What a Pleasant Surprise!

I just got a call from a friend of mine, who I had lost contact with some time ago. I had first met her in a chat room when I first got on the internet (back in 1997). It was so nice to talk to her and hear that she's doing well. What a nice surprise for the New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Nutcrackers and Other Thoughts

I didn't get to see the Nutcracker Ballet this year. So, right now I have the CD of the music playing. Almost as good... almost, but not quite.

Christmas is a little over a week away. I haven't even started my shopping yet. I am so behind this year. And, with the weather, I may not be able to get out and shop until June! Yep, it's snowing again today. They're predicting 5-8 inches for my area. I have not seen this much snow before Christmas as far back as I can remember. I had hoped to go out tonight to do some shopping, but I think that's not going to happen. It may be gift cards for everyone this year.

I didn't go to work today either. I called my boss this morning and he agreed that the roads were pretty treacherous and that I should just stay home. I live out in a rural area too, which doesn't help. They don't get roads cleared here until days after a storm. *sigh* The other lady I work with made it into the office but bailed out between noon and 1pm. So, I guess payroll and the banking will have to just wait until tomorrow.

I hate winter, I really do. Even though I've had a nice day staying at home (I still worked, I have lots of things I can do) but still, I'd rather have stuck to my regular schedule and gotten things done rather than having to face it all over again tomorrow.

But, the music from the Nutcracker sounds very nice. And, I'm enjoying the glass of wine in my hand. Guess I can't really ask for better, can I?

Snow! Enough Aleady!

Ok, so I don't like snow. In fact, these days, I HATE snow. We got about 8 inches Thursday night. I had an appointment Friday morning and had a heck of a time trying to get to the expressway. I tried one route from the town I live in and couldn't get more than a half mile from town. (Our terrific county can't get out this way to plow roads in a timely manner.) So, I had to turn around and head back to town or risk getting stuck somewhere. I tried another route from town to the expressway and had more success, got to the expressway but it took me triple the time it would normally have taken me. But, at least I got there. I made my appointment in time too.

That's the worst thing about snow, you know? You can very quickly lose your mobility with just a small amount of snow when you live in rural areas. I mean really, it's not like we got a foot or two. With the way the roads looked though, you would have guessed it was a real blizzard. Our county spends lots of money on equipment and payroll, but they can't get a job done quickly. To give you an example, everytime they're doing work in the summer you see their trucks on the side of the road. There's always one guy working and five watching him work. I think they could get jobs done much quicker if they ALL would work! But, that's not how things are done in the county I live in.

Back to the snow. I'm hoping we get all the snow before the holidays (no, I'm NOT going to say Christmas because I have a number of friends who are NOT Christians, and no they aren't going to Hell either because they have different beliefs) and then have a fairly snowless time the rest of the winter.

I can only hope, can't I?