I feel better...

I feel somewhat better this morning about getting stuck yesterday afternoon - the roads were at least as bad as they were yesterday - lots of ice and black ice. There was a trash truck stuck cross- wise across one road and apparently a county truck blocking another road during morning route time. There were also plenty of warnings from one driver to another about icy roads. I had a couple of spots where I felt the bus start to slide but it wasn't too severe. Tomorrow could be a very very different story - we are under a winter storm advisory from 10:00 pm tonight through tomorrow. There is to be some combination of rain, thunderstorms and snow that we get. Personally I'm hoping for more snow than anything else even though it means shoveling for me. At least once it stops snowing and the sun comes out - even if it's cold it is pretty. And with the temps being back in the 20's for tomorrow snow is better than ice.

Something that was really funny about yesterday afternoon was what my preschool student said when he found out that he had a seatbelt all his own..."For me?? I get my own seatbelt?! Thank you E..." He was so excited about it - talking about telling his mom and telling his cousin. I am thankful for that as it means I won't have to struggle with getting him to wear it.

Other than that, not too much is going on. I've got daily chores planned, bills to pay and cleaning to do. Stretch is really looking forward to being able to run again tonight. Squirrel has TaeKwonDo and I have a haircut scheduled.

Monday

A solitary deer standing in the snowy field. Streaks of pink, lavender and orange across the sky. Tracks across the frozen pond. Snow covered roads. Areas of wispy white fog and hoar frost on the bushes. A few minutes later the sun rises - a glowing red orange ball behind the dark silhouettes of the trees.

That was the scene this morning driving the bus. It makes me long to paint as I don't feel that words do the picture justice - it was just beautiful. And the nice thing about driving the bus is that you are going slow enough to enjoy the beauty. The downside is that it's not possible to take the camera along to capture the beauty. I honestly didn't see too many deer this morning - think only 4 by the time I got home. However seeing them solitary was almost better than seeing a whole herd of them.

On a different note...things are going fairly well here. Stretch is finishing up his driver training tonight - he gets to go drive in the closest big "city" to here tonight. Then he will simply have to practice until he is able to get his license. Squirrel appears to have the same sinus junk that Stretch and I have been fighting for weeks - Stretch is much better after one round of antibiotics. Unfortunately B and Dipstick are also fighting stuff - Dipstick is much better after a round of antibiotics but I think B is home from work today.

Squirrel participated in another TaeKwonDo tournament on Saturday. This one was an "in-school" tournament held at our local school. However it was very well attended with students from 3 or 4 different schools competing. Squirrel placed 2nd in forms and did much much better in sparring. He sparred two times - won the first time and tied the second. He sparred the same opponent both times as they had the girls spar the girls and the boys each other.

Last week I struggled emotionally - in spite of sunshine and plenty of light. I'm certain it was due to being too busy, not enough time to be creative, not enough quiet time - I spent an hour Thursday evening crocheting and felt much better. I am going to go back to carrying a craft project of some sort with me at all times. This week should be a slightly easier week - hopefully I will get some cleaning done in addition to keeping up with regular laundry and stuff. Speaking of which, it is probably time to finish this up and move on to making my grocery list and doing laundry.



This picture was taken last Thursday evening before we went to town for Grief Group - the sunset was beautiful then and there were lots of deer out.

No snow delay

The roads were awful this morning! I slid past most of my stops - maybe only by inches but I could tell there was ice under the wheels. There was a couple of inches of snow over most of my driveway and I couldn't get the bus back up the hill this morning. The good news is that it's half way up the hill at least so I could get out and leave it. It's snowing heavily again right now so the 25 minutes of shoveling I did this morning before I left is going to essentially be for nothing - except it is good exercise. We also had one bus get side-swiped - no damage to the bus from what the driver said and no injuries to students.

I came closer this morning to hitting a deer than I ever had - I saw 5 and had 3 cross the road

Both boys went to school this morning...Stretch had stayed home yesterday as he wasn't feeling well. Last night he appeared to be running low-grade fever but was better this morning and felt like he could make it through the day. Squirrel also went today though he is planning on coming home before TaeKwonDo - he took a header out of B's loft last evening and was pretty shook up. Thankfully he landed on some junk piled underneath it so didn't hit the concrete floor. I suspect he bruised his tail bone and heel but otherwise is o.k. I told him he could stop scaring me with his escapades any day - he's been the one who takes the "major" tumbles and needs stitches more throughout his life!

Clear and Cold

Very clear and cold this morning - only saw 8 deer during route time. Most seemed to be in hiding - in trees or whatever. Yesterday we saw 21 - the kids on the bus were all excited about it. Both yesterday and this morning the sunrise was red - always makes me think of that old sailor's ditty "red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning". I don't know how true it is but it certainly is ingrained in my mind. I rather expected a delay this morning - B said the roads had ice on them last night. I could see it as I was driving this morning - it wasn't thick or all over but it was definitely there.

