Only, now picture it without the dirt bike and twice as steep.  It's fun to drive, but also slightly scary.  There are no guard rails with a 90 degree drop off on one side, the dirt on the edge of the road looks like it could cave away at any second, it's only wide enough for one car so if you bump (not literally, knock on wood) into someone coming up or down opposite you, you'll have to make some pretty imaginative maneuvers and the wild life is very abundant.  Which brings me to this afternoon.  Guess what I saw crossing the road and heading up a valley about half way down the mountain?  A BEAR.  A true to god wild black bear!!!  The worst part was that there was no one with me to see it.  I wouldn't have believed my eyes if he hadn't crossed the road about 20' in front of me.  I could have reached out and touched it!  He crossed and then labored up the valley on my left, as I drove by, using his hands to climb.  My first sighting!  Sure, I have heard we have them up in these Blue Ridge Mountains, but until you witness it, you really don't think twice about it.  He was truly AWESOME~! 

Happy Saturday.  I am at work and killing time.  Because I'm so good at what I do I have flown through my work this week and managed to lose myself about 3 hours of pay.  I need 40 hours or I end up hurting, so I'm finding myself Killing Time....

Samantha made the trip safe and sound.  She is safely at Nana's now and lving every minute of it.  Sam got to work at the Venetian (a restaurant near my Mom's house) as a busgirl for two days.  Her first time ever working and according to Nana she is "a little worker", a very good trait indeed!  Had she taken after her Dad she wouldn't be a worker at all..... LOL!  Anyway she managed to make herself a few bucks, which will come in handy when she goes up to Maine for 10 days with her close friends family.  Now I won't have to send her as much (yeah right, think again).

My two sisters and a cousin dance and this evening was their show.  I hate to miss family events... the only part of living away from home that I truly dislike.  So this recital they are in is a really good show, not your average kiddie recital.  They are in what I would call a "dance troop" and are very very good.  So good in fact that they've danced at Celtics games during half time a few times.  Samantha got to go to that and she is a dance lover herself so she'll probablly come home wanting to take lessons again.  Sam has a knack for dancing.  She dances like she has had lessons all her life when she really only took a few years of classes.  She must get that from my sister Molly, who has been dancing since she was knee high to a grasshopper and straight through college.  I danced as a young girl too and remember many a dance recital at the big John Hancock building in Boston.  I wish I had never stopped.

I haven't been doing much with my freedom as of yet.  I have had to work and haven't done anything differently.  Kevin has gone camping so tonight I have the house to myself, which I love.  Toby, our dog, who is very lonely with Sami gone, will be able to come in tonight.  Kevin doesn't let the dog in and doesn't believe in dogs inside the house, a big issue between us, but tonight he'll be happy!  Toby is such a good dog and smart as a whip, as most Sheperds are! 

I suppose I'll hit the road and head home now.  Have some happy days, till we meet again.   

 1.    I put my thirteen year old daughter, Samantha, on an Amtrak train yesterday.  She is going to visit her Nana and company for a month.  Did I mention that she is thirteen?

 2.    I woke up in the middle of the night and it took a minute to dawn on me why I didn’t see a sleeping Samantha.

 3.    When I woke this morning I was also a little unbalanced.  I feel like there is something that I need to be doing???? but in all reality there isn’t. 

 4.    It feels very strange to not be committed to anything... What can I do with my time?

 5.    This is Samantha’s 3^rd year taking the Amtrak up to Boston. 

It’s a 10 hour trip.

 6.    We travel to Richmond to get her to the train, which is a 3.5 hour trip as well.  I love this picture of the Richmond tracks.

 7.    The first year she went I was very nervous, but each year gets easier.

 8. Amtrak has a wonderful “unaccompanied children” policy.  The child is interviewed to be sure they are mentally fit to travel alone, they have to wear a special bracelet, sit in a special area near the conductor, must travel during daylight hours, can not take a train that requires a lay over or a train switch and the person picking the child up must present valid I.D. before they release her.

