I don't know about anyone else, but I've definitely had enough of this Winter, and I'm looking forward to Spring! A person can only take so much ice and cold, and I've past my limit. I think bears have the right idea when they hibernate for the winter. So, they wake up a little hungry....at least they're not freeeeeezing. Even John, who loves this weather, is getting sick of shoveling almost every day.
Here's a picture of our sidewalk behind our house. This snow is from a slow, gradual, accumulation from the past month or so. (Actually, some of it had melted during our "heatwave" a week or so ago, but it snowed again, and again, and again....)
This picture is the sidewalk near my friend's house. The town goes through and neatly plows the public sidewalks with a mini plow.
We were lucky that we didn't get hit by the storm that created havoc in a lot of states. We just got the outer edge of it, and it just added 4 to 5 inches of new snow on Monday. The temperature even warmed up into the 30's today! The forcast for the rest of the week is high's in the 30's until the weekend, when another storm is expected. But, on to warmer subjects....
Last week, I was supposed to keep track of how I felt three times during the day, and write it down for my therapist. I found myself writing "frustrated" most of the time. Basically, I'm frustrated over things that I can not change, like the weather, the economy, unfairness, injustice, etc... Sigh..... Somehow, I need to get over getting frustrated, because it is draining my energy. Today was a really frustrating day at work. I lost track of how many times my computer locked up, and almost every application that I was in caused me some sort of aggravation. I had a lot of orders to do today, and I kept getting a problem to resolve thrown at me. I love solving problems, but, since they take so much time out of a busy day, they can be frustrating instead of rewarding. Fortunately, Jim and Terry helped me with orders in the afternoon.
I'm frustrated that I haven't posted as often as I would like in this journal. I have been busy doing other things though. I've been working on taxes, fighting the IRS for every penny I can; trying to get sponsors for the American Heart Walk, and trying to sell Party Lite candles. (Stephanie: Thanks for offering to buy something from me. If you send me your phone number again, I can have the Party Lite consultant contact you with a consultant in your area. Maybe you'd even like to book a party of your own!) The consultant came over tonight to pick up my orders, and I ended up buying another candle in a homemade bread scent! (I love candles!!!)
I finally finished reading Danielle Steele's The Ghost. I started reading it way back in September, after Amy recommended it. That goes without saying, because all of Danielle's Steele's book are good. I hadn't read any Danielle Steele books in a couple of years, though. Prior to that, I had read almost all of her books. It's been sitting on my nightstand, and I would read it when I went to bed until I got tired. I guess I've been really tired lately, because sometimes I'd only get through a couple of pages. I can remember when it would only take me a day or two to read an entire mass market paperback. That was before I discovered the internet though!
Valentine's Day was a nice day at work. Sally and Terry passed out us candy, and Sally baked us heart shaped cookies. Larry passed out valentine's (even though he claims it was an anonymous Cupid, and not him). Our rep from Arrow Office Supplies brought us candy kisses. John and I had discussed not buying each other gifts because of our financial situation. He came down with the stomach flu the day before, so Valentine's Day breakfast was out of the question. He did surprise me with flowers though. As sick as he was, he had found a florist in Canandaigua that had nice arrangements at reasonable prices. He picked out a colorful arrangement in a lavender (my favorite color) wicker basket, and brought them in to work at lunch time. I was talking on the phone as he walked in, and I'm exclaiming in my vendor's ear, "I have flowers!!!! (LOL) He's so sweet!
Here's a close-up of the flowers. Reds, pinks, lavenders, yellows.... It makes me long for spring even more. I can't wait to plant flowers outdoors, and to see if my bulbs come up.
Tomorrow is one of my breakfast days at work. I was planning on baking an apple coffee cake, but it got late, and I had no motivation to do anything except sit. I'll have to pick something up at the store tomorrow. Which means getting up earlier, so I guess this is enough rambling for today.....
Thanks for reading!
Ann Marie
Graphics by Doris Ann