Happy birthday shout outs to my Dad,  my nephew Jordan, my friend Roxanne, my old pal Chad, and to Judy.

I "friended" Judy on FaceBook ages ago, but it turns out the Judy I friended, while from Texas, is not the Judy I know, which I discovered when I went to her wall to post a happy birthday message to her. There was a picture of a woman I didn't recognize, and a little girl who might have been Judy as a child, but something was off. This woman appeared to be about my age, too old to have been Judy's mother when she was a little girl. Then I realized that the pictures of the little girl were recent instead of from the time period when Judy would have been a little girl. Then I looked at this Judy's other friends and did not recognize a-one of them. Not one. I realized that I have friended a Judy I do not know. Oh, well. Judy, wherever you are, Happy Birthday!

Channel 9 weather boy was going on and on about a winter blast that's headed our way. About the fifth time he went through his routine I thought, okay, enough. Let's see what Channel 4 has to say about it, and it was like they had co-authored their scripts. Supposed to be getting a wintery blast with precipitation about Thursday or so. They're predicting freezing rain (which makes ice wherever it lands) and then sleet and then maybe some snow. We are in the big fat geographic middle of the rather wide band that they think will get 6 to 12 inches plus drifts, after the sleet, after the freezing rain.  Yuck.

So I checked our propane levels and called our propane people. Nice folks out in Minco. The kind of business where you call 'em up and say your name and they know who you are. I like that. I said to her, "We're at about 33% and the weather boy is calling 'Blizzard! Blizzard!' this coming weekend," and she said to me, "I know, I'm gonna fire him!" I laughed and said, "Yeah, I didn't like what the first one said so I changed channels, see if I could get a different report, but they're all saying it!" So we're on the list for a fill up before Thursday. I'm also working on a contingency plan in case we get a power outage, which is a distinct possibility when we have an ice storm. 

The good news is that it should only be in the thirties and twenties for a few days once it arrives, instead of low teens and single digits. It may be difficult for some folks to see any distinction there, but there is a difference. Don't know if I've mentioned it, but I have lived to see the day that 20 degrees seems warm, comparatively speaking.

In other matters, Muffin the cat was camped out soakin' up some  rays on top of Mommy's notebooks.  Ordinarily I would not begrudge him a nap in a sunny window, but I need to work in here today. I said to the old darling that a nap in the sun is a great idea, and I know right where you can get all the sun in the world, and set him outside. What does he do? crouches under the steps IN THE SHADE and tries to run back inside every time anyone opens the door. I think it's not so much the wanting to lay in the sun as it is that he's feeling a little clingy lately. Looking out this window I see a great spot he could curl up and be quite toasty, but I guess he wants to nap in the sun AND be within arm's length of Mommy. I believe that if I got one of those baby carriers and packed him around all day he'd be happy as a clam. Sorry, pal, no can do.  Paperwork to do, errands to run, preparations to make! We got a blizzard a-comin', weather boy says so!

Speaking of which, I gotta sign off and make busy!  Thanks for reading.

V~