Ray a drop of golden sun......  I live in Deer Haven, let me tell you.

Since I hit the deer a few months ago, I am deer shy.  They never bothered me, previous to actually hitting one.  Sure, they were all over the place then too and I had a few near misses, but they never really caused me too much alarm.  Now they do.  Okay... not so much that it disturbs me enough to keep me off the roads they frequent, but I am much more aware of them now. 

I'm working nights now, 2 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and I have three or four different ways I can get home, depending on my mood.  I can go up the Blue Ridge Parkway, a gradual incline, 45 mph and usually not a sole on the road; I can go up Bent Mountain, a trip through lots of red lights and traffic, to reach the paved mountain and then a quick, steep trip up; I can go up interstate 81, interstate driving at 65+ and probablly the fastest of the choices; or I can do 81 for about 10 miles and get off the highway to go straight up a dirt mountain road, the steepest road I've ever seen, with a drop off that would startle even a bird, but taking me just about to my doorstep.  I usually don't go the same way back to back, so as to keep it interesting, and last night I picked the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On the Blue Ridge Parkway, 11 p.m., I literally had to slow to a crawl 22 times for deer on the side of the road.  I am not kidding, I counted them!!!! You might be thinking no way, but look what I found after checking the statistics around here:

Deer live in just about every area of the County. Although it is not possible to know exactly how many deer live within the County's boundaries, population studies are conducted on an ongoing basis. These studies indicate that as many as 400 deer per square mile can be found in rural parts of the County and that as many as 100 deer per square mile can be found within the County's urban sections.

So that explains it.... we truly are in Deer Haven!

1.  My aunt Colleen, drives around shooting pictures of the number 13.  There is a tract of land between my house and Sami's school that has a big "Tract 13" sign.  I drove by many times thinking I should photograph it for one of my 13's but when my aunt picked Samantha up at school and took her home, she saw it too, and stole it before I could use it.....  You can read about it here.  

2.  The 13th page of my book starts like this: She shrugged and looked out the window and said "Phil was drinking."   and the 13th chapter of my book starts like this:  Simone Angeline's eyes were ringed with red on the other side of the chain and fresh tears welled in her sockets.  Oh and If you haven're read a Dennis Lehane book, you need to.... they are great!

3. There are traditionally thirteen steps leading up to a gallows.  However it's an urban myth that there are thirteen turns in a hangman's noose(there are most commonly eight turns.)

4. Thirteen is the Atomic number of aluminum.

5. Some theories of relativity state that there are 13 dimensions.

6.  The Thirteenth moon of Jupiter is called Elara.

7.  The Universe is thought to be 13.7 billion years old.

8.  The number 13 on a Hell's Angels biker patch or tattoo refers to the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, M, which signified their link with a motorcycle club (13th letter is M), not marajuana as many suspect.

9.  13 is considered so unlucky that the stalls at some racetracks don't have a 13, buildings often skip the 13th floor and go from 12 to 14 and in Scotland, there is no such thing as Terminal 13 in any of their airports.

10.  In Tarot decks the 13th card of the Major Arcana is Death.

11. According to Egytian Lore, 13 is the number of steps between life and death.

12. The Great Seal of the United States has:

• 13 levels of the truncated pyramid,
• 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", which appears in the banner running through the eagle's beak on the right side of the bill's reverse.
• 13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis", which appears over the pyramid on the left side of the bill's reverse.
• 13 stars above the Eagle,
• 13 leaves on the olive branch,
• 13 olives on the olive branch,
• 13 arrows held by the Eagle, and
• 13 bars on the shield.

13.  Friday the 13th!

This past week has been a busy one!  Summertime, Summertime, Sum, sum, summertime!  Yesterday was Sami's last day at school for the year and it has been hustle and bustle to get this and that done.  Last week she had two big end of year projects due, so that took most of my evenings after work. 

