The upside of cold.

There are some bonuses to this deep freeze we’re in. No, really. I swear.

1. It barely snows. This is because maintaining temps this low requires zero cloud cover.
2. The roads are bare. I have seen ice shrink away & disappear in these temps. The dry air just sucks the moisture out of everything.
3. You can let your vehicle warm up in the morning, and not one environmentalist is going to yell at you. They’re all inside, staying warm.
4. It’s a great topic of conversation. People love to talk about how cold it is, how cold it was 40 years ago, how cold it might get tonight, and when it’s going to fucking warm up out there.
5. You can look like the abominable snowman – layers of coats, mitts, hats – and nobody cares. As long as your eyes are uncovered for driving, you’re good.
6. It’s a great reason to stay in and cuddle up with a book. Not like a need a reason for that, but still, it’s there.

Winter’s joys know no end.

Today is cold.  Holymotherofgod cold.  It hit -30c overnight at our house.  This equates to rock hard van seats, frozen nose hairs in under 1 minute, and tires that feel kind of square and bumpy when you drive down the road.  For me, it also means I lose my mind – brain cells are frozen? – and bury my van in the small unplowed portion of a friend’s (plowed) driveway.  I am a talent.

*takes a bow*

At one point, I sincerely believed a tow truck would be required.  But no, we women saved the day and dug out the MomVan.  Have you ever gotten a sweat at -30C?  It’s not pleasant.  Hell, at least I got a workout.

Sleep.

I have put in a lot of zzzz-time this week.

Wednesday (aka One of the Longest Days of My Life Thus Far):   up at 3:30 am BC time, back in BC by 9:45, at my desk by 11 am.  I was a horrible bitch by the time 5 pm rolled around, but I made it through the day.  Barely.  Take out for dinner, and the boys & I crashed at 8:30.  In my bed.  How could I resist them asking to sleep in my bed, when I’d been gone for several days?

Thursday: well-rested, I made it to 9 pm.  Go, me.

Friday:  I think I saw the beginning of a 9 pm show.  Maybe.  One kid at my feet on the couch, another on the  smaller couch, and we were all out cold.*

Saturday:  went to visit (nudge, wink) my husband, and I barely saw 8 pm.  Yet again, crashed with my kids in the bed.

Tonight?  I think I might see 10 pm.  Woo.  And I have tomorrow off, so there could be napping in my future.

*I completely forgot the kids had been chewing gum on Friday night.  A’s ended up on the living room floor.  J’s ended up in his hair.  I did the old peanut butter trick, which helped a bit, but I still had to cut out a chunk of hair.  He’s due for a cut, and it’s not noticeable, but what a pain in the ass.

Miss me?

I’d bet nobody’s even reading anymore.  Maybe Betty.  And Special K.  Candy, you’d better be here…I hung in all those months your baby was a bum.  Remember?

So.  I’m back from the first business trip of 2008.  Which was quite enjoyable.  Great food (too much of it, but it’s my ass), a few drinks, and a climate much like home:  snow and damn cold.

I am also happy to report that I did talk with my doctor, and a plan is underway.  It’s already working, and I’m sleeping much better and feeling pretty good.  Whee!

I have to get back to my kids.  The ones I didn’t really miss until I was on the way home today.   Actually, I missed them enough to buy them each touristy t-shirts and mail postcards.  (they have yet to arrive)

Later.

Off like a nun’s habit.

Business trip #1 of 2008.  Gone until mid-week.  D home only to have me leave.

Such is my new life.

Later!

The animals, they annoy and amuse.

Birdie is a funny cat.  No need to buy her fancy cat toys – she’s perfectly happy with the Ultimate Freebie:  the milk jug pull tab.  Seriously.  She chased one around this house for four days before it finally landed in the water bowl.  Water bowl = no cat’s land, because she won’t go in & fish it out.

Goldie is just sweet, but kind of gross.  If she’s not licking her chops (bleh) loudly, she’s farting.  Or eating the food as fast as she can so Wiley won’t get any.  Or slurping down water.  I swear, I need earplugs just to survive a full day at home with her.

Rastis is going to lose a kitty life pretty damn soon.  Middle of the night scratching on the door jambs?  NOT great for my sleep.  And how many times can I toss his fat ass off the bed before he gets the message?  Urgh.

