Today a student asked me “Were you around during WWII?”  I said no.  And smiled.  ”Viet Nam?”  Yes.  Then he gave me a hug and left.  Not sure what was up with that, but I take my hugs where I get them.

More sickness at RMS.  Real sickness. Puking.  Fevers.  Scary reports of influenza all around but not exactly here in MO.  

It drizzled most of the day. Temperature in the lower 40′s.  I think more of the same tomorrow.

Saturday…heading for Springfield to hang with Jax and his parents.  No agenda, just hanging out and enjoying good company.  Perhaps a few games, if Jax allows.

We are down to patches of snow on the north side of the house. Warming trend continues.    

Work is the same…separating the whiners from the truly sick kids.  

Frugal living continues.  Smoked salmon from Christmas (thank you Delano’s) with some pickled beets, pickled okra and some of the potatoes I boiled Sunday (the worst sprouting ones from the garden) chopped and mixed with plain greek yogurt–mock potato salad I suppose.  Not bad, all things considered.  

Tomorrow night First Wednesday Club (moved to 2nd Wednesday due to proximity with New Year’s Eve).  Soup is the theme.  I have the turkey broth and “meat) from boiling down the carcass after Christmas thawing in the fridge.  I have some homemade noodles to toss into the pot tomorrow after work.  I might “toast” the left-over cornbread and take it along to go with the soups. I’m sure it will be lots of fun.  It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to catch up with all my “peeps”.  

Tomorrow is a big day.  My oldest son Paul turns 29.  Wow.  How did that happen??  

I’m making 2 New Year’s Resolutions.   I will have more fun.  I will say “no” less often.

I procrastinated Saturday.  Dennis watched (I was in & out) “The Scarlet Letter” last night.  It was NOT the book I remember from high school. LOL  It was still a good movie and the photography was incredible.  Great costumes too.  We made it to 5 PM church Saturday.  I like the informal service…and I feel more a part of the smaller group.  I made a quick supper of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Today was a bit busier and more productive.  After Sunday school I engraved the signs for Triad and got busy in the kitchen.  I boiled and peeled and diced the “sproutiest” potatoes in the basement.  We grew them; I need to be sure they don’t go to waste.  I didn’t have time to do anything else, so they are now in the refrigerator.  I also boiled the 4 chicken leg quarters and they are in the fridge, along with the chicken broth.  Perhaps some sort of chicken shepherds pie tomorrow night. 

We went to see “Parental Guidance” with Fred & Vicki, followed by supper at Cracker Barrel.  It wasn’t quite as much a splurge (dinner and a movie) because we saw the matinee and ordered from the “children’s menu”…which is for children of all ages, and about half the price of the regular meals.  I was plenty full with the children’s portion.  

I can’t believe the weekend is over.

Our house has cold floors.  It doesn’t have great insulation and the windows are single pane but most have storm windows over them–in other words, we live in a drafty old house.  I can dress in layers and cover up with a comforter on the couch.  But when my feet aren’t warm, I’m miserable.  So I bought a pair of down booties. Many years ago I had a pair of down booties, when I was a poor nursing student in IL, living in an even older, draftier house than this one.  They were wonderful.  I loved coming in from the cold and slipping my feet into them.  I don’t know what happened to those down booties, but now I have a new pair. They are just as wonderful as I remembered.  Life is good when your feet are warm.

I think everyone at RMS was happy when school was out today.  I’m glad there were only 2 days of work this week.  All 5 days will make for a long week ahead.  

It was sunny and above freezing this afternoon.  Most of the snow has melted but will be icy tonight when the remaining snow and water refreeze.  Dennis got the outside Christmas lights down this afternoon.  Which means I really MUST get the ornaments off the tree tomorrow.  

I’m not even sure what this means, but a student came in complaining that while she was sitting on the gym floor (during PE) someone “stepped on my ankle with both feet, FULL FLEDGED.”  A bit of sympathy and ice packed fixed it.  I also overheard another student lose the argument (with a principal) that he was power walking and not running in the hall.   Middle school students are not known for their good sense.

It was hard to get back into the work routine this morning.  I can get out of the work routine a lot faster. LOL  Tomorrow is Friday, and that’s a good thing.

Had a few deliveries to make and a few errands to run after work.  Thank goodness I just had to heat up the left-over pork loin (thank you again, Christa) and make some mashed potatoes & Gravy (from a package).  Still had some salad from Christa also. Tomorrow night I’ll use the last of the pork loin in stir fry.  I have some frozen stir-fry veggies in the freezer and plenty of rice. Saturday will be an experiment…a new recipe for sweet potato & apple soup.  

It’s hard to believe my Christmas break is over.  Tomorrow morning I’ll be back at work…and I’m sure it will be an interesting day.  Fortunately I only have to survive 2 days & it will be the weekend again.

I made some Valentine’s cards and cleaned up the mess.  The dining table is ready for dining once again.  Christa brought us a fabulous meal tonight.  Pork roast done to perfection, with baked sweet potatoes and salad.  THANK YOU!  

Mr. Smith, one of the assistant principals at RMS, gave the office staff a “keurig type” coffee maker for Christmas.  He wants us to all have enough caffeine to function at maximum efficiency.  We’ll have to supply our own coffee “kups”, so Martha brought me an assortment of cups to see me thru the long month of January.  Between the cold, the long nights and short days, caffeine is sometimes the only thing that keeps me on my feet.  THANK YOU!

