Haphazard musings on a Friday

It's Friday at last. With the snowstorm earlier this week and the subsequent arctic temperatures, these five days have dragged by. And I'm feelin' a wee bit snarky, between the cold outside and the headache that I woke up with (with which I woke up).

I usually do a Friday Fave Five here, but somehow I'm just not in the mood. Let's say it's because the arctic temperatures froze my brain for the moment. It's -7 this morning, after all. The forecasters are promising us a veritable heat wave for the weekend -- in the 30s during the day. Woo hoo. Oh, and more snow to come on both Saturday and Sunday.

Yes indeedy, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

I'm still struggling to find the inspiration to finish the Christmas projects that I had planned for the girls this year. My well-stocked craft room awaits me, but when I go in there, I have a hard time envisioning anything. I've been experimenting with the shapes of a new Cricut cartridge, which I hope will spur something creative happening this weekend.

Today marks the 40th day since my mother passed. Weather permitting, I hope to burn those letters today.

I went to the eye doctor for my annual eye exam this week. It's been four years since I had Lasik done, and my vision this time came up 20/15. That's even better than last year, when it was 20/25 -- which beat the year before when it was 20/30. Prior to the surgery, I remember the doctor telling me that, with my vision problems, I probably couldn't expect to ever be better than 20/40. And I was more than willing to accept that, having lived with 20/200 for so long. Really, I just wanted to be able to function at a basic level without the need for lenses of some kind. I wanted to get up in the morning and not have to immediately put glasses on my face. I wanted to feel that I was safe in my own house even if I couldn't find my glasses for some reason. 20/40 would have been great. So that makes 20/15 doubly amazing! The fact that my eyes have continued to improve in the years since the surgery is also amazing!

Everyone seems to have their knickers in a knot about the new Facebook privacy settings -- I've had a couple of messages from frantic strangers warning me that the entire world will be able to stalk me now. But when I access my privacy settings to review them, they are exactly the same as they were before. So what is the problem? Am I missing something here?

I certainly hope everyone has a great weekend -- relaxing and fun. And if you live in the regions of the country that are experiencing cold and snow, stay warm and dry! I'm thinking this will be a good weekend for me to wrap presents while competing with the dog for space.... ahem.... relaxing... in front of the family room fire.

- Catherine

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's 5:00 a.m. MST. And it's -12 degrees outside. -12. Minus. Twelve. I can hardly fathom it being this cold, even in Pocatello, Idaho.

The skin on my hands keeps cracking, no matter how much lotion (or what kind) I use. The vent over my kitchen range leaks air and is mighty uncomfortable to be around unless the stove is running at full tilt. The dog and I have a competition to see who can block the gas fire in the family room and hog all the heat.

It's so cold I could shut off the freezer out back and it wouldn't make any difference to the meat.

BUT... but... but... but! There was a little oasis of warmth in my bed last night. No, I'm not talking about my husband -- this is a G-rated blog, after all. And I'm not talking about the dog because he's not allowed to sleep on our bed. I'm talking about our brand new heated mattress pad. Oh, the bliss of that electrical gizmo! I had it set just on Low and it was incredible. The fact that I am up early this morning didn't have anything to do with being cold, I assure you. And my poor feet didn't complain as much when I got out of bed, so perhaps the warmth will help speed up their healing.

I loves me a dual-controlled mattress pad.

And if the dog knew, we'd never get him off our bed.

- Catherine