February 26, 2007

The weekend continued to be lovely with the exception of some frayed hormones yesterday morning.  These periods that have resumed with ridiculous force after being so mild as menopause picked up speed are just driving me nuts.  I never had PMS before, but wow, it's crazy now.

I did get a good bit of cleaning done yesterday that I'd been wanting to do for a long while and got a decent start to laundry.

A couple of people have written to ask about Belle, the dog that is mine but who I can never touch because she's so fearful of humans.  We did manage to trap her a year ago and get her spayed so that there would be no more holes in the woods filled to the brim with her puppies (thanks again to the kind person who helped that happen). 

Belle is still around and still won't let us touch her, but she's really glad to see us when we get home.  She lives in our front yard, visits her puppies who turned a year old in early September and protects the house from intruders.  She's such a dear thing and I don't look for anything to change in terms of how she interacts with us.  She'll walk close to me if she's following me up the driveway, but the minute I turn around, she re-establishes the dancing distance to a safe 5-6 feet.  In many ways, she's the best dog I've ever had.  I would just love to give her a cuddle.

Here are pictures from this morning (sorry about the long load time):

That girl does love to dance in the snow

Our grill

Muggles in the snow our back.  She's actually standing up on
the shelf of snow that is under the new snowfall from last night

Awwww.  Does sumbuddy wanna come in outta de snoooow???

We have gotten about a foot and a half of snow (cumulative) in the past week.  It'll snow like mad (as it's doing now), then the sun will come out and melt a bunch off the trees and we'll lose a few inches, then that will freeze overnight and more snow will fall onto the frozen shelf.  This will likely go on through May when we'll get to see the ground again.

What you see on the cars in the photos above is what fell yesterday afternoon and last night.  They were clean from the sun earlier in the day.

Time to get ready to play mailman.  I'll run between the snowflakes and dodge the slick spots!

Hugs,

February 24, 2007

It has been a lovely weekend so far.  It's only half over and already, I hate for it to end.  I feel as though I need a break and even though Eric did a great job of taking care of me today, just having tomorrow off of work doesn't feel like enough.  I need to feel caught up on so many things like sleep, thinking, reading, laundry, writing, house cleaning, snuggling, learning... I don't really feel proficient at anything.  I just feel like I am hurrying and hurrying and trying to catch up to a train that is getting further and further away from me.

I just started my period yesterday and I feel like no one should be able to bleed this much and still live.  I was going to work out today, but I didn't.  I felt too tired and devoid of strength to even try.  So I just did the mail, made a nice dinner (Dave came over) and spent the rest of the time lying around.

Eric and I watched "Be Cool," the sequel to "Get Shorty," which is a favorite of mine.  The sequel was good too.  I am almost finished listening to The Sweet Potato Queens' Field Guide to Men.  It feels like a rehash, but it's still nice to hear Jill's voice talkiing to me in the headphones.  I just heart her to pieces.

I had a real spiritual revelation that I'm still working on and enjoying sorting through.  I have decided that I am really very tired of labels.  What moved me initially was something I heard on the show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel.  Mike Rowe, the host, was talking to a man whose job it is to clean out septic tanks.  In the process of encountering one that was particularly foul (I think they were actually cleaning a grease trap at a school at the time), he asked the guest, "Are you a religious man?"  Without missing a step, the guy said, "No, but I am a spiritual man." 

That really moved me and set me off on a string of thoughts on the differences between being spiritual and being religious and the necessity (or not) of having a label to slap on your spirituality in the form of a religion.

So that's what I've been mulling.

My dreams have been intensely vivid and I can remember them clearly when I'm still between the worlds, but as soon as I become fully awake, they're gone. 

On Thursday, we got dumped with about 2 feet of snow in just a few hours.  It's still around.  A good bit melted off the trees today and that is about the only thing I enjoy about the snow.  When it melts away, it falls off the trees with these resounding *boom* noises that sound like an avalanche.  Sometimes, giant snowslides will fly off the roof and crash to the ground.  I just hope the cats move fast.

Last year, Creep, my oldest kitty, was under the shed when the snow came and we didn't see him for a couple of weeks.  Poor thing finally dug out and was all raggedy and starving.  He doesn't seem to be getting back under the shed this year.  I took three bins and stacked them up with fleecy blankets inside and made the "Cat Hotel" for the cats to crash in and they seem to like it. He has taken up residence on the bottom floor, so I believe he'll be safe.

The dogs love to play in the snow and it doesn't throw them off like the rain does.  When it's raining, they get all whiney and antsy and stupid. 

The snow plow has been knocking over my mailboxes, which is a pain.  I've lost about 3 on my route so far and the snowy part of winter has just begun.  Here's what the next few days look like:

Tonight: Mixed rain and snow then snow. Snow accumulation 1 inch. Probability of measurable precipitation 100 percent. South wind 20 mph. Low 34.

Sunday: Snow. Snow accumulation 5 inches. Probability of measurable precipitation 100 percent. South wind 17 mph. High 37.

Sunday Night: Snow. Snow accumulation 2 inches. Probability of measurable precipitation 90 percent. Southwest wind 12 mph. Low 34.

Monday: Rain. Probability of measurable precipitation 90 percent. South wind 13 mph. High 36.

Monday Night: Snow. Snow accumulation 6 inches. Probability of measurable precipitation 80 percent. Southwest wind 15 mph. Low 32.

Tuesday: Snow showers. Snow accumulation 2 inches. Probability of measurable precipitation 60 percent. High 35.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow showers. Probability of measurable precipitation 40 percent. Low 26.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Chance of snow. Probability of measurable precipitation 30 percent. High 36.

So I dunno, do you think it will snow?

We've still got at least a foot out there after today's thaw.  From the looks of that forecast, we've got another 15-16 inches coming by Wednesday when it clears off again. 

I should try to sneak out to town for provisions tomorrow before it gets bad.

Delivering the mail is going to be fun.

Eric has to work at Beale AFB installing a fire alarm system a couple of days this week, so I'll have to do the whole route (in snow, I pass off the dangerous stuff to him) and I'm telling ya, some of it might not get delivered.  After getting stuck the other day, I'm not eager for a repeat performance.  I'll do my best, but I'm not going to risk life, limb or vehicle for someone to get their new Oriental Trading Company catalog.  I love my route people, but I'd love to be around to deliver after the thaw instead of nursing my broken hip or seeing the world through a body cast.

By the way, that whole "rain, sleet, snow" thing is a poem someone wrote; it's not the law.  Like "parlay," it's really just guidelines.

And now I'm off to watch some TV and ease off into comfy sleep.  Tomorrow is pinochle day with our friends, Roy and Carolynda, which is always fun.  We're so blessed to know good folks to be around. 

I hope you're having a good weekend.

By all means, my friends, be particular,

Who I am:  I started my life as Katrina Marie Chapman and it was promptly learned that my beloved grandfather was unable to pronounce my name, so I became Kathy Chapman.  When I married my first husband, I became Kathy Humphrey.  When we divorced and later remarried, I was still Kathy Humphrey, but I started using my legal name with my new job as a preschool administrator and became Katrina Humphrey.  Then I married Eric Rasbold and became Katrina Rasbold.  Here, I'm just me.