The first project was for her Spanish class.  We made Churro's, which are a good cross between fried dough and a cinnamon stick.  They normally look like this: 

But..... we ended up calling her creation Churro Chunks because they came out more like balls than sticks.  The first few were nicely shaped but due to my big idea to shortcut - they weren't really shaped correctly, although they did still taste good!  What was my shortcut idea you ask?  Oh boy was I brilliant!  Not.  You are supposed to squeeze the dough into frying oil through a cake decorator tube... you know, one of those empty ones that you fill with frosting to decorate your cake?  Well the store didn't have any of those old fashioned things, instead they had already packaged frosting squeezies (what are they called anyway?) and my brilliant idea was to cut the bottom off, scoop out the frosting and use the tube.  Unfortunately, stuffing that tube wasn't the easiest of things, so after the first three or four Churro's they turned into Chunks!  She got a 90 for her grade, after losing 5 points for losing her grading sheet, so I guess everyone was pretty impressed.  We had dipping chocolate to go with it, so I'm sure that helped! 

The other project was timeline of Sami's life to day, which was a lot of fun... except for the fact that Sami wrote the timeline and we later picked out the pictures and she should have done it the other way around.  This way, however, was much more challenging.  Did you ever try to find pictures of an exact place in time?  Don't.  We ended up having to use a few pictures that we weren't even sure actually fit the correct timing, but we were close.  Next time she will pick out the pictures first and then write her descriptions!  It was fun looking back on the "olden days" though and how young we all were!  Time, as usual, blows my mind.

Yesterday Becky and the crew of all crews showed up for a visit.  We visited a bit and ended up driving around on back dirt roads and finding new ways of going places... her little boy never did get to steal that horse though, thanks to Samantha's multi-managing! 

This week Kevin's shift changed, so so did mine, as we commute together.  Luckily my job is very flexible and I can pretty much work whatever hours I want, as long as the next days work is done by midnight.  So, I've just switched to working 2 pm to 10 pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, this being my first night.  I loved this morning... It was so nice having the morning to leisurely awake, get lunches and dinners ready, shower, dress and even a little light pickup housework, so my house isn't too bad when I get home!  Very nice indeed.... very nice to not wake up, rush to get ready and rush some more to get out the door.  I'm thinking I'm going to like these hours.

Sami is trying to arrange a trip for us to Bush Gardens, sometime between now and before she leaves for Massachusetts on the train on the 20th of June.  I have to do some checking to see what that will entail and if we will be able to swing it with our work schedules and all.  We also have to deliver the cookies we sold when they come in.  Or.... more like, I might have to deliver them myself, if she is in Mass. for a month!  Becky's daughter is having a birthday party this weekend so Sam is spending Friday night at their house and by the time Saturday night rolls around and I get off my 12 pm to 7 pm shift, and visit with that crew for awhile, the weekend will be over.  It might work out best if Sami and I (and a friend of hers too) goes to Bush Gardens on Tuesday and spends the night so that we can drive her to the train station in Richmond Wednesday morning.  Yeah, that would be the way to do it, if I do it at all.  Both Bush Gardens and Richmond are a few hours from here and in the same "general" direction.  I'll keep you posted.  

Another exciting week from the life of me.... ho hum!

Well actually it's Wednesday for most, but it's my Monday.  Wednesday's are my Monday's and Sunday's are my Friday's.  Today I woke up feeling a little sick on my stomach and now that I'm at work, I'm feeling better but am also feeling very emotional for some reason.  Maybe it is hormones, maybe not, but it is very strong and I'm not much liking it.  I already teared up a few times reading emails and blog entries that normally wouldn't phase me in such a way.  I hope to get into a better mindset soon, I have work to do, afterall. 

We had a good memorial weekend.  I worked Saturday and Sunday and then Monday Sami and I went out to sell her cookie dough.  It's the first fund raiser for her cheerleading and we actually get 40% of the proceeds to go directly to Sam's uniform, which is 200.00!  I drove her from house to house, as houses around here are very spread out and she sold 250.00 worth, meaning we already have 100.00 off her uniform!  Excellent, if I do say so myself.

