40 Years Ago...Do You Remember?

Do you remember January 26th, 1978?  That was the question of the day last week.  Why? Because we had a blizzard run through Ohio.

I remember that day quite well.   We lived in the apartment over Jack's office.  We had a 2 year old and a 4 month old. The baby chose that time to get really sick.  The day after the storm the town was still paralyzed.  Our car was buried (no garage) and I couldn't get hold of our Pediatrician.  I managed to find a Doctor and, thankfully, a good friend had a car that wasn't buried in tons of snow and came to our rescue.  All turned out good but I know there were tons of stories of other rescues, women going into labor and not making it to the hospital, the turnpike closed down, snowmobiles making runs to bring supplies into the rural areas around us for folks who were snowed in for weeks.   The hospital had the nursing staff stay at the hospital.  I wasn't working there yet! I started there in the Summer!  We moved to Ashland in January of 1977 and that was a horrible Winter season too.  I wondered if that would be the norm for us and wondered why we chose to live  here and not Hawaii!  I'm sure everyone has a time in their life where they remember a crisis of some sort.   You can picture that time like it was yesterday.  The look, the feel, the excitement, or perhaps the fear.  I find that amazing because I can hardly remember what I did yesterday!  I do know this...I was 24 years old in January of '78 and these 40 years have flown by.  There have been other times of remembrance...good and bad.  I'm grateful for those times because it pushes you to grow, endure, have memories to share around the campfire, and be prepared if they happen again.   January 2018 is coming to a close.  After a warm weekend with lovely sunshine yesterday,  today the temperature fell again and so did the snow.   No blizzard, just lovely, quiet snowflakes that coated the ground.

I doubt this day will be engraved in my memory pool but I'll have this photo of our path into the woods that hopefully will remind me of a quiet walk with my sweet dog,  my camera, and the beauty of a January day.

A Year In The Life

My 2017 blog book arrived yesterday.   When I first starting blogging in 2008 I didn't know you could make a book from your blog.  I didn't post as much back then and when I found out you could put your blog in book form I actually put 2008 and 09 together to make my first book.  This year's book is the smallest one I've done since then.  I also forgot to check what kind of cover material I wanted and got a soft copy instead of a hard cover.  Oh well, I'll probably just reorder another one and give this one to Mom.  It's easier for her to read than going on the computer and she enjoys looking at all the photos too.   There are times I've considered quitting, but when the book comes and I see all the events and family gatherings put in print I realize it's a journal of sorts.   I'm no great author but someday I hope a family member will take the time to look at them and remember what we did together or read about what I did with my time in this life.  Mundane? Probably.  Repetitive? Yes, many times I've repeated a tribute to a family member and I always put a post in on the holidays and frankly those don't change much year to year...except we all age a bit!  Important?  It is to me and that's all that matters isn't it?   I use Sharedbook.com to make my book.  It's pretty easy and depending on the number of pages, not too expensive.   Anyway, how can I put a price on a year in  the life of us? 

New book!

One of many books in my fast growing library!  Almost as fast "growing" as the years have been fast "going". 

Sunshine On My Shoulders

The past few days have been fabulous, weather wise.  We've had a slow warm up this week and today it topped out around 40 degrees...flip flop weather up here!  Add sunshine to that and you have many happy faces around these parts.  I took Chubbs for a little walk this afternoon since the Vet said he had gained a couple of pounds.  Jack told him it was because of the holidays!  Good for a chuckle but the fact is we haven't been able to get him out walking too much because of the bitter cold.   So today I put on my slogging around the Pines boots.  (No flip flops for me...I leave those to the Walmart goers!)

The snow is slowly melting as you can see in the next pic:

After a bit our son Phil showed up to pick up some packages he had sent here and he had Addy with him.  Chubbs was ready to go back inside so Addy and I took a little walk into the Creepy Woods....they're not so Creepy with no leaves on the trees.  Addy enjoyed climbing on the logs and letting the sun shine on her shoulders!

She wanted to check out the Alpacas next door so we went over to see if the neighbors would mind letting us take a close up peek.  Kerry (our new neighbor) was super gracious about having us take a tour.

Hi guys!  Well, the blond one is a not a guy but a girl who Kerry thinks is preggo!  I can't wait to see if  they get babies.  I'm betting they are adorable!

She showed Addy how to hold out her hand and give them some feed.

She loved it!  We had a fun time learning about Alpacas and Kerry's girls and Addy hit it off.  Addy made some new friends and learned something new!  The girls had a blast in the barn and when the Alpaca came in the barn they starting rolling all over in the dirt.