Cookie.  Well, she’s the pity case.  I’d guess she’s 80-90% blind now, in both eyes.  She creeps around the house, navigating through the old bump-and-redirect method.  Her biggest peeve is Birdie, who views her as easy prey.  I think she hides most of the day, and then comes out at night.  Not surprisingly, nighttime is filled with her hissing.  Fun.

And Gizmo.  Our mouser has finally started to bulk up, now that the meese have gone to ground and he’s not hunting.  He’s enjoying a warm & cozy winter, and he’s probably the least annoying fur-bearing mammal in the house these days.

Wiley is the same as ever.  He’s scratching a lot, which makes me think he needs a bath.  I just don’t have the energy to give him one….such an Ordeal.  He’s a happy dog as long as he can sleep on a couch.

I should probably pretend every month is November.

Maybe then I’d post.

It’s January.  Bleh.  This is possibly my least favourite month of the year, and I just realized that today.  December, with all it’s food, alcocohol, gifts and bonhomie, is gone.  Spring seems eons away.  And winter has settled in fully.  This means snow, snow, snow, and some more snow.  When it’s not snowing, it’s -25C.  Or +5C, when we get teased with melting snow.  Ha.  This crap isn’t melting for real until April.  Fun.

I simply don’t have much to say right now.  I continue to be too busy at work, too impatient with my children, and pissy in general.  Hopefully this will change soon, however.

I’m off on another business trip next week.  Woo.  The bright spot is that I’m flying to Vancouver first, and will have almost an entire day with my sister, and the evening with some great friends who always know how to make me laugh.

See?  Nothing.  Boring.  Bleh.  I’ll try harder next time.

Fuckity fuck.

Sometimes, swearing is really fucking appropriate.

About two hours ago, I heard a weird noise outside.  Thought it was the wind.  Or the neighbour’s dog, who has been known to escape and come to say hello.  No such luck.  After weeks of snowfall, the 8 (10?) inches piled on the garage roof decided to come down.  It’s a lovely metal roof, which means when it warms up just enough – like today – the snow just slides right off.

I stood in the garage, gaping at the growing pile.  Then, when it appeared to be done, I started shoveling.  That was an hour ago, and I just heard the rest of the white shit slide off.  Because nooooo, the four fucking tonnes of fucking snow I shoveled was nowhere near all of it.

Just heard more crash down.  Oh, the unmitigated joy.

So.  It’s 10 pm.  And I’ve got to shovel again.  If I don’t, the temperature will doubtless drop to minus-something-evil, and voila!  Solid ice mountain on which to practice my winter climbing.

Fuck.

At last, an idea I can really get behind.

Christina has the right idea: Un-Resolutions.

I’ve been sitting here tonight, thinking I should post something – profound or otherwise (aka the Usual Dreck) – and then I stumbled upon her list. A list to which I can fully relate.

I don’t make resolutions, because I fail to see the point. There are many things on my mental to-do list that I’d love to accomplish, but the fact that January 1st has rolled around doesn’t change them. Hell, it doesn’t even emphasize how little I’ve done to attain them in years past. My list would include the usual suspects: lose weight, be better pseudo-single parent, pay off debt, do some home DIY, blah blah blah. My inner self berates me quite regularly about this shit. That self laughs at resolutions.

Special K & I had a wonderful chat tonight. If I haven’t mentioned it lately, K, I am so grateful you are my sister-friend. Who else calls just when I’m having a moment and says she loves me? Who else worries about me and the current situation I’m in?** Nobody does it quite like you, K. And I can’t thank you enough. You didn’t laugh when I mentioned I think I may need to talk to my doctor about a few things. Specifically, I seem to be perpetually angry with my kids (and they’re just being kids), I don’t have a lot of adult backup available, and I’m stressed to the point of no longer enjoying certain things I once did. So, maybe it’s time for some intervention. Who knows.

In 2008:

1. I will not feel guilty when my blog is neglected. My handful of readers (hi) would expect nothing more.

2. I will not stop procrastinating. About anything, everything, and whatever I want.

3. I will not stop saying NO to further outside commitments (some asshat tried to convince me to run for school trustee next fall. HA! I say).

That’s it for now. Can’t think of more.

**My mom & sister probably do, but they’re required to.  It’s a family thing.