I made my first big boo-boo at work.  I did an obituary for a little old black lady... except, I pasted a picture of an older white gentleman onto her obit.  I feel really bad!  It was a simple keystroke error, the man's picture was saved under 10246372 and hers was saved under 10246377, so I apparently keyed a 2 when it should have been a 7.  I couldn't tell it was wrong by the name either, because we do proof at the end of each day, because it was a black persons name and didn't really indicate either a woman or man.  But... this really a huge mistake if you think about how the family must have felt.  They had the obit running for 3 days (about 600.00) so we gave them the whole thing for free and corrected it for the 2nd and 3rd days.  I didn't get into any trouble at work though, thank heavens, because it's happened to everyone at one point or other, or so I hear.  Still... I feel horrible!

Well I managed to survive another sleep over party!  They are getting worse with age.  Gone are the days when Mom could plan the games they play, instead it's truth or dare (with Mom downstairs hoping the dares aren't going to somehow affect her) and dance till you can't dance no more.  Oh, I forgot to mention hide & seek in the dark, which quickly turned into playing under the hose at midnight!  I tend to feel bad for the underdog in the crowd.  There was one little girl that just seemed timid to me and seemed uncomfortable around these rowdy girls... but Sam assures me that she isn't and when I'm not around she is just one of the girls.  Probablly so.  All in all they are a good bunch and seem to be true friends.  Ashley:  lives next door to us.  She reminds me of me when I was her age and although I hate to admit it, is slightly obnoxious, probablly the troublemaker of the group.  Kayla: Sami's best friend, quiet, yet coming into her own.  She spends most weekends at our house, so she is "at home" at our home.  The sleepover was given for her, as she is moving away. Lindsey: a natural beauty with a contagious laugh. This little girl laughs at everything and I think she is the clown of the group.  She is very outgoing and people are drawn to her. And Katie: Actually acts a little younger than the rest, a little niave, the one that I thought was the underdog.  From what I hear her family is very religious.  I met her parents though and they seem to be very mainstream.  Last but not least, my Sami:  The true 13 year old who doesn't want Mom to bother them, unless that is I'm dishing out money or driving them somewhere!

And there you have it.  By noon, I had kicked them all out and I headed to work.....      

Wednesdays are slow at my work.  It's my Monday and the work load begins to get hairy on Thursdays - because the weekend is quickly approaching.  Did I tell you I now work for the newspaper?  I completely and totally love it!  I compile this website and on the weekends I do obituaries.  Both facets of the job are very interesting and I can't really decide which I like better.  Both are creative and use my computer skills & creativeness, triplefold.  I lucked into this job.  Truly lucked right into it and now I don't want to do anything else.  Things do happen for a reason.  My Mom was a firm teacher of this and in positive thinking.  I've always believed her and this is yet another example in my life of the truth in this statement!  I "fit" so well with my new job! 

Things at home are well.  I have Monday's & Tuesday's off and mostly spend those days doing housework and my crossstitch or reading.  All of the things I truly enjoy.  Both Kevin & Samantha are off doing the school / work thing and I love love love having some time to myself.  I work weekends, but I enjoy my work, so it doesn't much matter.

School lets out in a week and a half, 8th grade on the horizon!  Where did this school year go?  As you can see from her Spring school picture, she is growing in leaps and bounds.  She's not my little girl anymore... she is quickly approaching womanhood.  She will be in high-school & then graduating before I know it.  She is already talking about working at the end of this year, when she is fourteen.  I'm not sure what the legal age to begin work is in Virginia, but I'm thinking it is right around fourteen.  I'm not looking forward to being a Taxi-cab but this too, is on the horizon.

Samantha will be going into 8th grade as a cheerleader!  She tried out a few weeks ago and made it.  She is so very excited.  I think back to when I tried out, and didn't make it and am releaved that she didn't have to live through the let-down that I did. 

