We definitely dodged another weather bullet.  It was 33 or 34 all night, so we only got rain & sleet.  Most of the original sleet/snow from last week has melted.  There’s a 50/50 chance of some more snow tonight and tomorrow but with the temperature hanging at just above freezing, it doesn’t sound very threatening.  Unlike places to the north of us who had a foot of snow last week and got another foot of snow last night.  Big wet slushy snow that is also causing power outages.  Not Good.

My little 25 minute presentation (done 4 x in a row) on the heart and exercise went ok.  I allowed 3 or 4 minutes for questions at the end; not many questions were asked.  The function of heart and circulatory system pretty straight forward and not too exciting. But I think the exercise part went well.  Students counted their pulse sitting; then stood up and marched in place for a minute & counted pulse again.  More information about pulse rates and positive effects of exercise…along with healthy diet and plenty of rest.  I’m not going to quit my day job to get on the “speaker/presenter” circuit.   It was out of my comfort zone for sure.

Brenda spent part of her day at RMS.  She covered the office for the 2 hours I was out talking to 6th graders; then she got the letters to 7th grade parents organized by home room so all I had to do was put them in the teachers’ mailboxes. They will hand them out with 3rd quarter report cards.  It’s been in effect for several years, but many parents & students are still unaware that a Tdap (Tetanus, diptheria and pertussis) is required before being allowed into the 8th grade. I’ll be alone tomorrow, but should only have “the usual” student visits and medications to deal with.  

Nurses meeting after school to discuss/brainstorm issues & problems we were having; and share solutions we’ve figured out.  After the official meeting we did a bit of socializing…Sandy showed me the infinity scarf she made and gave me verbal instructions on its construction.  I must make one.  Angie mentioned she’d like one in pale pink.  It takes a skein of yarn and size 13 needles.  Done completely in popcorn stitch. A good project; perhaps good for flight to and from CA, using bamboo circular needles….

Lucas will hang out with Mike & Birdie (AKA Groom & Room) while we are gone…and get a shampoo & trim before we pick him back up. I have an appt. to get my hair cut before we leave.  Flights book to Sacramento, staying with Paul the first few days, then he’ll drive us down to Los Angeles where we’ll all hang out for another few days.  Then Dennis & I fly home out of LAX.  It turns out that even checking 2 bags coming and going, it is cheaper to fly American Airlines than Southwest.  It’s also cheaper to fly out of St. Louis than Springfield, even counting the cost of parking.  This being our 2nd trip to Los Angeles, I was a lot smarter when I booked our hotel. I made sure the price included parking and breakfast. All plane and hotel reservations have been made.  My credit card looks anemic after that workout.

It was a busy day at work. 84 students darkened my doorway.  Quite a few genuinely sick students–both fevers and vomiting.  Not necessarily together.  After work I picked up a few groceries to make it thru the next couple of days.  It was sleeting before I got home. We’d just finished eating when Dennis got the call to report to work for “winter weather duty”.  I suspect he’ll start spreading chemicals to keep the roads from freezing.  There is sleet with some snow mixed in still falling.  Right now we are in the 2-4″ of snow accumulation “band” of the storm.  Up around Columbia (90 miles north) it is a foot or more.  It’s 34 so far, but supposed to drop below freezing during the night. Did I mention it is also very windy?  I guess this is payback for all those winter storms that went to the north or south of us in December & January.

This is health & safety week at RMS.  Tomorrow I’m supposed to do a little 25 minute presentation about the heart and exercise. Some anatomy of the heart and how it pumps the blood.  Then how to check your pulse.  Students will count their pulse sitting at their desks.  Then we’ll  march in place for a minute & recheck their pulse to see how much it increased.  Finally encouragement for students to keep moving and exercise, followed by questions.  Oh, boy. 