I guess that's something they love to do!  Stirred up a bunch of dust!   We had to head back home but with a promise to visit again.  Thanks Kerry and family for letting us have an adventure today!  I  hope the sun shown bright on your shoulders today too!

In The Thick Of It

My previous post was one of lush green.  The snow had melted and the rains fell in abundance.  The 58de temps were such a gift.  Then Friday arrived.  I got hit by some kind of bug and was sick as a dog!  It was one of those times when at first you thought you were going to die and then you were afraid you wouldn't!  Thankfully it passed as quick as it arrived since this is my call weekend.  It's been quiet so far but it's not over until 6:30 am.  It's the only time I truly look forward to Monday morning when it's over!    So what do you do when you're hanging around the house on a weekend when Mother Nature decides to pull a fast one?  When she reminds you that you are in the thick of Winter?

Enjoy the pretty snow?

Snow blow that pretty snow?

I think Jack looks like Mr. Freeze!   While he was having fun clearing our driveway I did do a small bit of shoveling then headed into the house to do some baking.

Homemade bread made the house smell wonderful.

This cake was interesting....I had wanted to try this recipe but consider this a failure.  It didn't really have a taste that made me want to make it again! 

My slow cooker roast was much better!  So that's how we roll when were in the thick of Winter.  January is half over and I can't say I'm sorry it's going so fast.  Something else I did to past the time was read a book I got for Christmas from Craig and Amy.  It's really a young adult fiction read but it was super good and I would recommend it.

It's about a young girl in England during WWII.   I downloaded the sequel and finished that too!  They were both great!  Check them out if you're in the thick of Winter in your area!  And if you're someplace warm...well, just enjoy that I guess!

It's In The Air

Just about a week ago we were in a cold snap...a very bitter cold snap and also snow.   Slowly the air started to warm up to a balmy 20 degrees.   Funny how warm that feels after below zero!  Flash forward to today...56 degrees...above zero!  I was expecting to see tulips coming up.  Well, that didn't happen but it felt so nice out, even though it was raining.   The snow has all melted.

Green grass!   Yesterday was nice too and Jack and I got all the outside decorations down and put away for another year.   But there is change in the air along with the rain.

If you click on this pic you can see the big drops coming down!  I left work early today and took time to read a new book and enjoy the rainfall.   I was also able to get out before it really came down hard to clean up the yard.  Having a dog makes that a necessary chore.   I call it picking up the Chubber nuggets..you can call it hauling poo...whatever.   Clean yard, clean deck, no decorations and now it's time for the snow to return.  We're under a Winter weather advisory starting tomorrow.   Much ice is coming this way followed by much snow.   How much snow nobody really knows for sure, but of course I'm on call this weekend and I'll be very happy to not have to haul my keister into the hospital during a blizzard.   Wish me luck.   Speaking of something in the air, some changes are happening at our hospital and it's making for some very unhappy employees.  Welcome corporate medicine.  One of the changes has to do with overtime pay..or lack of.  That's a hot topic I'd rather not get into but the other one is the taking away of the Kuerig coffee machine.  That doesn't bother me since I don't drink the stuff or use that machine but it sure has everyone else in a panic. Plus the cafeteria used to give employees free coffee, tea or hot chocolate.  Not anymore.   So I'll just leave that hanging in the air and show my new work shoes:

Comfy and cute...something to smile about at work at least.  If the air is changing in your neck of the woods I hope it's a good change and everyone stays safe and warm!

Is It Cold Out?

Today the weather was a big part of our conversations at work.   We have a TV in our break room but it's very seldom on because everyone is always looking at their phones.  However,  today the weather station was turned on just to see the temps and the "cyclone bomb" out East.  OK,  I'd be a liar if I said we weren't smirking at the shots from South Carolina's snow and the 44 degree temps in Miami. Us Northerners can be mean!   Still,  the conversations going on were kind of funny.   Here's how one dialog went:  "Hey, I thought it was suppose to be really cold outside today" (This is at 7 AM)   Someone chimed in and said:  "Yeah, I walked outside and thought it was pretty warm!"  I had to put my 2 cents in:  "I know! My car thermometer said it was 18 degrees! I don't know what everyone is complaining about."   We all agreed that it would be really cold by tomorrow so I guess I'll have to wait and see how the talk goes in the morning.  This afternoon one of our co-workers came in from another hospital building down the road all bundled up from head to toe.  I heard at least 3 people ask her if it was cold outside.  Seriously?  She had a few words to say about the cold and I won't print them here because it's a family blog after all.  So, I'll ask the million dollar question:  "Is it cold outside in your neck of the woods?"   Hello January.