Kevin & I are up & down, as usual.  He is a Taurus and I, Aries, the Ram.  In case you didn't know, Rams & Bulls tend to lock horns.  All in all things are,  well though.... as long as we each compromise... which I admit is sometimes hard.   I haven't yet informed him that Samantha is having 5 girls over for a going away sleep-over for her best friend Kayla on Friday night.  Today is Wednesday, I know, and I guess I have to break the news to him this evening.  I try to pick the most ideal time, the best mood possible, for telling him things like this as he is likely to not be thrilled, yet at this point in the game, unable to stop it.  Slightly unfair of me, I know, but we each must work our way around obstacles. 

I still love my farmhouse!   Especially on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, while it is spotless due to my days off.  It quickly goes downhill by Thursday and I have to deal with a mess thoughout the weekend, while I am working.  But I am working and Monday soon follows again, Thank Heavens! 

We have a new German Shepherd, Toby.  He is a BIG boy at only 6 months old.  Our cat had kittens too, but we only ended up with one of them.  She had three but the first was stillborn and the second died last week.  She was sick for about a week and wouldn't feed of Mommy, so Sami and I were feeding it with a dropper, but regardless of how much we would feed it we watched her get weaker and weaker.  There wasn't much else we could do except make her as comfortable as possible until she fell asleep for good.  RIP again.  I feel like animals are dying all around us.  Believe it or not, but Toby & Tabby get along  like best friends!  Toby is also quite protective of the kitten! 

Everything else is well!  I swear to do better with my posting, I promise!  

Two Names You Go by:
1 Chrissie

2 Mommy

Two longest car rides:

1. Massachusetts to San Diego CA & back

2. Florida to Michigan & back

Two Favorite Holidays:
1.  Thanksgiving

2.  4th of July

Two favorite beverages:
1. Dunkin Donuts coffee, iced or hot

2. Pepsi

 

Two questions you'd like to ask me?

Loose Leaf Lady interviewed me last week....  and after a week of putting off actually answering them, I finally got it done.  Don't get me wrong, I wanted to play and requested she interview me, it's just that, as usual, life's too busy and after work I usually don't even want to think - so I don't.  But I have, as you see below:

Question 1. Tell us something you think most people don’t know about you that would surprise them.   

ANSWER:  When I was little I wanted to be an oceanographer & as an adult, had I down another road, I probably would have liked being a police officer or EMT person.  I didn't really do the college thing, but sometimes wish I had and would have chosen to study law and become a “defense attorney”.  Maybe in my next life...    

Question 2. If you could change 3 things about yourself, what would they be and why?    

CHANGE 1: I wish I had concentrated and dedicated myself in high school & had gone on to college (refer to above question for what I would have majored in, science or law).  I wish I could go back and realize at such an important time in life that  it is such an important time… it’s not all about fun.  Even though I sure did have a lot of that! 

CHANGE 2:  I wish I had nursed my daughter, just to have the experience.  She wouldn’t “suckle” and I didn’t really try very hard to make it work.  I got frustrated.  When I hear others discussing how great it was, I get a little jealous that I wasn't able to.  Also when my daughter was born they cleaned her up before they gave her to me.  I had to wait a good 7 minutes before they handed her to me.  If I had the chance to do it all again, I would have just reached out and grabbed her.  I did, however, get it all on videotape! 

CHANGE 3:  I would like to have a different body type.  I have a “pear” type &  I tend to be larger up top and although I love my legs, I wish I had a bigger bottom and a smaller top, which I think makes people look smaller.  I also wish I were a little more graceful or feminine. 

QUESTION 3.  If you had to wear a costume for a day as you went about your daily activities what would it be and why? 

ANSWER:  I would wear a mimes costume and go the whole day without saying a word.  I love peace & quiet and this would be ideal!     

Question 4. What’s under your bed?

ANSWER:  I have a georgeous cherry wood sleigh bed but unfortunately the frame is broken, so the mattress & box spring are sitting within the head and foot board, directly on the floor.  The mattress & box spring are high enough that you would never notice the difference, but there obviously is nothing under it… except the floor, that is.    

