Looking at the Sky on Friday - 38

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

This is the view out my back door yesterday, in the middle of a snowstorm:

The sky was completely gray. Then, today – as blue as blue can be!

I love that intense winter blue that comes after the snow! And now when I glance up from my kitchen sink, I see winter! I like the snow when I'm safe and warm inside, looking out at it, even if it does mean I'm taking my sky pictures through the window instead of actually going outside.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

That Was Not a 12

It was supposed to be really cold this morning. They were calling for -20° windchills.

We've got a thermometer out on the deck with a remote unit in our bathroom so I can check the temperature in the mornings before I get ready to go out and walk. This morning I glanced at it and thought it was a lot warmer than they thought it was going to be. I thought it said 12° - cold, but not quite so cold as I'd expected.

So I got dressed and went out to clean off the driveway one more time. The driveway wasn't so bad, but that wind was COLD! It was about then that I realized I had forgotten to put anything under my wind pants. When the temperature is in the 20's or 30's I don't need or want anything under them, but when it really gets cold I need the extra layer - a thin pair of stretch pants or a thicker pair of sweats depending on how cold. So, since I wasn't walking and I was just out on the driveway, I came in, took my boots off, and added a layer. I was much warmer after that. (Note that this is where I could use those Long Janes I mentioned in my last post.)

Anyway, the driveway wasn't too bad, and I got it cleaned off in time to take Cory to Jazz Band. It wasn't until I got back home and went back into the bathroom later in the morning that I realized I had read the thermometer entirely wrong. That number was not a 12 - it was a - 1.2. Actually, I don't remember the exact numbers. I just know that I read it wrong. The light was low, I glanced at it quickly, and I forgot that the digital thermometer always records the temperature down to the tenth of a degree - so if it had been 12°, it would have read 12.0, or probably 12.1 or 12.3. I never even realized there was a missing digit - and a whole lot of missing degrees.

It really was that cold this morning, with that negative windchill. It never even got up to the temperature I thought I read this morning.

Re-Imagine Wool with Ramblers Way

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was asked to pretend I had $500 to shop at Ramblers Way and asked what I would buy. So I visited the site and found out that they sell wool apparel. What do you think when you think about wool? I don't know about you, but I had this idea in my head that wool is warm, but itchy, and you can't wash it in the washing machine. So, needless to say, I haven't had any wool apparel in ages.

Well, Ramblers Way has me re-thinking wool, or re-imagining, as they say. According to their site, their wool garments are soft enough to wear next to your skin. They're also wrinkle, soil, and flame resistant, and fully washable. For those people who aren't ready to take their word for it, there's a form on the site you can fill out, and they'll mail you a sample of their fabric. I definitely want to feel this wool!

But, just saying I have $500 to spend and I believe these wool garments are as great as they say they are (before receiving my sample) - and durable, natural, and chemical free, too - what would I buy at Ramblers Way? The first thing that caught my eye was this Next-to-Skin Women’s Cross Neck top. It looks like the perfect top to wear under everything in all weather because the 'breathable fabric warms and cools effectively to maintain optimal personal temperature'. It would have been great for all that snow shoveling yesterday! So would the women's next-to-skin Long Jane - low-rise so I can wear them under whatever I want. Then with the rest of my $500, I'd grab some shirts for Cory Jeffrey, too - probably the long sleeve cross neck shirts for them, too.

That was fun! Oh, and I really like that Ramblers Way apparel is sustainably farmed and produced in America. You can even meet the sheep, and the guys who take care of them, on the website.

Snow Day Workout

Image by bcmom via Flickr

The annual December 1st snowstorm was a few days late this year. At least it seems like we're always supposed to have snow on December 1st, because we did for at least 3 years in a row (that I can verify by checking old posts - 2008 - 2007, which mentions 2006). This year we got the first real winter storm of the season today. Actually it came in last night and snowed all night long. Because the snow was forecast and already falling, school for today was already canceled by about 9:30 last night. So Cory slept in.

Jeffrey and I got up at (about) regular time and went out to shovel the driveway, so he could leave for work. The snow was deep, wet, and heavy - worst of all was the end of the driveway where it was twice as deep and packed because that's where the plow went through. There are times when people in the neighborhood just drive through the snow without shoveling their driveways, but that wasn't an option for anyone this morning. I'm not sure exactly how much snow we got overnight because I didn't take anything out to measure it, but it had me wondering why there isn't some kind of ruler on a snow shovel. Just stick it in the snow and you can see how many inches you got. That would be really handy. Instead I just stuck the handle of the shovel next to the snow and noted where it hit. I just have to remember to get a measuring tape out and measure that later.

Anyway, It took the two of us quite a while to get the driveway cleaned off. All the while wet snow continued to come down, so that the driveway was already white by the time we finished, and we were both soaked. And that was just the beginning - later after Cory got up, we went out and shoveled again. It was about half as deep as it was before, and it wasn't quite as wet and heavy, so it went quicker. Cory got to clean out in front of the mailbox, which was still that deep, heavy wet stuff pushed there by the plow. It was only fair since he slept through the first shoveling of the day, right?

Then I went out again this evening and shoveled again - by myself this time because it wasn't really that deep - except for the end of the driveway where the plow had gone through again. I know the snow plow has to do its thing, but I hate shoveling that off the driveway. It's deep and heavy, and the sides of the driveway where I need to throw the snow are piled higher than everywhere else so that it's almost impossible to throw the snow up and off the driveway.

I'm thinking I seriously got a workout or two today - and it's still snowing so I'll probably have to clean the driveway off again in the morning. And tomorrow morning it's going to be a lot colder than it was this morning.