It was sunny and got up into the 40′s today.  Lots of melting happened.  Unfortunately it is going to re-freeze tonight.  The roads however are dry.  So the trick will be remaining upright from the house to the car, and from the school parking lot to the school.  Tomorrow will start out nice, but cloud up and rain.  It will be above freezing so hopefully the ground will thaw.  Monday night into Tuesday, the rain is supposed to change to snow, as the temperature drops.  It will be a long 5 days, but I hope we don’t have enough snow to cancel school.  

Even with another 4 days off, I didn’t get to the bottom of my “to do” list.  Unfortunately TAXES has now come to the top of the list, so I’ll be dealing with that unpleasant task in the near future.  I definitely want to have them done before Spring Break.  

I watched “The Walking Dead” tonight.  It is interesting that even in the face of constant threat of Zombie attack, groups of people can’t get along.  

Down to the nitty gritty of details on where and when over Spring Break.  Paul is taking leave so that leaves Hannah and her work schedule to figure out.  And trying to see friend Miranda.  Totally worth the headache.  But it is still a headache.  

It got above freezing, so there was some thawing, which means that this sleet has turned into a 2+” thick sheet of ice.  Dennis is on the church maintenance committee (Board of Trustees is the fancy name they call it) and he talked to the other members. They all agreed that considering their ages and the amount of ice to be removed, they should hire someone to plow out the church parking lot and sidewalks.  Of course there will still be work that has to be done in the morning, but the hardest part of the job has been taken care of.  Dennis went to Lowe’s in Rolla and got more bags of salt and sand to put on the refrozen water/ice in the morning.  It’s supposed to drop back down in the teens tonight.

Dennis talked with Paul tonight.  Making plans for our visit Spring Break.  WooHoo!  I can’t wait to hug that boy…who is 29 and probably doesn’t consider himself a boy any more.  Trying to figure out the best place to spend our time…having Paul come to LA and hang out in there or if Hannah can arrange days off and all of us hang out at his house in Sacramento.  We don’t care where we spend our time; it’s just about being with our kids.  

We had Indian Summer Soup with pita bread tonight.  I had to use regular split (green) peas because no one around here had the yellow kind the recipe called for.  But we had some butternut squash from our garden still hanging around in the basement, and some shredded coconut I froze earlier this year.  At some point I WILL make that coconut cream pie.  All cooked in vegetable broth with cumin, garlic and red pepper for seasoning.  It was good.

I spent part of the afternoon making cards…since I’m a Troglodyte and still hand write letters/notes and use snail mail.  I have 2 aunts who do not have computers or internet, and a dear friend who is also a troglodyte and writes me wonderful letters. For my friends and relative who have computers, I keep my blog.  Because I AM the center of the universe and everyone wants to know what I am doing. 

When Dennis got up (after snow plowing til 7 AM) about noon, he dug out the VW.  I originally planned to go to the pharmacy and bank by foot.  It would have been slick and a bit dangerous, with all the  piles of snow here and there from the snow plows.  Sidewalks become an obstacle course.  So I appreciated his effort to make my day easier.  I thought the front L. tire looked a bit low last week, and today it definitely looked low. When I checked the pressure today, it was low.  So I added stopping by Delano’s Gas station to use their air pump to fill the tire to my list of things to do. I should have taken care of it while the weather was warmer. So now I have my generic “Boniva” to take tomorrow and got assorted checks deposited in the bank.  This afternoon Dennis and I both took a nap.  

I got up in time to watch “Jeopardy”  (my great-grandmother Weathers used to be a big Jeopardy fan) and then fixed supper. I made salmon patties with a coconut milk/curry sauce.  Asparagus & pickled beets for the vegetables. 

The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicted “Sunny, then snow showers, cold” for Feb 14-22.  It’s going to be in the teens tonight and not get above 30 tomorrow.  From the 23-28 it predicts “sunny turning mild.  Not sure that’s in the forecast.  Monday it’s supposed to be above freezing and we get rain, but more snow in the forecast for Tuesday.  This is about right for February.  Some years it is the coldest and has the most snow.

