Brrrr...Baby It Is Cold Outside

I'm sure none of you are aware of this, but those of us located in North Texas have been hit by a bit of a winter. I'm sure if you are from the Great White North (any place north of the Red River) you can't understand how a little snow and ice can pretty much shut a state down, but it can.

It has been quite the learning experience for me. First, I get a call from my Dad (and Mom) last night wanting to remind me that I needed to open up my bathroom cabinets and let air get to the pipes as well as set them to drip to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting (luckily, I already knew to cover up my faucets outside and unhook my water hose...unlike my next door neighbor). I then learned about power outages.... This morning, I'm working away and suddenly every light goes off and I realize that I have no power. First thing I do is get my flashlight, which I have a number of, throw on some clothes because I really didn't want to have to address this grown up situation in my flannel jammies. Next, I call my Dad.... Yes, step one in handling things as a grown up is to call my Daddy..... Since he is an hour and a half away with no traffic there really isn't much he can do for me aside from instructing me to call the power company. I call them and find out that I'm not alone.... I then check Facebook and learn from The Queen that there are rolling power outages (she later instructed me that I should ALWAYS check Facebook first). So, I hang up with the power company and decide to hunker down with my flashlight/headlamp and a good book but then the power comes back on and dang it all....I have to go back to work.

I did take a break this afternoon, to try and clean off my front stoop as it is a total sheet of ice (as is my driveway, yard, back porch, and all points in between). Turns out that I really can't do a whole lot of ice removal from a porch when all I have is my car's ice-scraper.... As you can see from the below picture, I did manage to dig out my door mat so there is a single spot where I can see the concrete and stand without sliding away....

I admit, I love being home....I may have mentioned in the past that I'm a bit of a hermit....but I also don't like being quite this stranded. I hope all the rest of you are staying safe and warm.

Happy Birthday Marti!!

First, today is my "big" sister's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is because she doesn't look it or act it in any way, shape or form. She is a fabulous Mom, Teacher, Daughter, and best of all Sister/Friend. She has always been there for me as my friend and protector. When she was in school and they had parties where cupcakes or cookies were brought in, she would bring one home for me (does that mean I can blame her for my obsession with food...). Marti - I love you!!

Second, these photos and this story really doesn't have anything to do with my sister's birthday, however, she is in all the pictures with me. In 1975 my my family took a trip to Yellowstone National Park and parts in between. We took lots of pictures in front of monuments and nature scenes, much like this one of some waterfall behind us. (Yes, I have pigtails and a Raggedy-Andy t-shirt on and Marti is rockin' the overalls.)

We were on the road for 10 days staying in lots of KOA campgrounds. Our "home" was the bed of my parent's Dodge Ram Truck. Dad put a slab of plywood across the bed and slid a mattress between the wheels. Marti and I slept cross ways on top and Mom and Dad slept on the mattress underneath us. We cooked on a Coleman stove and lived by the light of a campfire and Coleman lantern. Certainly not the Tas-ma-Tent that I've now become accustomed to, however, I wouldn't have given this up for anything.

In this picture, I am sliding into the pool where my sister was supposed to catch me. Notice I said "supposed". As I hit the water, she put her arms up to cover her face from the splash and I went straight to the bottom of the pool. Did I mention that I didn't (and still don't) know how to swim and do not like to have water on my face.... Ah well, again, a memory that I would never want to lose.

This picture is of Marti and me in front of the Wild Bill Hickcock memorial. Nothing really spectacular about this picture other than we are obviously really cold; I'm a big goob; and yes, that is a Budweiser fishing cap on my head....Oh yeah!! Classy!!