We Need to Do This

We keep getting calls from our life insurance agent. Every once in a while he likes to sit down with us and reassess our coverage. It's a good idea - just to make sure we have the coverage we need and that everything looks good. We have some term life insurance and some whole life, or whatever they call the other kind, the kind that is supposedly an investment. However, we recently talked to someone who said that the investment kind is not really a good deal. We only bought it at the time because I knew we'd never save any money otherwise. Now I'm wondering if we can actually ever get our hands on that money.

I guess that's why we're supposed to sit down with our agent and go over things - except that we never actually get around to scheduling a time to sit down and do it. It seems there's always something else we have to do, like the choir concert tonight, or Jeffrey's work schedule is crazy, or we just don't feel like actually doing something at the end of the day. I do need to get with Jeffrey and make him pick a time and get this over with. Really.

Camera Critters (#87)

The kitties get a break this week.  Let’s go back to the zoo and see the giraffe this time.  (and, so I remember and can find the pics easier next time – we went to the zoo on September 13th)

Camera Critters is a fun weekend meme hosted by Misty Dawn.Visit the Camera Critters headquarters and join in.

Delusions of Greatness

I've been cleaning and baking all day, and had plenty of things to say - until I sat down, that is. Why is it? All these great posts composed in my head and then nothing when I get to the computer? Probably so I'll never have to admit that they weren't really that great after all.

Cory just walked in the door from school, and I remembered one thing I was going to say - my baby is going to graduate this year! How can that be? We just had to order his cap and gown today - along with a Senior t-shirt and sweat pants, which he got today. $18.99 for a t-shirt and $24.99 for sweat pants isn't exactly cheap, but they're really nice. And we bought Beth the t-shirt and sweatshirt because she wanted them, and she didn't even like school, and was practically out of school by the time she got them. Cory at least likes school, and he has the rest of the school year to wear the Senior clothes.

I'm thinking there may have been something else about a dip bar, but that post probably wasn't all that great...

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 37

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

These pictures were actually taken on a Friday.  Yes, I was looking at the sky on Friday, though I pretty much look at the sky every day.  But last Friday was Black Friday - the day crazy people all over the country get up at ungodly hours to go shopping.  Whatever are they thinking?

My husband and my brother decided to go shopping that morning – not at 4am, but way too early considering neither one of them had to get up and go to work.  Not me – I stayed warm in my bed, until about an hour and a half past my normal time.  Then I got up and went for my walk – and it wasn’t dark!  I really appreciate that this time of year.

Then, when I got home, I went out onto the deck and took some pictures of the morning sky and clouds.  I love that warm morning light.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

Different Kitties

It's so funny to see how different these two cats, Tillie and Weasley, are. We've had Tillie since she was a tiny kitten, and no one has ever hurt her in any way, but she's such a timid thing. It doesn't take much to scare her - loud noises, sudden movements, and she disappears. Weasley, on the other hand, isn't scared of anything. Loud noises and sudden movements have him coming to check things out.

When Jeffrey leaves for work in the morning, Tillie might be in the kitchen playing with his shoestrings as he puts his shoes on, but as soon as he opens the door to the garage, she's out of there! She doesn't like it when he starts the car and doesn't want to be anywhere near. Weasley, on the other hand, likes to watch him leave. He sits there at the screen door and watches Jeffrey get in the car, start the car, and drive away. That big car doesn't scare him at all!

When it's time to clean the house, like yesterday, Tillie disappears as soon as I get the broom out or start dusting tv stands, book shelves, and other furniture. She knows the vacuum cleaner is sure to follow. Weasley, on the other hand, is right there in the middle of everything. It's hard to sweep the floor when I've got a little kitty chasing my broom and walking right through the pile of dirt. I never had that problem before. And when the vacuum cleaner comes out? It doesn't bother Weasley at all. He just sits and watches, or gets in the way again. Once when he knocked the plant in our bedroom over, I had to move everything, get out the vacuum cleaner, and clean up all the dirt he spilled. Weasley just curled up on the bed and watched me clean up his mess. Little brat!

I Should've Counted Those Ones

Image via Wikipedia

The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the annual Holiday Bazaar, which is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Band Boosters. We run the concessions and sell all the food, along with selling clothing and spiritwear. I usually make a bunch of cinnamon rolls for this, but we decided not to have any kind of bake sale this year. Instead I made a big pot of chili and chopped a bunch of onions.

Anyway, Jeffrey and I could only stay until about 12:30 - he was selling clothing, and I was working in the kitchen (kinda brings back memories of college) - so I didn't get the cash box back until the day before Thanksgiving. With all the cooking and eating and cleaning up involved with Thanksgiving, I didn't get to even looking at the money until Monday when I went through all the cash. Thankfully, the lady who always takes care of the money at the Bazaar had already counted everything and banded most of the bills. I started re-counting everything, but it was all coming out right, so I stopped after the bigger bills and didn't bother to count the ones.

I got all the checks and money from the clothing Monday night and got a deposit together and finally got to the bank this morning. Yes, it's a good thing we don't do these fundraiser all the time, because it takes me way more time than it probably should getting everything put together - but then maybe I'd get better at it if I did it more often. Anyway, I got to the bank and everything came out right - all the checks added up correctly, all the change added right, all the big bills, but then they got to the ones. One stack had an extra one, and another stack was missing 9 - so my total was $8 off. There were 3 or 4 ladies counting all that cash, so I know they got it right, and they seemed happy to have something to do. But still - I should've counted those ones.


I also just want to say that Zemanta is looking all new and spiffy today - and the 'related article' really isn't related, I just wanted to grab it for the recipe idea.

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