I’m still reading The Blood of Free Men, about the liberation of Paris at the end of WWII.  When we were in France (June 2001), Normandy in particular, several of the French locals commented that the Peace Museum and cemetery at Normandy didn’t tell the whole story of how the French felt about the liberation of France.  This book is delving into that.  All the different French political factions and lack of unity within the Resistance.  It’s rather dry reading, but the facts are compelling enough to keep me going.  

It was 5:20 AM when I got the call…saying Rolla Public Schools were not in session due to predicted winter storm.  At that point, there was no sign of the impending weather.  I turned off the alarm and went back to sleep.  I woke up to the sound of Dennis scraping the bottom of his cereal bowl with the spoon and sleet.  I think we have between 2 & 3″ of sleet with a little ice glazing from some freezing rain mixed in with the sleet.  Dennis put a tarp over the windshield of the VW, just in case I had to go in to work today.  My mom called.  In Arkansas they were getting freezing rain, but not enough to cause broken tree branches of downed electric lines. Even though Governor Nixon declared a state of emergency for the entire state, we got lucky.  If this had been freezing rain, it would have been really bad. There would have been lots of people with no electricity. 

Dennis napped most of the day.  I did a few quiet projects around the house.  About supper time I got a call saying no school again tomorrow.  2 of the 3 snow days are now gone.  I’m not going to say I am not enjoying these unplanned days off, but I hope we don’t miss any more school.  I want Spring break and to get out on time in May.

Even though I stayed inside, our neighbors got out and enjoyed the slippery conditions.The dad is pulling 2 kids on a sled behind his little tractor/mower. They had a great time. If we lived near hills, they could have been sledding.  

When it was time for Dennis to go to work, he managed to get his truck stuck in the neighbors driveway. (I have no clue what he was doing in that driveway…)  I went out and helped get it in the road so he could drive to work.  And by helped, I mean I was inside the cab; I gently gave it gas and slowly released the clutch while he pushed. 

One of my quiet projects this afternoon was looking for recipes using only ingredients I have in the house.  Tomorrow we will have Salmon Patties with coconut curry sauce and asparagus (canned).  

It’s coming.  No doubt about it.  When will it arrive?  Will it be snow, sleet or freezing rain?  And how much?  No one knows. 

I’m a little freaked out right now.  Not about the weather but all the violence in Los Angeles.  My daughter lives there.  A dead woman was found in a water tank on the roof of the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.   She had been missing a few days. They found her because the guests were complaining of low water pressure.  I’m creeped out because that is where Dennis and I stayed a year ago.  I’d already decided on a different hotel this year.  Not because I thought where we stayed was dangerous, but because of the parking (or lack of parking/cost of parking) issue.  

MODoT sent workers home early today, so they could come in tonight…because there is a chance of some precipitation arriving during the night.  I don’t know if they’ll be spreading salt/chat mixtures ahead of the storm, or getting the plows ready to go. Even though schools around the area have already announced a snow day, Rolla Public Schools sent its students and teachers home with the advice “Plan to be here tomorrow”.  

And on that note, I’m going to bed. 

Hopefully I’ll be ready to jump back into work and craziness tomorrow morning.  It was a cold (but above freezing) rainy, dreary, gray day. The rain stopped & it is still above freezing…34. It’s also windy.  I was happy to stay inside and not do much today.  Made 11 bean soup and cornbread for supper.  Left-over spaghetti for lunch.  Yogurt & coffee for breakfast.  The last of the Peach & Mango juice as my mid-morning “snack”.  

The broccoli is up but looks spindly. Dennis got the grow lights set up this morning.  He also got the beets, lettuce, spinach & turnips in the ground before the rain started this morning.

I’m reading The Blood of Free Men.  It’s about the liberation of Paris during WWII.  I’m shocked at how “dry” it is.  Just facts so far, and nothing personal.  :/  Hopefully it will get better.