Question 5. Who would play you in the movie? What would the plot be? Would it be a comedy or drama or other? 

ANSWER:  I have been told a lot that I remind people of Drew Barrymore, so she would have to play Chrissie.  The plot would be along the lines of the Life Styles of the Rich & Famous and it would obviously be a fantasy!

For those who want to play:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me" (and an email address).
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Well....  this week has been a nightmare....  I live in the same county as the now infamous VA Tech.... Blacksburg.... Montgomery County....  my daughters middle school went into lockdown on Monday.... after the mass shootings.... today Christiansburg got bomb threats.... the towns offices are under lockdown.... people taking advantage of the chaos....  24 hour coverage of the events...  horrific to watch this all unfold.... it's happening here.... shocking.... in these peaceful mountains.... peaceful people.... the atmosphere feels alot like it did right after 911... this time the catch phrase is.... We all are Hokies today.... we all sit by radio's at work.... listening to the press conferences & talk radio shows.... discussing the worst mass murder in U.S. history.... bits of information create a picture.... insanity.... rant against rich kids and religion.... Friday we will  wear Hokie colors.... in tribute.... orange and maroon.... RIP.... 

How unexpected of you to drop by!  I have not dropped off the face of the earth, rather just have not been in the mood for writing.  The night before my birthday, March 27, Becky came over and had commented to Kevin that I hadn't posted since February 9th.  That shocked me, for it doesn't seem like it's been quite that long and I immediately thought to myself that I best get back into the swing of things.....  

What is going on in my life since I've last posted?  Well let's see....  I turned 39.  My birthday week was actually very eventful for a change.  Like I said, Becky came over and hung out the night before.  We hadn't seen eachother in awhile so there was alot of catching up.  The next day we tried to run some errands, but instead wound up on the side of the road with an overheated engine.  Her car was fine sometimes, when coasting or going downhill, but the minute we would start to climb a hill the temperature would climb right along with the car.  We had to stop quite a few times to let it cool down and after doing this three or four times, the car decided it no longer wanted to cool down at all.  We gave up and headed back home after joking that I spent my birthday on the side of the road.  Connie, Kevin's Step-mom, took me out to lunch the day after my birthday.  That was very special to me that she wanted to do something special for me.  We drank a carafe of wine and enjoyed a nice lunch.  Our lives are very parallel in ways.  We are, after all, both with Walker men!  The next night, on the way home from work, I managed to hit a deer.  This was the first for me.  I had many many close calls, but this one was just dead-on and I just couldn't stop in time.  

The deer turned out to be a blessing because I got a new car out of it.  Not brand new, but new to me and I really, really needed it!  Some of my old car can be seen here.  My new car looks like this... only mine is black.

We also got a new German Shepherd puppy.  His name is Toby and he is solid black and very handsome.  I will post photo's the next time I post, which hopefully will not be in two months this time.  Until then....

Love & Stuff,

Chrissie 

I'm slowly but surely catching up with my Blog Fodder entries.  This is Blog Fodder #9. 

Rob wants to know:

Name a sensory input(s) which trigger a mood change be it uplifting, depressing, poignancy or remind you of a past event or period in time. Examples - the smell of an aftershave or perfume, a song, a baby crying, the sound of a vegas slot machine, the feel of clean sheets, the taste of a childhood drink.

Ruby, our German Shepherd, was killed Saturday, 3 days before she turned a year old.  I’ve been wanting to do a post for her but I haven’t really been able to stomach it yet.  My daughter, on the other hand, has been busy doing things for Ruby in Ruby’s name since Saturday. 

She has framed pictures, planned a hook rug for her, created a Virtual Memorial, began writing a book & a song about Ruby and plans to paint a painting of her.

