Forecast
Satellite

It is the coldest it’s been here in 3 years, and that’s pretty friggin’ COLD!! I made it all the way to the city where I work without incident, and then got stuck in a 3 foot tall snow drift. I thought it was just soft snow and I drive a JEEP, so I won’t have a problem! WRONG! I got totally hung up on it, because it was hard as could be! Guess where I got stuck? In the Starbuck’s parking lot! Pfffft! Fortunately for me I just had a one block walk to get into the store. This Starbucks is within the grocery store (same chain my hubby manages a store with), so I knew the staff. Three of the men graciously offered to come out and try to push me out. It was hopeless, and we damn near froze. All that was exposed was my face, and it was just burning within seconds! We gave up, and went inside, where the store manager told me to leave my keys, and he’d get the snow plow that was coming to get me out. Thankfully they did that and all was good.

Obviously, with the frigid blizzard conditions, the school buses don’t run, but our schools are always open. Too many parents whined about child care when we used to close when the weather was severe, so now we stay open no matter what. That means, that staff has to risk driving from wherever they are, to come and babysit. We had ZERO children in our morning class, and two in the afternoon one. Ridiculous!

Then there’s the matter of my poor pups! They just about freeze their toes trying to go out to pee! I’ve got them in their sweaters, but they need boots bad! Wicket came running in yesterday on only his front feet! It was so silly, but I felt so bad for him!! Teebo is bigger, and tougher, but his solution is to pee, then he tries to lift one foot, then another, and then he finally gives up and just lays down in the snow, and then I have to go rescue him! Wicket held it ALL day until later last night!!

Yesterday was Ben’s 21st birthday, so we had to weather the cold and took the 4 kids out for dinner. We had a nice time, but no one in their right minds should be out in this shit! Which is why I called into work today, and said I was taking a “snow day”. If I’m just going to clean and organize, I could definitely stand to do some of that around here! I also need to bundle up and go attempt to clear that driveway off before we start getting stuck there too!

It was a busy week at work. Then on Friday, I had to take the girl I work with in the mornings to a visit a sensory room over at the high school with her Mom. Then in the afternoon, I took my little charge and his Mom to the hair dresser. This is the second trip we’ve made there. We’ve been trying to help him alleviate his fear. He’s always been terrified of anything and everything to do with the whole process. Now he’s totally comfortable in the salon, likes the hairdresser, and let her brush his hair, so that was good! After all that commotion, I had to run and pick up the pups from their groomer. They looked so cute!

I’ve been totally wasting my weekend as usual, but sometimes that’s just needed. Yesterday I did go and volunteer at the local grocery store for a couple of hours. They have adopted us as their charity for the next 3 months. We will get a substantial amount of cash from this, so it’s well within our best interests to volunteer. Yesterday there were only 3 of us though

The upcoming week is busy as well, so that’s another reason I’m not being too hard on myself for being lazy this weekend. Besides we’re having a real blizzard with the temperature plunging all day, so it’s not too tempting to go anywhere!

I loved Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain and he and Michelle Williams seemed really happy for quite a while.  Apparently it was his heroin addiction that broke them up, and now he’s left a baby girl without a daddy.  Very Shocking!   Details can be found here.

We found out at work today that we have about 2 days to get a large display ready!  A large company in our town has adopted us as their charity, and our Special Needs Preschool stands to get a donation of over $10,000, which is fabulous, but we have to have a display ready, and volunteers ready to go for Saturday!  They want the display preferably by Wednesday.  Fortunately the little girl I work with, wasn’t here this morning, so I was free to dig through the past 3 years of photos I’ve taken, trying to get prints of the ones we want.  Now I have to mount them in some fashion to highlight them, etc, and I’m ready to PANIC!

Note that I’m the only one panicking and working on my own time to complete this task.  Hmmmph!