Hopefully next Saturday, in addition to seeing Jax & his parents, we can look at a place in NW Springfield.  6.8 acres but inside city limits.  We drove by it last Saturday…the house looks “rough” on the outside. It has a couple of out buildings and was obviously once a farm.  Unfortunately there would be close neighbors, so raising livestock (especially goats) would be out of the question.  LOL  I only say goats because I found a website that showed how you could feed your family on 4 acres, and it included 2  goats &  about a dozen chickens.  Goats for milk as well as meat.  I guess you could eat some of the chickens too, if a hen was broody and hatched more chicks.  Springfield allows a certain number of chickens (like 4 or 6) inside city limits but no roosters. So the hatching chicks would be out of the question in this location.  Not sure I even want goats, no matter where we live.  I prefer rabbits for meat and their “poop” is great fertilizer.  We had chickens for eggs and rabbits for meat back in Arkansas.  It worked out quite well.  We had 5 acres and our main grocery items were milk, coffee, tea & cereal.  Dennis can’t do without his Honey Nut Cheerios.  We bought peanut butter and flour and cornmeal and oatmeal too.  And salt, yeast, baking powder & baking soda & some spices.  It would be hard to live without anything you didn’t grow or produce yourself.  I really don’t want to go there, but growing most of your food is appealing.

There’s a scary winter storm on the horizon for Thursday.  At least our local weather people are making it sound that way. Originally we were getting snow, but now freezing rain. Dennis & I have got our emergency plan in place…just in case we get a lot of ice and lose power.  We can close off all the house but the kitchen (gas stove…have the top burners for heat) dining room and 1 bathroom.  I’ll have to trust that burning a couple candles in the bathtub & sink will keep those closed off bathrooms above freezing.  Knock on wood, we’ve never (so far) been very many hours without power during the winter.  

We had a little family reunion at my parents house this afternoon.  It was great to sit around and share stories of “the kids table” where we were forced to eat when children, and after a few years of “adult table” experience, were banished back to the children’s table with our own kids.  I don’t remember my own parents being forced to eat at the children’s table…  It was fun to hear childhood stories from my mom & her sister, my Aunt Jo.  Some of the stories I’ve heard before, but today a few more details came out.  I have some follow up questions…  

The broccoli is up. Tomorrow Dennis will have to set up the grow lights. I need to do some research on zinnias.  I want to grow a lot of them.  Our jonquils are almost blooming.  I’m not sure there is going to be a window of opportunity to plant the beets, lettuce & spinach tomorrow.  We are supposed to get rain.  On Thursday, it looks like our snow will be freezing rain or sleet.  

We had pizza for lunch, then stopped at Panera on the way home.  I had their “pick 2″.  Cup of tomato soup with 1/2 grilled cheese sandwich.  YUMMY!  I have mixed beans soaking for soup tomorrow.   I may bake some bread.  After being on the road so much the past few days, I want a day at home.

We had a little family reunion at my parents house this afternoon.  It was great to sit around and share stories of “the kids table” where we were forced to eat when children, and after a few years of “adult table” experience, were banished back to the children’s table with our own kids.  I don’t remember my own parents being forced to eat at the children’s table…  It was fun to hear childhood stories from my mom & her sister, my Aunt Jo.  Some of the stories I’ve heard before, but today a few more details came out.  I have some follow up questions…  

The broccoli is up. Tomorrow Dennis will have to set up the grow lights. I need to do some research on zinnias.  I want to grow a lot of them.  Our jonquils are almost blooming.  I’m not sure there is going to be a window of opportunity to plant the beets, lettuce & spinach tomorrow.  We are supposed to get rain.  On Thursday, it looks like our snow will be freezing rain or sleet.  

We had pizza for lunch, then stopped at Panera on the way home.  I had their “pick 2″.  Cup of tomato soup with 1/2 grilled cheese sandwich.  YUMMY!  I have mixed beans soaking for soup tomorrow.   I may bake some bread.  After being on the road so much the past few days, I want a day at home.