Haphazard Thoughts #3

Avoid people who always turn the conversation around to themselves.

I cannot tolerate dirty dishes on the counter, but can easily overlook a dirty kitchen floor.

I've always required more than eight hours sleep a night to feel good. Slumber parties in high school almost killed me.

At one time I was studying to be a teacher. The profession is fortunate I gave it up.

I would be a lot more successful at learning to say no if I didn't feel I had to explain my reasons for doing so.

Physically I don't feel close to my chronological age.

The difference between taking care of myself and being selfish is still a blurry line for me.

After living without running water for many years, I never use our fully functional bathroom without sincere appreciation.

Take pictures. Nothing can bring back a memory the way a photograph can.

I can't carry a tune in a bucket with a lid on it.

I love babies. (I'm usually smarter than they are.)

Meetings accomplish little.

I really appreciate the fact that my husband takes total responsibility for our vehicles and keeps them in excellent running condition.

Nearly all change is uncomfortable at first.

I'm confused by subtlety; just say it straight on.

Before you feel hurt (or even get mad) at the perceived slight or inattention of a friend, acquaintance, or family member, stop to consider that they just may have more on their plate at the moment than they can handle.

How you do your work is a portrait of yourself. (Think about that.)

I was once told I have a beautiful smile and I've never forgotten that.

I was once told I have shoulders like a football player and I've never forgotten that.

Have you ever noticed that certain beverages just taste better in certain glasses?

Because I can't make snap decisions, I have nightmares about going through cafeteria lines.

I can remember my first kiss but I can't for the life of me remember his name.

It's impossible for me to chew gum without cracking it.

Winter's Still Alive and Living in Northern Minnesota

We had temps in the 20s and light snow most of the day yesterday. 'Twas still snowing when we went to bed last night, and the temp had started to drop with a stiff wind blowing in cold air.

Can't say I heard the wind during the night. I was fairly comatose in my snoring/snuffling/gurgling head-congested sleep. Besides that, our bedroom is at the end of the house protected from the winds. Not so for the man currently sleeping in my quilt room. He did start out sleeping with me but in the wee hours, my "in-the-midst-of-a-heart-attack" type breathing got through to him and he headed for more peaceful grounds. Unfortunately, then the sounds keeping him awake were the wailing winds.

This morning our temp has dropped to 4 degrees, we have lovely, bright sunshine, but the winds continue to howl. Gadzooks, I wonder what the wind chill factor is?

Here's Roy in his morning chore outfit. He literally couldn't see without the goggles because of the blowing snow. "I'm here to do your shoveling, Ma'am.”

Shoveling the deck.

Clearing the path to the bird feeder.

He made it! Now hang on to the roof while filling it.

Total snow accumulation probably wasn't more than 3" but Mother Nature is doing a good job of rearranging it to her liking this morning.

Les Miserables

If you don't care to hear anymore of my whining about my wretched cold, stop reading right now. I'll understand.

This is where I spent those quality hours from approximately 1:30 to 3:30 a.m. this morning trying to clear my head enough so I could lie back down in bed and breathe at the same time. My personal goal was to fill the wastebasket to overflowing with used tissues, but as you can see, I failed at that also. Darn.

This where my husband sleeps now. Feel sorry for him. He was cold last night.

This is my kitchen counter. It's safe for you to assume not much food preparation has occurred on this space for the past several days.

This is my desk top where I tried to work this morning. Suffice to say, not a lot of progress was made other than support of the tissue industry.

It's been one full week now since these germies took control of my body. How much longer can it last? (Sure is a good thing I don't catch colds.)

Valentine's Day

In honor of Valentine's Day, a poem for you:

May the light always find you

on a dreary day.

When you need to be home,

may you find your way.

May you always have courage

to take a chance,

and never find frogs in your

underpants.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm hoping you can spend it with a loved one.

Two Birds and My Cold

So how exciting can two not very good pictures of birds be? For me, a bit. I was really happy to get them since 1) it was snowing when I took them, 2) it was getting close to dusk, and 3) I had to take them both through a window and screen.

I finally got a recognizable picture of Mr. Cardinal, he being half of our one pair of cardinals that is spending the winter with us. Mrs. was nowhere to be seen when I captured this purdy fella on our snow covered deck.

