It's 33. Brrr. It's only going to get colder!

Today's list: Continue in the girls' room. Dig through the front storage bench and make sure everyone has a pair of mittens/gloves and a hat for the bus stops. Make the list of who has what under the tree and confab with the hubby on what else to acquire. I already told him the bulk of anything can be inexpensive, consumable gifts for them, like fun bubble baths or fuzzy posters to color. And I need to take each kid out to shop for their siblings. $20 budget for each child to spend on the other two - however it gets spent, max between the two is $20 (maybe more at my discretion - I can toss in a buck or two.)

Christmas dinner is on at my house, at least for the inlaws. My mother's computer has been giving her fits so I don't know if she's tried to check her email. I should probably call instead, eh? Nah, I'll see her tomorrow at Jayne's dance performance.

Time for some coffee - I bought a peppermint flavored one at the store last night....

I knew that discussion on zinelist was going to devolve eventually...

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/11063562/abc/20081211/av_abc_gma/_goodmorningyahoo_abc081211_gma_camera

Have tissues handy.

Merry Christmas.

make the second job worth it, even though it's a heartbreaking job at times:

Thank you all for your support. I never dreamed that I could get so much support and love from strangers, Gods love is evident in these postings, and I am soooo gratefull for all your help.

Well, she's BREATHING, but there's no body heat!

Fortunately the really cold weather doesn't set in until Sunday, and the furnace guy will come out between 9 and 10am tomorrow morning. Whew.

We'll just have a wrapped-up-in-a-blanket adventure in front of the fireplace tonight after the craft event at school. :D

It's raining, cold rain. 45F outside and windy. Here comes the storm!

When I was a kid, we only heated the house with a wood stove. On super cold days, there would be a WIND from the north end of the house - we found out later during a remodel that there was a hole under the floor that had drawn the air in like that. So, on those cold days, my mom would hang a quilt at the hallway entrance to keep the wind from coming to us and the heat within the living room/kitchen/dining room space. They and my sister had heated water beds, but I don't like those and I had an electric mattress pad that I'd brave the hallway to turn on about a half hour before I'd go to bed. I still love doing that with my electric blanket - turn it on and then the bed is DELICIOUSLY warm when I come to it for sleep.

I don't mind cold weather if the sun is shining - in fact, that's the best, IMO. Clear and cold and sunny - sharp air and foggy breath. Today we've had both - a spot of sun bracketed by gray, gray rain and rising winds.

The kids just came to tell me about how high the winds are - leaves blowing sideways and the rain at a diagonal.

The fire is burning, they brought in more wood for me, and we have a school thing to go to later so we'll be warm there, too.

It's a rather good day.

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