Ben and Jess were out for lunch yesterday.  They were in Kelowna last weekend, so we hadn’t seen to much of them.  They were house hunting.  Now they’re in the process of talking to a mortgage broker to see how much of a mortgage they can carry.  They’re looking into a condo or towne house, in a great location.  Preferably a fixer-upper that Ben can renovate.  He’s lucky, in that he’s been working as a finishing carpenter for the past year and a half, so he has all the skills he needs to do the job properly.

While I would never say anything to them, because Ben gave me the opportunity to when he first told me of their plan to move to Kelowna, hubby and I sure have some reservations about their decision.  That is aside from the fact that we’re just used to them being around, and will miss being able to see them any old time.  Ben has such a bright future here. He has a construction job he enjoys, has 2 years left of school, is very highly thought of by the radio stations he works for, and has likely his best shot of fulfilling his dream of having a career in radio right here, and Jess has a GREAT job and is doing the best she’s ever done in a job.  They’re leaving it all, and it makes me a bit nervous, and sad.  But that’s just a Momma bear thing.  I hope it all comes together for the 2 of them!

Good gawd!  We watched the Oiler game last night of course, and it was BRUTAL! They had such a great home stand, winning 4 of 5, and climbing back up into fight position for a playoff spot, then they lose a stinker to Washington after a 12 round shoot out, and last night they lost to Carolina 7-2!!  They played horrible!  The only players that showed up were the kids!  The vets totally bailed and Garon was average at best.

It’s hard work being an Oiler fan.  They can get you on such an extreme high in such a state of hope, as they’re a very exciting team when they’re on.  Then they can pull a stinker, and make you think they’ll never make the playoffs again!  Gah!

I have to say, that I’ve been doing GREAT in my resolve to cook way more meals at home, and to pack my lunch more often!  I’ve cooked dinner every night for 2 weeks now, and the only day I go out for lunch is Friday!  It’s so much nicer!  We’re saving tons of money on not buying take out, and we’re eating healthier too.

I also did really well walking the pups last week, but this week was a dud, after stubbing my toe so bad.  But, it’s good now, and next week I plan to get right back at it!

On the cutting back on “happy hour”, we’re doing so-so!  The first week we did great!  The past week, not so much!  So, next week, we’ll have to see if we can improve in that area again!

It’s the little changes.

Right before the end of my Christmas break, I went and got my eyes examined.  Ben did too.  We wanted to get his done before he turns 21 (in 11 days), and won’t be covered on our insurance anymore.  I have to get progressive lenses, as I knew I would, because I now need old lady reading glasses with my contacts in order to read teeny print like labels and menus and things. So, I ordered new contacts, and some progressive contacts to try them out. I also went and ordered a pair of glasses with progressive lenses. I’m really worried about adjusting to them, as I suffer from motion sickness, and I’m thinking I’m going to spend quite a while dizzy and sick to my stomach trying to adjust!  Hubby just slapped his on, and was good to go, but I’m not expecting the same results.  Anyways… I ordered them 2 weeks ago, and still have not received a phone call to tell me to pick them up!  Grrrr

Three of the other ladies at work (the principal and the 2 secretaries), have joined a ladies only gym in the town where I work.  Their plan is to workout 3 days a week after school.  They are all over 50, and I’ll be 50 in a couple of months (GAG!) so I’ve been mulling over the idea of joining the Fat and 50 club.  Really, my only hesitation is the fact that once I’m done work, I like to haul my ass home at the speed of light.  Partially so I can get home as early as possible to let the pups out, and partly because that’s just the way I roll.

I guess I’ll go over to the gym and check it out, and see how I feel about it after I visit there!

Today was pretty darn good at work.  Not too many complaints.  I kicked a bench in the bedroom on Sunday, and Monday morning when I woke up, I could hardly walk!!  Thankfully it was much better with a shoe on.  Today it was quite a bit better, but very sore by the time I got supper cooking, and laundry finished after work.  We watched the Oilers game, and it sucked!!  Man, they just can’t seem to keep it together.  Just when I think they’re over the injury plague, and doing great, they throw out a stinker!