Numbered Days

Apparently that wasn’t the last snowfall of the season. I wasn’t really holding my breath. It’s only March and the Boy’s State High School Basketball Tournament hasn’t even happened yet. There’s always a snowstorm during tournament time. All true Minnesotan’s know this. Which reminds me, I’m supposed to be on the lookout for a snow shovel for my dad. He seems to be without one, and having been in Arizona for most of the winter to this point, he hadn’t really had a need for one until he and Mom returned home. I wonder if I can still buy a snow shovel this time of year. I mean, it’s March and so the stores probably have their Fourth of July merchandise out by now, right? Shovels may be hard to come by before July when the winter gear hits the store shelves again.

It snowed again today. It looked like it was going to be significant judging by the view out our office windows. It was falling down sideways and the flakes were big. But it stopped before long and there was little to no accumulation. This is good. Any measurable snowfall at this point will be met with serious disapproval on my part. I’m sure Mother Nature is shaking in her boots.

So while I wait out the remainder of winter, I’m taking note of anything that says spring is around the corner.

This falling snowman is a pretty good sign. Really, I’m not sure if he was pushed over, if yesterday’s winds blew him over, or if the air actually got warm enough for him to start leaning. Kacey built him last Friday on her first day of spring break. She was supposed to go with Connor to visit friends in Eau Claire whose spring break isn’t until next week. When Connor came down with the flu, the weekend trip was cancelled and Kacey was left to her own devices. The snowman was born of boredom but provided at least temporary entertainment when Lucy, the big furry chicken, proved to be slightly leery of him. Over the weekend, Kacey’s friend Alex tried to convince her that if they doused the snowman in lighter fluid and lit him on fire, that he would burn.

Alex was wrong and everyone was disappointed. I just hope they didn’t use so much lighter fluid that it kills whatever grass might have been wanting to return this spring. This is the kind of activity we refrain from sharing with Mark as he would frown upon it. Actually, had I been consulted, I would have frowned upon it as well and forbidden it. Unfortunately, my permission was not requested.

While the spring breakers are enjoying their time off from school, hanging out at the mall, having parties, going bowling and staying up late, I’m going to bed early and getting up when the alarm clock goes off. Instead of snoozing for that extra hour, I’m going to the gym again. And I feel better. The winter funk is fading. Spring is coming. I can feel it!

 

Happy Last Snowfall of the Season!

It was the last one, wasn’t it? Please tell me it was! I’ve had enough.

The snow began to fall yesterday and continued through the night and most of today, leaving a reported ten inches of accumulation. I guess the school kids were happy. Classes were cancelled. Me? I left for work an hour early, trying in vain to find the lines that divided the three lanes of the freeway. My windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the falling snow and a layer of ice formed on them so that they were no longer very effective. I strained to see through the blurry windshield and rolled down the window, attempting to catch the wiper on its upswing and snap the ice from it.

I arrived at a quiet office. Several wise coworkers had opted to work from home. If I didn’t think my winter funk would talk me into napping in front of the television, I might have done the same. I have lost all motivation during these last couple of months. I always feel on the edge of, if not smack in the middle of some cold virus. I can’t seem to sleep enough.

I need sunshine. I need warmth. I need to see color in the landscape again. I think I also need to eat better, get up early again and get some exercise… just as soon as the stuffiness in my head clears and my nose stops running, I promise.

I know spring is just around the corner. I know it because the Boxelder bugs have begun to appear in our lower level family room. We learned a couple of years ago that they have a habit of hibernating inside the walls of homes when the weather grows cold. As they begin to wake up near the end of winter, they gravitate to the warmth. My family room is warm and the Boxelder bugs aren’t really welcome here, but I’ll take their presence as a good sign.

There are other signs of spring in the neighborhood as well. Jennifer down the street has begun to take Rascal, her Beagle out for early evening walks again. The sounds of bird songs can be heard through the windows on a quiet Saturday morning. At six o’clock in the evening, after work, there is still daylight. And perhaps the most promising sign of all…

… Neighbor Bob has resumed his ritual of drinking beer in the garage while waving at cars and people as they come and go past his house.

Spring is definitely in the air. Someone please wake me when it arrives.

