Wait! It's Not Supposed To Be Winter Yet!!

Early Winter
By C.K. Armistead
Nov 16, 2014

Freezing air that greets
My reluctantly waking feets
I pull them back under the sheets
While the alarm clock uselessly bleats.

Seeking warmth, I hit the shower
Hot water seems to take an hour
Before it gets to its full power
Helping sweeten my mood so sour.

Joints that normally don't pain me
Today rebel and seek to blame me
For the cold that seems to contain me
Making them all inflamed, you see.

Oh, the joy of my cozy nook
To curl up and read a book
A window to help me look
Upon the trees by cold winds shook.

  

Winter Signs on A Fall Afternoon
C.K. Armistead
Nov. 2014

Swirling, falling drifting
Lightly dusting and sifting,
Flakes flying on north winds
Coating shrubs and ground again.

Fluffing, chattering, then still
Sparrows huddled on my windowsill.
Waiting for a decrease in the wind
So they can go after the seeds again.

The singing kettle, the bubbling pot
On the stove, making a lot
Of good things to drink and eat
To take our minds off of snow and sleet.

To keep the cabin fever away,
Time on the elliptical to bob and sway
Also burning as much as I should
Of all that good and hearty food!

So, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet.  It is usually nowhere near this cold here this time of year.  Fall is usually the nicest time weather wise in Oklahoma.  I'm glad they switched from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change", because Climate Change is more descriptive of what happens as the earth has these temperature cycles.  It has happened before.  With or without man, our planet goes through changes.  Oh, we probably make it worse, but it isn't ALL on us.  The geological record upholds that fact.  The problem is, we ARE putting more chemicals, particles, etc into the air than would otherwise be there.  It DOES do nasty things to the planetary environment.  So, we do our little part to help curtail some of it.  Walk to the store instead of drive if I can, recycle everything I can. (But I have to drive to the recycling center.  That kind of rankles...)
My plans for today include making some more home made applesauce, and a batch of shortbread.  I also want to try to make some little meat pies with the egg roll wraps we have left.  (Not as fattening as pasties, but maybe ALMOST as good.  We'll see...)  The laundry is almost all done, including the towels.  I need to make out a grocery list and pay some bills.  Also praying for the weather to not leave us with a real mess on the roads in the morning.  (I'd like to do my shopping and get it all put away before I have to leave for Voice.)

Looks as though the roads will be iffy for quite a bit of tomorrow.  The schools are going to be closed.  (Oh, joy.)  May have to shop Tues before work.

Just feel so run down and tired and vaguely irritable during this weather.  Never fails to show up when I have other stuff to do! 

Here's the dessert I made tonight:

So, now that I've put my big, cozy sweater on, and had a bowl of this, I'm full and I'm SLEEPY!  Catch you later!

"Tis The Season...

Advent has begun, which means we start getting ready for Christmas.  In our worship, in our music, around the house, and hopefully in our hearts as well.
Around our house that means putting the decorations up a little at a time, and listening to Christmas music again.  I have uploaded some of our Christmas cds to the Amazon Cloud, I also have purchased a couple of new ones, since the  old ones get cloying after awhile, even though I love them.

The music now on the cloud, the computer, and my mobile devices for the season includes:

 40 Most Beautiful Carols.  Lots of Anglican sounds here, also some by Chanticleer.  Good, traditional carols.

Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra  One like some of the ones Mom used to play.  Classics.

The Andy Williams Christmas Album
One of the several my Mom ALWAYS played.  I grew up on this one, know all the songs by heart, still love it.

Another of Mom's favorites that I also love.  The one I downloaded is not EXACTLY like this, but has all the same songs.

Have owned a copy of this album in one form or another since the year they did the TV special and the album came out. LOVE it! Little Saint Nick has to be one of my all-time favorites.  Sung by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem!

Pink Martini Joy To The World

This is one of my new finds.  Love it.  All kinds of holiday songs, including a Hanukkah song that sounds like it's mostly in Spanish.  Immediately thought of the best man at our wedding, Paul Londynsky, who grew up Jewish in the middle of Panama.  (The Canal Zone.)

The Statler Brothers Christmas    One Mom played a lot the last few years I lived at home.  Kinda corny and very Country, but I still like it.

Silver Bells, A Bing Crosby Christmas Anthology
This has more on it than the one my Mom always listened to, but is familiar enough to make up for it.  It just isn't Christmas without Bing!  (Or Frank, or Andy, or Doris!)  Not at our house, anyway.