This is a Mourning Dove that we've seen off and on all winter. He (she?) seems to be a loner (I think Mourning Doves mate for life). He looks healthy so I feel he's doing okay hanging around us and our cold temps even though his kind doesn't usually prefer our locale in the winter.

We're back to more normal winter time temperatures. We've been in the low 20s for about 24 hours now. We had somewhere around 3" of snow overnight and beautiful, large flakes have drifted lazily down most of the day today. All is coated with white. A sight to behold.

Guess I got a little too mouthy about my cold not being bothersome. Moan. Groan. Arrgh. Since about noon yesterday, I've been pretty uncomfortable. Headache, swollen glands, whole neck is tender to the touch, no appetite, drippy nose, a cough if I talk much and having trouble sleeping at night. I'm beginning to fear my husband is getting attached to his makeshift sleeping quarters in my quilt room. He says he's sleeping well in there and shows no sign of wanting to come back into the vicinity of my snoring/gurgling/choking. I was so exhausted at 2 o'clock this afternoon that I laid down and slept for two hours. (Mama Pea taking a nap in the daytime? She MUST be sick.)

I'm thinking good thoughts, keeping the liquids flowing and know this will pass soon. I'm very glad I have the appointment for another lymph massage tomorrow. If I can just live that long.

My Two Guys . . . and Other Stuff

Snapped this pic of these two handsome guys (son-in-law and husband) a few days ago after they had been standing out in the back yard talking, and talking, and talking.

When Roy came in, I asked what they were yakking about for such a long time. Pause. "Nuthin'." Men!

I got an early Valentine's Day present. A nyjer seed bird feeder. Nyjer seeds tend to attract finches and smaller song birds, and I'd like to encourage the Goldfinches as regular visitors. We see them often in summer, much less frequently in winter but maybe when word gets out that we have nyjer seed, they'll hang around a bit more.

I have a birthday coming up in a couple of months and got a notice in the mail yesterday that it's time to renew my driver's license. It kinda upset me. Not that I'm four years older but that the clothes I'm wearing in my current driver's license picture are the very same ones I still consider my "good" winter outfit. Guess I might just as well give up trying to be a fashion icon, huh?

It's very rare that I catch a cold. For some lucky reason, I just don't get them. Everyone in the family and for a ten mile radius can be coughing, sneezing, and blowing but I will remain sniffle-free. Having said that, I have an announcement. I hab a code. A bad code. And I know just where I got it, too. My daughter is nanny for the cutest, most adorable, downright edible little one-year old girl on the face of this earth. Last Friday while out doing errands, she and the little babe stopped over for a visit. Little Babe is just learning how to give kisses and I was the recipient of a bit of . . . well, slobber.

Come Monday night, following said Friday visit, I started to feel a little something in the back of my throat that was suspiciously like the start of a sore throat. Went to bed and awoke two hours later with a flaming sore throat that kept me awake the rest of the night. Tuesday I couldn't swallow without pain, had a killer of a headache, face ache, joint aches, two ear aches, swollen glands and felt sick, sick, sick. In an e-mail on Tuesday, my daughter mentioned that Little Babe had a cold. Aha.

Wednesday I saw my wonderful massage therapist who did a bang-up job of a lymph massage on me and I got up off her table . . . still with a cold . . . but no longer feeling S-I-C-K. Amazing. And wonderful. A simple, old cold I can handle. The biggest problem is that when I sleep at night there must be some swelling somewhere that causes me to snore (my husband says like a buzz saw), and I'm keeping him awake. Matter of fact, it's so loud it wakes ME up. Hope this isn't a permanent affliction because Roy left our bed two nights ago. We have only one bedroom so the first night he spent trying to sleep (unsuccessfully) on the couch. Last night he slept very well, he claims, on a foam pad in a sleeping bag on the floor of my quilt room . . . the room farthest away from our bedroom.

Right now I'm sipping a cup of hot sage tea which I really don't care for but has always been the go-to remedy when someone in the family has a cold. Our daughter grabs a cup whenever she's feeling peckish as it's a "comfort" drink for her. Having grown up with it, she associates it with caring concern and being coddled.

Enough complaining about my cold. I really don't feel that bad at all now . . . and I have another lymph massage scheduled for Saturday to make sure I keep these germies moving on out of my body. By Monday and two more gallons of sage tea, I'll be tip-top again.