Gettin’ outta here

I’m getting ready to head to Arizona for a few days. Going with my sister to spend some time with the parents in their little snowbird community. I checked out the weather forecast and as far as Arizona goes, it’s going to be just okay. It’ll be warmest on Thursday when we arrive,. By Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the temps are going to slip down into the sixties and then the fifties. Still, fifties are better than – - – let me check the current temperature here – - – twenty; yes it’s twenty degrees. That’s pretty good for here. Fifties and sixties should feel pretty nice in comparison though.

In spite of the beliefs of a few who thought I couldn’t possibly squeeze four days worth of necessities into a carry on bag, it looks as if I’m going to manage it. I’ll have my carry on bag and a really big purse. Okay, the really big purse is really a bag for my laptop, book, camera and small purse. But no one has to know that. If anyone asks, it’s a purse. A really big purse.

When checking my phone this evening, I noticed that I’d just missed a call from Mom. Since I’ll be seeing her in two days, I worried something might be wrong. I called back immediately to see what was up.

“We’re at the grocery store,” she said.

“Uh huh?”

“And we’re trying to figure out what kind of beer to get you. They don’t have your usual (my usual?) and we want to make sure we get something you like. They have that kind your sister likes, but not the one you like.”

In the seconds before I replied, I realized that my parents think I can’t get through a day without a beer or two. I wondered if I should be concerned about this. I thought about letting on that my beer drinking is pretty much limited to the bowling alley and other social occasions, but then I remembered I’ll be spending four days with my parents. And their very spoiled dog. And beer might just make things a little more… relaxing! You know?

“I’ll drink whatever you’re getting,” I told Mom. “Doesn’t matter if it’s not my usual.“

It’ll be fun. It will be good to see Mom and Dad again. And spending time with my sister is always fun, even if our main form of entertainment while visiting will be helping the parents pack the place up so they can sell it and move back home.Yep, I’m all set. I’ll be within the luggage limitations. My alcoholic requirements have been attended to. One more day of work and then, Arizona, here we come!

Life is Good – 2/2/2013

It’s that time of year that I knew would inevitably come, when winter feels as if it’s been here long enough already and there’s no end in sight. This kind of winter is what I know, gray days and bone chilling cold at times. It’s not the season itself that really bothers me so much. It’s what I let it do to me. When I can’t seem to stay warm, I slow down. I stay inside, doing still and quiet things, like reading books or watching movies. My motivation  to get these muscles moving fades away. I can’t seem to get enough sleep.

These aren’t bad things, when I allow them in moderation. And lucky for me, I always seem to recognize when enough is enough. And this has been that week.

I’ve been guiltily joking about falling off the exercise bandwagon lately. Sure, there were contributing factors in the past couple of months – varying illnesses and a back strain that left a weeks-long ache in my hamstring muscle. But those things have long subsided. I said I couldn’t run outside. It was either too cold, too icy or too snowy. And as for the treadmill in the nice warm gym, it was getting boring. And the gym was packed with new bodies anyway. I felt crowded by all of those enthusiastic exercisers hell-bent on honoring their new year’s resolutions. And each day that’s gone by without any attempt by me to keep my body strong has gradually added to my pile of guilt. The guilt became too much this week, but I knew I needed something new, something to make me enthusiastic again.

I’m exploring the world of yoga! Thank you, Cable T.V. for your on-demand fitness programs that are tailored for everyone from beginner to advanced. I am once again starting the day in a healthy way. And don’t worry. I’m not giving up running – just taking a little break.

The good mojo seems to have worked its way into my work life this week too. I’ve found myself steadily busy and productive, just the way I like it. There’s been no word from the CEO about the headline contest, but he did send me another assignment yesterday. Seems he wanted a press release for a new product that’s up and coming. He gathered all of his thoughts and ideas on the subject and spewed them into an email which he then sent to me. He asked me to give it a good work over and “tighten it up” and I found myself with company approved time to just sit and write.

Things are all good with the family. Our winter laziness has at least inspired Mark and me to do a good amount of home cooking, which feeds right into my ongoing goal to eat better.

Brad received his college diploma this week and sent me a text message to let me know. “Turns out I graduated after all,” he said. The day of graduation, he was joking that he might be cutting it close and wouldn’t know for sure until days or weeks after the graduation ceremony. I never doubted it though, and I told him so.

Kacey texted me several times this week from school. Once was to let me know that two of her friends had mentioned they were craving some soup that I’ve made on several occasions. It’s nice to know that my cooking skills are adequate enough to generate requests for a repeat performance.