Right now my mood change would have to be a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and a strong sadness, occurring whenever anything to do with Ruby (or any dog for that matter) comes my way.  Just the little memories... ie:  throwing away scraps and not giving them to her, pulling up in the driveway and not having her jump all over the car, her neighbor doggy friend coming looking for her, opening my front door to look out and she is not laying right in front of it….. protecting us and trying to be as close as possible.  I never knew I could feel this way about an animal – I’m not a huge animal lover although I tend to own lots of animals, thanks to my daughter!  I wonder how long this Sensory Input Trigger Feeling thing will last? 

Catch up time – I’ve got three Blog Fodders past due.  You don't know what Blog Fodder is?  Well then...  visit here  to find out.  I have 3 posts to catch up on.  You really aren't required to participate every week, but I want to do them all, it’s a challenge.

The topic is:   How does one handle work, home and family (or a combination thereof) without having a nervous breakdown?  And was asked by Melonie at The Joy of being Melonie.  

My answer and it only takes a small list of words for this one:

Multi tasking

Anit-depressants

Love

Humor

Energy

Fun

Patience

Brilliance

Alcohol

Organization

Optimism

And on that note….. and in celebration of all us who do.....  

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink. She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast to her brunette hair.

She looks at her mother and inquisitively asks, "Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?"

Her mother replied "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then asked, "Momma, how come all of grandma's hairs are white?"

Sami is snowed out of school today, as a snow storm has begun this morning!  Yeah…  Finally!  They, being the forecasters, aren’t sure how much we are due.  I have heard conflicting reports and everything from 1 inch to 5 inches.  I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, and it doesn’t really for me either being from Boston and all, but up in these mountains winter weather is a big deal!  The area seems to paralyze when snow & ice are even mentioned.  There is no calm before the storm.  School closes before flakes even begin and grocery stores are filled to the max with panicking people.  Me… Of course, I love it!  I look out at the winter wonderland and just can’t begin to describe the feelings I get.  To me, the whole world is just stopped and covered in a blanket!

The ice storm I posted about, the week before last, wasn’t too much of a problem.  We did get quite a bit of ice, but they were able to get it cleaned up faster than usual, it seemed.  We lost power for about 4 hours but we lost it at about 10:30 pm – so I read in bed for about an hour and then fell right to sleep.  Samantha had a friend spend that night and they managed to get to bed earlier than normal too.  It’s kind of scary how we relay so heavily on electricity.

Been forever and a day since I posted, I know it….  I haven’t even visited my own blog or anyone else’s for that matter.  Got to get back on top of things.  I have two Blog Fodders to catch up on and I plan to do both at the same time, but not right now.        

We are getting our first real batch of winter weather - but it's ice, not snow.  I am not as fond of ice due to very possible power outages.  Massachusetts gets more snow and Virginia seems to always be ice.  I know it has something to do with the temperature and probablly the elevation, as well.  I'll keep you posted on how things end up.  They were claiming 3 inches of snow at one point too, so who knows.  Looking out the window though, it's beginning to look alot like Winter!

1.  All Work & No Play

2.   I have a thirteen year old girl who lives on the computer, barely giving me a chance to get in here in the evenings.

3.  I have about 90 hours of shows taped on my DVR that I need to watch and wipe out

Blog Fodder #7 - Come on, give it a try!

Karen askes 

It's hard for me to pick between these two choices....  slightly Ironic, isn’t it?  I lean more toward common sense being more important but then again without some the intelligence to back it up, where is the common sense coming from?  Lessons learned?  Everyone has the tools to be intelligent, the hard part is learning to use what you have.  At times intelligence might even stop you from using your common sense.   Kind of a vicious circle.  And how about this?  If I could add Survival Smarts to the question this would be my pick.  

Life is just one big long lesson!  

Intelligence is based on IQ testing, which can be very controvercial.  Not all people test the same, some are intelligent in some areas while others in others.  

Common Sense is a whole! 

(Yes, you will have to sign up, but it just takes a few seconds and the test is very worth it.) 

I took the test last January and I have an IQ of 124 - right int he middle of "gifted" and "superior".   Here's a little chart in case you want to check your's out!  

My IQ is pretty good.... but....  Honestly though, my own personal Common Sense likes to play tricks on me.