Good night. Sweet dreams.  Tomorrow will be here much too soon.

One of the things I planned to do (originally on a smaller scale and before Christmas) was make cards.  I am still making cards. I planned to do Valentine’s cards today, but they continue to allude me.  I did find several sheets of red patterned paper this afternoon (as I dig thru (and try to organize) all the scrapbooking paper and “stuff” that I’ve accumulated over the past 15 or so years). Meanwhile, the designs and papers for “generic” note cards kept falling together, so I went with the flow.  I originally planned to have the whole mess cleaned up and put away before I went to bed tonight, but…   I feel like the Valentine ideas will come to me tomorrow.  

Dennis plowed snow on New Year’s Eve.  I stayed at home and made cards, then watched “Thin Man Again”.  I love that movie. It is one of the few movies where Jimmy Stewart turns out to be a very bad man.  Lucas and I were sleeping by midnight, but the fireworks woke us up.  I’m not sure who was setting them off…I didn’t even look to see which direction the noise was coming from.  

It was a cold day. Lucas & I went for a couple short walks/frolics.  I walked–a lot of slick/icy spots in the sidewalks while Lucas frolicked.  He loves the snow.  We don’t have any snow in the forecast, but we are in for some frigid weather over the next 3 or 4 days.  Winter has arrived…and seems to be sticking around. 

Dennis got home about 7 AM.  Slept til after noon.  I fixed our traditional New Year’s Day meal for supper–black-eyed peas, greens and cornbread.  We both enjoyed it. 

Dennis works tomorrow, but I have one more day off.  Hopefully I will get the Valentine Cards made and the mess cleaned up, and the decorations taken off the Christmas tree.  That way Dennis can pack the tree away at his convenience.  It is going to be hard to get up and go back to work on Thursday. 

It’s been snowing most of the day.  Dennis had to plow snow until noon because they day shift was short handed.  He came home and napped, then went back for his regular night shift.  It was 34 most of the day, so the snow never accumulated. this is what it looked like when I got up this morning (about 7 AM).I’m sure it snowed a couple of inches, but it never accumulated.  It’s just a slushy mess right now.  The real fun will begin when the temperature drops below 32 (it’s still 34).  

I’ve been a total bum today.  All I’ve done is make cards and watch TV.  I reheated the turkey/rice soup again for supper.  I’m hoping to be a complete bum tomorrow.

For several reasons, including previous commitments and possible bad weather, Martha decided to host her New Year’s Eve Party tonight–and end it by 10 PM.  We had a good time–lots of good snacks…some healthy, some not so healthy.  I had some of everything.  We caught up on each other’s lives since before Christmas and then played Mexican Train.  A good time was had by all.

Since the first week of my vacation was complicated by eye issues, today I finally started on the projects I intended to get done before Christmas.  Even though Christmas is over, I made some Christmas cards.  They will be fun to have next year.  I also made some Thank You and “hello” cards to have on hand.  Tomorrow morning I will finish up with the cards and move on to Jax’s stocking.  I might also look through the ornaments on the tree and put some of Matt’s in a box to take to him next time we visit.  Tuesday I will cut out the final strips for the quilt for my mom, and maybe do some sewing.  Also take down the Christmas tree. I’m trying to put things away more organized and boxes labeled correctly.  

The weather forecast sounds like we are in for some snow tomorrow afternoon and on thru the night.  It might start with freezing rain or a “wintery mix”.  I will probably hold down the fort here at home; Dennis will be plowing snow or putting salt on roads.  What a way to start 2013.

Some years I make resolutions/goals and some years I don’t.  I don’t think I’ll make resolutions this year.  They would be almost identical to the ones I’ve made in years past.  Eat healthier. Exercise more.  Be a better Christian/person. Then I throw myself a bone–read at least one book a week.  

but it might be a 3 dog night.  Dennis got sent home at midnight, then it started snowing in the wee hours of morning.  I guess they called in the day crew.  There was a dusting on the ground but it was still snowing when I got up to let Lucas out about 7 AM.It stayed gray and miserable out most of the morning.  Dennis napped watched TV most of the morning.  I puttered around the house, picking up and doing laundry.  Made some lists, tried to get focused & organized.  About 11 AM I gave up.  We went to Rolla and used the last of the remaining $$ on a couple Panera gift cards to have their “pick two” lunch.  I had a cup of tomato soup with 1/2 a grilled cheese sandwich.  Dennis had their onion soup and a turkey sandwich.  It hit the spot.  Then we went grocery shopping.  We were out of a lot of basics and stocked up on soups we can take to work on days there are no left-overs to pack.  Big Lots had a good variety of Progresso soups for $1.25 a can, so that worked out quite nicely.  We even found a big enough dog bed for Lucas.His old one was faded from being washed and the stuffing was rather flat, from several years of use.  We can use the old one just for when we board him.

I vaguely remember talking to someone (at a party no doubt) about the best glue for crafting type projects.  E-6000 is the name. It comes in a tube and they are serious when they say use only in a well-ventillated area. I suspect Hannah and I both have suffered some brain damage from not following those instructions.