Kacey also texted me to let me know she and her friends have signed up to do the Polar Bear Plunge – a fundraiser to support Special Olympics Minnesota athletes. Kacey and her team will be gathering pledges and in order to collect on them, they’ll be taking a plunge into Lake Calhoun on March 2nd – which means they’ll be taking a plunge into a hole cut into the ice and dipping into the frigid water! I think they are brave, and I am proud!

And I actually saw Jake this week and spent time with him for about an hour, while he was wide awake and in good spirits. He’s been working a lot, so time with him is often hard to come by.

And this morning, after a long, dreary, cold week… it is still cold, one degree outside as I write this. It was snowing as I left work yesterday afternoon, big, fluffy, lazy drifting flakes. The snow continued into the evening and left the landscape clean and fresh. It’s the weekend and the sun is shining.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Temperatures are predicted to rise up into the teens today. It’s better than single digits. I’ll take it. Life is good!

Call me Karen. Karen with the new jeans.

I’ve become such a homebody lately. It’s that time of year. The doldrums have set in. It’s dark when I leave for work and dark not long after I get home. The days have been cloudy. I’ve fallen out of my exercise routine. Sleeping feels like the greatest thing ever and I when I stop to think about my routine (or lack thereof) lately, I feel like a slug.

I would like to embrace winter, but it’s currently one degree outside. One degree Fahrenheit. That’s minus seventeen Celsius, for the record. Tonight is reportedly going to be the coldest night of the season to date with a low between twelve and seventeen below. That’s 24 to 27 below Celsius, in case you were wondering. I’m really not embracing winter now. MORE BLANKETS ON THE BED!

So I’ve not really done much of anything recently, other than go to work. Work has been good this week. No word from the CEO on whether I’ve provided him a winning headline for the new brochure, but there are lots of other positive things happening and I’m happily busy. And I’ve made major progress on a particular ongoing problem. I’ve been having trouble downloading reports from an external website for three months. I’ve been in regular communication for a month now with an IT representative of the company. Lots of emails flying back and forth between us, every one of them containing my name (Terri) in the email address and my name (Terri) in the email signature.  Today she sent me (Terri) another email and addressed me as Karen. I wondered for a moment who Karen was and why I was receiving her email. Then I realized that I was Karen. I think I like Terri better, but I guess I’ll let her call me Karen in the interest of continued progress.

That’s all  just work though. There’s more to life.

The local Winter Carnival is going on. There are snow and ice sculptures I want to see. But as I mentioned, it’s dark. And one degree. Maybe even colder by now. It’ll warm up some by the weekend, so I’m hoping to go see those sculptures in the daylight and (relative) warmth.

So tonight I decided I would not sit home for hours after work doing nothing but being a slug. I got some coupons in the mail recently for my favorite clothing store. This store is not necessarily known for great prices, but they have things that fit me, namely pants that come in long lengths. And sometimes they have really good sales.

So I ventured out into the dark and the cold (and did I mention the wind?) I had my two coupons – one for a decent chunk of money off my purchase of a decent dollar amount, the other for an even bigger chunk of money off an even bigger purchase. I figured I might use the smaller coupon. I’ve never used the bigger one. Being a regular customer, I receive these kinds of coupons on a regular basis.

There weren’t very many people in the store, probably because of the aforementioned dark and cold (and wind.) I headed straight to the back of the store where the jeans are located, because jeans are what I was in search of. I saw a sign that said the jeans were buy one, get one half off. As I was trying to figure out if my coupons were a better deal than the sale, a helpful sales girl asked if I was finding what I needed. I already had several pairs of jeans slung over my arm, so I said yes. She noticed this and said, “Oh, you’re buying jeans! They’re buy one, get one half off, you know.”

“I see that,” I said. I then asked hopefully, “So can I combine that sale with the coupons for so much off a purchase of so much?”

“Yes, you sure can,” she said! Bubbly girl, she was.

I loaded up my arms with lots of jeans and went to try them on. These were the jeans that I normally wouldn’t even consider because of their price, but with all this money off, I thought I’d give them a try.

Back in the fitting room, I pulled on the jeans and they fit like a glove, all of them. I was ecstatic. And only a woman can really appreciate the magnitude of finding the perfect jeans on the first try. It’s a rarity. When it comes to women’s jeans, you can take three pairs of the exact same style in the exact same size and each of them might fit just a little differently than the others. Successfully shopping for women’s jeans is one of the great mysteries in life.