My mind is spinning at the moment so I'm going to go ahead and post this. Hopefully this weekend I'm getting a chicken coop built - not 100% certain yet that that will happen but that is the plan.

Deer Again

28 deer this morning throughout my route time - including coming home. It was really nice to see more than I have recently - that's something I really enjoy. Wish I could find more time to work on my photography... there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. Of course, the fact that I seem to need to nap almost every day does not help - and I've had company and been running with the boys a lot also.

This morning I started a load of jeans and had a meeting with the lady that is helping me get my finances back under control. I did not do well last month at all. However it isn't quite as bad as I was afraid it was going to be and we have made a couple of changes that should help me. I got a brief nap in this afternoon - that was nice. Other than that, not too much is going on so guess this is a bit of a boring entry.

Can you say "overwhelmed"?

I admit it...I am struggling today. Some of it is fatigue combined with not feeling well. Some is deep concern over a girl who is special to me who is possibly suicidal and definitely needs professional help as she is cutting. Yet she refuses to go to her mom because she does not want to be honest about what is going on. Some of it is probably that I don't feel that I have accomplished anything today.

Yesterday I did not accomplish everything on my list by any stretch of the imagination. I got the grocery list made and did the shopping. I also was able to make progress on the laundry - it never is completely finished - and begin to get the checkbook balanced. The kitchen floor is swept - once. It will probably need another sweep before it gets mopped and the counters still are not clear. Tonight is Parent/Teacher conferences again at the high school - it's a new trimester so Stretch has some new teachers and classes. That means that we are not home tonight. Tomorrow night is TKD and Grief Group while Friday night is the start of the Festival of Faith at the church. Saturday we are supposed to have house guests in...can you say "overwhelmed"?

Starting off with a Bang

Well we appear to be starting 2008 off with a bang! Last night as B and I were coming back from doing a run to Graybil I called the Stretch and Squirrel to ask them to put a pot of water on the stove top to heat - warning them to make sure the slow cooker was out of the way. A few minutes later I received a frantic phone call - "help there's a fire on the stove-top! What do we do?" I could hear the smoke alarm going off in the background. I advised Squirrel to go ahead and try to get it out and if not to evacuate the house. We were at this point about 5 minutes from home anyway so I wasn't in a huge hurry to panic. Stretch threw water on it and that got it out before we got home. End result was a mess, a shattered crock pot (not the one I had supper in), a destroyed high quality spatula, a smelly house and one rather upset son. (Dipstick was at Jay's where he had spent the afternoon). That area of the kitchen is now cleaned up with no evidence of that excitement. As far as I know the burner on the cook top (which is one of those flat ceramic ones) will still work.

As I was doing that clean-up B was showing the boys the new live animal trap we had purchased while we were out - we know we've had a possum around. The three of them were able to adjust the trap and test it out on our outside cats to verify it worked. They rebaited it and set it out on the sidewalk beside the house. Around 9:30 last night Sally dog went nuts barking so I suspected it had worked. Sure enough this morning there is a live possum frantically attempting to get out of the trap and the boys are eagerly anticipating being allowed to dispose of it tonight! Ugh!

In the meantime...for about the last month not only have we not been able to get water out of our fridge we've not been able to get ice either. (It's one of those fancy ones with the dispenser in the door). So at 4:00 am this morning Squirrel wakes me up..."Mom there's a scary noise coming from the hall". I had to get up and go investigate it - to find that it was the freezer in the fridge making the noise. This morning we've determined that it's leaking water - it looks like I will have to have some drywall replaced, possibly sub-flooring and will have to repaint. In the meantime the fridge is pulled way out, the microwave cart is pulled way out and the currently unused house humidifier is moved into a different room. Stretch figures that we are undergoing a "cascade failure" of appliances and pipes due to the water softener being down. Should be interesting figuring out priorities for repair.

On that note...it's time to go check the laundry, look for a different phone call to have someone come look at the fridge and try to figure out how to function in the kitchen with the fridge in the middle of the floor. (and I will attempt to add pictures to this later)

Quick update - there's been a lot going on. Squirrel is waiting for me to come watch a movie with him so this won't be long at all. Have to love after Christmas sales - I was able to get 2 pairs of pj pants for under $5.00 total! Also picked up a few other things on clearance so am very pleased about that.

Dipstick's brother Jay (B's stepson) is in the hospital out of state with a leg broken in 3 places. He was to have surgery tonight to put a plate in his leg. (He was loading or unloading his semi that he drives when a chain snapped and broke his leg). So prayers are appreciated for him.

Just talked to another friend of mine who is just about finished with her 90 days trial period at her job. Unfortunately due to the weather we've had lately - even though she knows the company likes her work - she is concerned that she will lose her job for attendance issues due to road conditions.

When I look at other people's situations my life is very calm and peaceful at the moment. I am thankful for my blessings - I have a home in a country that is peaceful, I have a good job, healthy children, a car that runs, plenty of food and water...the list of blessings goes on. Reminders to be thankful are good at times.