Next year

(Wiener trying to keep warm. She even has her "Tinkerbell" dress on and is still cold)

Almost 40 years ago, we moved to a wonderful area of sunshine and blue skies. Summers were balmy; winters were mild-usually in the 70s. It was great. The weather was unpredictable in that you never knew exactly WHEN it was going to rain-but it never lasted long and most days were beautiful. In fact, the main newspaper in the area gave away free papers when you did not see the sun some time during the day.

The change has been slow, but we now have a few "winter" days of "FREEZING" early morning hours. I actually had "frost" on my windshield yesterday morning. It took several minutes for my heater to melt it so I could see to drive. I have driven to work in 30 degree weather the last 2 mornings.

My hatred of cold weather started at a very early age. I had to walk to school in snow, "uphill both ways" when I was in elementary school. I had to "stand out in the cold" to catch a bus to school in my teens. My bones actually ache when it gets cold. I can NEVER get warm, even when wearing double sweaters, my "Pooh" gloves and jacket, I still ache all over. You can see why I must move from this area. I can't stay here another winter. Yep. I've decided. Soon I'm moving to Florida where it is warm all the time.

Life is so daily

Every day is a new set of discoveries and questions for me.

Question: How can a "Mini dachshund" take over the seating arrangement of a 6 foot long couch? (She can be very "pushy" for such a small creature.)

Discovery: Life sometimes doesn't go EXACTLY as you plan.

Okay, so I never claimed to be smart-just curious. It sometimes takes me longer to figure out things that are obvious to other people. Yet, I sometimes see things differently than other people.

I am on a schedule now that allows me to be off by 3 pm every day, and off on Sunday and Monday. Being the "genius" that I am, I decided to take 2 days off to "take care" of a few things that had transpired in the last few weeks. I'm working on a project for my sister and her granddaughter. I wanted to check out Tom's butterfly garden to see the condition that it is now. I wanted to see friends in Pasco, and I had not had great grouper in many months. I had my 4 days off planned and events scheduled so that I could complete all those activities. ( So much for schedules.)

Sunday, usually my rest day, I "filtered" through "hoards of people" at one of the theme parks to get pictures for one of my projects. I would rather avoid the crowds this time of the year, but a promise is a promise. I actually had fun doing it, even as crowded as it was that day. Let's just say I really know how sardines feel.

Monday I got to go to Pasco with an O-town friend and met another friend that lives there. I accomplished several of my projects. The grouper was all I remembered it was and the laughter was more fun than I had experienced in a very long time. We sat at a restaurant by the beach, ate grouper, shrimp, and a village salad then "waddled" off of the "outside" area of the restaurant over to the beach. It was great. (The top on my convertible was down all day; 82 degrees; Chamber of Commerce day.)

On Tuesday, at 4:30 am, I awoke and saw my husband was still in bed. That, in itself, doesn't seem significant; knowing he usually leaves for work about 3, meant he wasn't going to work on Tuesday. It also meant that he would expect me to spend the day with him, doing things he wanted to do. There went my schedule for Tuesday. I DID convince him to go back to a theme park to have more pictures taken and I even got to eat dinner at one of the signature restaurants. So, not too bad.

Tuesday night, relatives called and asked if I could get them into the park on Wednesday about 10:00 AM; another schedule change. I had already decided to have lunch with a friend. She was working so we had to go on her schedule - 11:30. I made it clear I had to leave the park no later than 11 to get to the "appointment" that I "HAD" to keep. They called back later and asked if I could let them in on Thursday instead; weather forecast indicated it was going to rain Wed. I said no that I had to work on Thursday. We kept it on Wednesday.

Between the park and lunch, another schedule was "shot" to pieces. Needless to say, I did not get all my projects completed but that's my life. Changes and projects. If it didn't happen that way, it wouldn't be my life. And then, where would I be?

Today is January 4

Tom would have been 63 today, had he lived. Some times I temporarily forget he's gone and I find myself rushing home to tell him about the day. I can't imagine what my life would have been if he was here; totally different I'm sure.

Someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and the only thing I could think of was to have my car washed. I am truly blessed with "things" and have no needs at all, I have great friends, a good job, car, place to live, a little money in the bank and gas in my car. What else could I need?