I went to the register with four pairs. Another bubbly sales girl working the register told me it was like I got a pair free with the buy one, get one deal. And then she scanned in my coupon and said it was like I got another pair free. And when I came home and explained to Mark that yes, I had four new pairs of jeans but really only paid for two, I could see that he wasn’t quite buying the story. Because he’s a man. And he doesn’t care if the jeans he buys fit his butt just right and fit his hips just right. And that’s okay. I don’t expect him to get it. Besides, price and savings and coupons didn’t matter to him at all. I knew this when he asked me if the new jeans made my butt look hot. This didn’t dignify a response other than the rolling of my eyes.

So this was my great excitement for the week. Jeans. So sad. Good thing I’m going to Arizona next week for a little change of scenery and temperature. My life should seem at least a bit more exciting after a nice visit to a warmer climate.

In the meantime, I’ll remain Boring Karen.

 

Single Digits

The mild temperatures of the past couple of days have faded away. As the sun went down on Saturday, a fierce wind announced itself. It rattled the windows and made the dogs nervous. A deeper kind of cold settled in, the kind that makes it hard for me to keep my finger tips and toes warm, even while staying inside. I put on extra layers and wore slippers over my socks.

Sunday morning arrived and I could feel the change in the weather outside. I gazed out the patio door and could almost see the air snapping with the intensity of the cold. The dogs stayed out in the yard only as long as necessary and I didn’t dare move far from the door. If I wasn’t ready and waiting to let them back in they howled in protest at my inattention.

Kacey is happy for her brand new, made-for-arctic-cold jacket. And all of the kids are happy that Santa thought to bring them hats to keep their ears and faces warm when the real winter rolled around.

Lucy wants a closer look at Jake’s new hat

Kacey and Connor sporting their new hats

Monday’s high promises to be sub-zero. We’ve added yet another layer of blankets to the bed. I know I won’t want to come out from under the blankets when the alarm goes off in the morning, but I will. It’s just another Minnesota winter and days like these come with the territory.

Someone please wake me when spring arrives

The days feel so short this time of year. It’s cold outside and the sun’s appearances are rare. All I seem to want to do is sleep. At the end of the day, I can’t wait to change into my fleece pants and a warm sweatshirt, then retire for the night under the usual bedding of  two blankets and a quilt,with an extra layer created by my fleece tie-blanket spread on top of it all. Add in a couple of dogs curled up next to me and I’m happy. It feels like my own personal cocoon and I love it.

I’m not entirely sure how much Mark loves it, though.

Come morning, the sound of the alarm clock is a most unwelcome intrusion, even for a morning person, such as me. I slept much later than usual this morning. I went to the gym last night, so I gave myself an extra hour on the alarm clock. And when the alarm sounded this morning, it was just so warm and cozy in my bed that I kept delaying the inevitable. I hit the snooze button and burrowed deeper under the covers.

“My feet are cold. And so is my belly!”

Eventually, I knew I could no longer avoid greeting the day. The dogs always follow me right out of bed and I lead them to the back door to let them out. They’re not big fans of the cold first thing the morning either, especially when it’s still so dark outside. But I encourage them to go do their business so they can come back into the warmth. Bella is sneaky. Or lazy. Or both. She meanders around the deck, sniffing and acting all non-nonchalant. She’s trying to avoid going down the steps into the snowy yard where I’m sure it feels even colder on her little feet.

I look at her with a stern warning on my face.

“Bella,” I say through the crack in the door. She looks at me like, “Huh? What? I’m not doin’ nothin’!”

I point to the deck steps and say, “Go potty… Down THERE!”

She hangs her head and looks at me sadly before her short legs carry her down the steps. If I’m not careful, she’ll sneak in a pee on the deck.

I drove to work in the dark, with wet, dirty snow spitting onto my windshield, the only scenery a sea of tail lights ahead of me. It can be hard to find motivation and energy in the midst of these gray, cold, dreary days. The dogs know it and so do I. Sometimes you have to look really hard to find sunshine and light. But it’s out there. I found it as I was leaving work.

The pond behind the office

I was happy to see some rays of sunshine, if only for an hour today.

Jackets

Since yesterday afternoon, it’s been alternately raining, misty, foggy and raining again. So obviously, it’s been warm enough for rain. Feels really strange to have rain in Minnesota in January. But this strange-weather roller coaster seems to be the new wave, so we accept it. Besides, we got enough snow back in December to last for a while. There’s still a good layer of it on the ground and it’s weathering its second steady rain with no sign of retreating.

