Best Of

It seems we will be living in the land of ice and snow for the next 10 days and with a threat of a new snowstorm predicted for Sunday. None of what we currently have is expected to melt with temps not going out of the 20's most days. The wind chill is pushing us down to subzero temps as well. Not sure when we will get out of the house again. The driveway was not cleared yet and with the ice crust on the top, it will be a challenge to remove.

DH is under the weather with a cold. I have to tell you when he was working, with a cold like this he would have still gone to work and then collapsed on the couch when he came home. Now when he gets a cold, it becomes a major event. Yes, I do feel for him because I have walked in his shoes, the difference being, I stayed home when I was ill. The only time he missed work was when he had poison ivy on his face so badly his eyes looked like slits and he insisted he was driving to work! I told him if he did, I would call the police and report him and I meant it. He would have been a hazard driving since he had no peripheral nor really direct vision with all that swelling. He did stay home that once. When the children were ill, if I could not take off from work, then he would drag them to work with him. He could shorten his day, whereas I did not have that luxury. This is day 4 so he should start to feel better soon and perhaps the fresh air will do him some good. He's not sneezing, just congested.

I finished the drawers and found some items that need to be stored in the attic, and some that need to be rehomed elsewhere or donated. I did find some items I had forgotten about such as several sets of new sheets for DD's room. I don't need them right now, but the next time I change the beds (she has a trundle bed), I will put the one set on. So the upstairs is done for the moment and I forgot I have 2 rooms of doom: her room and the living room since they are temporary repositories of contents from other rooms.

My DB said he would not come until the great thaw and that is looking more like February if I am lucky. Given our current weather and the forecast, it won't be in the next 10 days.

I also had to postpone the visit with my 95 year old ex-boss and both of us were looking forward to reconnecting. He's lead such an interesting life and while I know some parts of it, I'd like to hear about what happened after the hospital where we both work was closed. It was a large municipal hospital that served the cities poor and uninsured. Funny how while doing family research, I have found that several distant relatives died there. It was well-known for the services it could provide for communicable diseases, physical rehab, psychiatric care. and TB wards. It had 2,000 beds, large out-patient service departments, and was serviced by 5 medical schools. I know he stayed on as a city employee while I moved to a community hospital in the suburbs. Now the site is occupied by CHOP and various Penn buildings.

It is now 25 degrees, sunny and throngs of birds have been at the feeder including the cardinals and blue jays today. The woodpecker was there yesterday. DH will have to fill it again today. The deer have meandered through munching on the rhododendron and the evergreen. I need to fence in the poor rhododendron this summer.

I have a huge pile of magazines I have stockpiled and need to leaf through them. I have reduced the number of subscriptions I had, but they still seem to get ahead of me. However, on days like today, these are magazine browsing days because I'm choosing to be indoors to escape the cold.

cindyny, good on for finishing your garage seal project and fixing the shower head.

taco, enjoy your weather. I hope your DD remains warm and safe.

Chris, Tippy continues to impress me with his communication skills. He is so clever and knows what disturbs his environment. I do like how he relies on you to "fix things".

I hope everyone has a great day and waving "hi" to everyone.