I also put the indoor lights up in the windows this evening, since I was home.  I have to go to work tomorrow, supposedly from 9 to 1, but they have already said the earliest we would open would be 10, and it's going to be determined in the morning whether we open at all.  Guess I'll be awaiting a phone call...

Anyway, here's a picture of the lights, and one of the driveway covered with sleet that is frozen into a nice hard crust.

Since that phone call that tells me whether I work in the morning or not is going to come awfully early in the morning, I guess I better start preparing for going to sleep. 
Sure am thankful for electricity, natural gas, a sturdy house, and the means to keep it warm!

Birthday Thoughts

So the day when I am officially another year older has arrived.  I was afraid it would be a day I would struggle to be cheerful, because the local weather hyenas started howling this weekend about "blizzard conditions" in the metro today. (Well, there are monsoon conditions here so far today, maybe, but not one snowflake so far.  Northwest is another story!)   As someone who grew up in the land of sunshine, orange trees, droughts, smog, and traffic, the thought of a blizzard is depressing.  Being trapped in the house for long periods of time is not my idea of fun. ( Don't get me wrong, we have a nice house, and lots of things to keep us entertained, and we DO still enjoy each other's company, but I am somewhat claustrophobic.  The very idea of not being able to go outside if I feel like it gives me the willies!)

The day itself, however, has been full of blessings.  First off, no snow, just rain.  (We NEED rain, and I can drive in rain.)  I got out early and got all the groceries bought, and my allowance and gas money out of the bank.  The groceries came in under budget thanks to coupons, and putting them away didn't take too awfully long.  Stew is in the crock pot for a nice, cozy birthday dinner.  (With sourdough bread to toast in the broiler to go with it!)  All the cleaning is done, so now if we get stuck in the house, it will be in a fresh, clean, good-smelling house. 

An especially nice blessing is having my voice back to just about normal.  I have been so afraid it was gone for good, but the mid - range is back in place, and I am Go! for any and all singing that needs to be done!

There have been really special birthday wishes sent to me today.  I forget how many dear people that I care about also care about me.  My Facebook feed has been overflowing with loving good wishes.  Most of these are folks I have either met face to face, or have corresponded with for so long, that we feel like we've known each other forever.  There are family wishes in there, too.  MY big brother, and NOBODY else's, is the only of my siblings on Facebook, and he always greets me there, as well as sending a card.  I got a sweet post from one of my nieces - in- law, too.  One of my Facebook friends who is also on Twitter sent me a nice birthday tweet, and so did an actor/artist that I follow.  The icing on the birthday cake of this day though, was a nice, short, 'happy birthday' from a busy man that I admire.  It was the perfect topper for a day that turned out so much nicer than I was afraid it would.

Throughout the day were little reminders of how blessed and how precious this life is.  There were lots of nice people at the base today, from the gate guard to the cashier and the bagger at the commissary who were cheerful and helpful in spite of the yucky cold wet weather.  Those that looked at my ID card even wished me a happy birthday.  (Nice to know they actually look at the darn thing when I go to the trouble to have it out for them!)
My dear husband had a sweet little gift for me when he got home.  A while back, I had lamented that one pair of my full size sewing shears had just disappeared.  He replaced them today with an even nicer pair.  A small thing, perhaps, but so very thoughtful and attentive of him to remember my lamentation over "the good scissors".
There have been other "birthday presents" that we have bought together.  Like this fabulous new computer that I got right after Christmas because the old one up and died.  (It was only five years old, which is about 110 in computer years...) I got a Nook HD+ on Friday because the old Nook Color, while still working, is getting harder and harder to keep charged when using the Wi-Fi.  This new one will let me watch Netflix on the go on a screen that is much more watchable than my phone.  (Needs Wi-Fi connection, but that is cheaper than the data on my phone when it goes over the contract limit!)   I can also be environmentally responsible at church and download the service bulletin to the Nook HD+, and not have to use a paper bulletin.  (Quieter during the service, too!)  I have also acquired a Bodhran and an istructional dvd to help me learn to play it.  I intend to do so.  I've wanted to learn for awhile now.
So, this birthday is a LOT better than I feared it would be.  Thanks again to all those who have made it so.
All my Facbook friends and family, (you know who you are!)  Also, Anne Lower, Michael M. Ornstein, Ron Perlman, Mary Stolfa, Anna Cathy Wells, and Fiona.  (Rusty, I know you are sending good wishes, too, but I also know you are buried in job training! ;-) ) Phyllis C., commissary cashier extraordinaire, and Matthew Douglas Amistead, husband who goes above and beyond the call for me!