Still it is January in Minnesota, which means the cold isn’t ever far away and it is scheduled to return this weekend, in full force. And Kacey has been letting me know that she’s in need of a new winter jacket. And since she’s heading back to school this weekend, to the city that is the self-proclaimed epicenter of the flu epidemic in Minnesota, I feel inclined to do all I can to keep her warm and healthy.

I suppose it is time. The last jacket we bought for her was her high school letter jacket. Letter jackets tend to have a shelf life that ends on high school graduation day. So Kacey has reverted to her previous winter jacket which we bought when she was a high school freshman. Since she’s now a college sophomore, it’s probably time for a new one.

We went shopping last night and were quickly frustrated. The department stores don’t have much left in the line of winter outerwear. The local sports and apparel stores still have a decent selection, but the prices haven’t dropped. And I guess I was a bit shocked by the cost of jackets.

I guess the last time I bought a winter jacket for one of the kids, they were probably still growing. Which means there were pricing limits in place. I’ve only ever been willing to spend just so much money on something that might only be worn for one season. I guess I haven’t shaken that mindset just yet. And it must have rubbed off because even Kacey was put off by the prices, not even bothering to ask if I’d consider some of her choices. She came home jacketless.

As I was touching base with Mark today on the phone, I was explaining my frustrations over the jacket situation and quoting the prices we’d seen on some of the jackets that had appealed to Kacey.

“So just get one,” he said! “I don’t want her walking around campus without a decent jacket. Just spend what you need to spend.”

I think that’s all I needed to hear to realize, he was right. She’s done growing. She needs a decent jacket and she’ll be able to wear it for more than a season or two.

And besides, since she’s been on break from school, she’s been so helpful to me, with holiday preparations, and things around the house, and then putting all the Christmas decorations away while I was sick. So I guess she deserves something nice, like a new jacket. We went out tonight and picked out a good one. I earned a good chunk of points on my store rewards card!

And when we got home and Kacey was happy as a clam, she told me that she and her room-mate had been talking about jackets recently. “Andrea and I totally agreed that if it were acceptable to wear your high school letter jacket in college… we totally would.”

Well. Good to know she appreciates her stuff anyway.

The Aftermath of a Snowstorm

What beautiful scenery is created by a big snowstorm! The world is blanketed in white and there’s magic in the air. It is such a contented feeling to sit curled up in a chair with nothing but an entire weekend ahead, wrapped in a cozy blanket, just basking in the glow of the twinkle lights on the Christmas tree while fluffy, white, frozen flakes float to the ground.

I love a big snowstorm.

Except when it comes time to leave the house.

Monday arrived in the wake of our first major snowfall and I knew I had to get to work. Not going into the office after a big snow is considered a sign of weakness. We Minnesotans pride ourselves on our ability to function in extreme weather. I woke up extra early and took a look outside at the driveway that had been snow-blown and shoveled several times the day before. More snow had fallen and blown over in the night and the driveway was covered yet again. The plows had come by overnight and left a crusty, knee-hi snowdrift across the entire width of the driveway. There was no way my eight year-old Impala was going to make it out the driveway, much less all the way downtown.

Luckily, I had my knight in Chevy armor who laughs in the face of snow encrusted streets. Mark came home in the morning after working the night shift, barreled through the wall of snow that enclosed the driveway and honked for me to hop in. He welcomed the chance to throw his pick-up truck in four-wheel drive and chauffeur me to work. I got to sit back and just be the passenger instead of stressing over traffic gridlock and the fear of spinning out or crashing. Almost as an afterthought, I grabbed my camera to document the aftermath of a good snowstorm.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And I made it to work safe and sound and almost on-time. That’s okay though. Tardiness is acceptable as long as it is the result of braving the weather.

Snowfall!

The weather forecast was right on Target! Snow began to fall sometime around eleven o’clock last night and is predicted to continue until around noon today. The dogs had varying reactions. Lucy was so excited she ran crazy circles in the back yard. Bella, being closer to the ground, decided that she wasn’t making the effort to get down the steps. She found a nice pile of snow on the deck and did her business there. Hmmm… good motivation to keep the deck and steps cleared of snow so she can get down to the yard!

View out the back door

Bella has mop-like qualities

Snowbird