note the descending number on my sig!

Really, I'm going now!

Loved your 'little boy' story, Amarantha. I'm child-free too, and have gotten my share of odd comments, but mostly from adults. My favorite: "You really should have at least one child." What? My dream response: 'well, wouldn't that negate my decision to not have any children?" I usually just smile sweetly though!

wsw, really enjoyed hearing about the plans for your new home! Made me realize I need more color in my life. So yesterday while I was at Wal-mart laying in supplies, I impulsively bought myself a scarlet red 'track suit' sort of thing---inspired by you!!!

Kaylets, did you avoid the super bowlers while out shopping today?

Wildfire, glad you're back! Please don't be discouraged---well okay, it's normal, just don't STAY discouraged!

We may have more ice and snow this week. Man, I have to work sometime!

Yea, Eydie, I've heard that one as well, not to mention a number of people who've commented that I stay so young because I don't have children. Since as far as I can tell, I'm aging at the rate of one year annually just like they are, I find that comment irritating. A few years ago when my best friend decided she had never really cared for me at all and told me what a bad person I was (you may recall I posted extensively about that), that was one of the comments ... that I could not "go with the flow" like she could, but she supposed that's because she's raised children and had a husband (she hates his guts, but ...)

When I emailed her that having a family did not make her a better person than me, she was so ... dunno ... oh, how could I think that she thought she was a better person ... but that's how I interpret all of these kinds of comments when they come from adults ...

Sheesh, I'm getting mad all over again! I like your comeback idea btw ... but like you I mostly just let it go ... it's a form of prejudice and you can't use logic to refute prejudice so I don't try ...

Later ... [/color]

Hello....
Woke up really wishing I could stay in bed but here I am....
If its too terrible, I'll come home. We all know that once you get there you always say, why should I waste a day to come home....
I crashed ( literally) about 7 pm last night-- just collapsed into bed and only awoke when DH came to bed after watching the game.

So ... its one of those mornings where everything needs to be done as it wasnt done last night...


*****
Today's thought of the day :

"There must be more to life than having everything."
Maurice Sendak

Question of the day :

" If we say " choose" ( like moo) when spelled two "oo"'s and "chose" ( like open) with one "o"--- why do we say lose and loose the same way but spell them differently to mean different things?"

*****

Sorry, I told you it was a wild morning!