The Cold Scale and Snow in the Morning

Before we jump into this tale of Tuesday, I should probably give you the Cold Scale.
In my mind, this is the Cold Scale {to be qualified with appropriate descriptors depending on the effect from the wind chill}:

• "cold" = below 40*
• "cold" = actually below 32*
• "cold" = single digits
• "COLD" = below 0*
beyond that, the Cold Scale breaks

As you may remember, Tuesday is the day I go work out on The Farm Office. My boss usually picks me up since a) he's coming from the same direction and b) it's almost an hour-long drive. So this morning I woke up to my alarm {the rooster one, in case you were wondering} and started getting ready. You know, clothes, hair, make-up. Normal things.

Last night, the weatherman had said that it was going to be cold today. And I think, of course it's cold. This is the Frozen Tundra. Little did I know...

So I finish the hair, make-up, clothes, etc., and head upstairs for breakfast. As I come up the stairs, Grams says "Did you see the snow?"
Snow? What snow?

Friends, it had snowed... a couple of inches. That's all. It was "cold" and there was snow on the ground. It was not really a Winter Wonderland, but it was pretty.

One good thing: I don't feel so bad for my NW homies who can't drive in snow, because the news this morning was reporting accident after accident after accident of people in the Big City. Don't be ashamed, Northwesterners! Snow is common here, and people still wreck! {I'm probably being too gleeful about this, but I am appreciating the irony.}

Anyway, that happened.

Funny Friday

You guys probably think that I spend all day sitting at the feet of my grandparents, laughing at them. Well, close. They let me have a stool. {AJ- insert CJ’s stool song here! LOL}

Today we were driving home from lunch, and Grandpa pointed to a really ugly car in the parking lot and said “That’s the next car we’re gonna get.”

Grammie immediately protests and says “I’m not getting that!”

Grandpa retorts “Oh yes you are. At our age, you gotta take what you can get. In a few years, we’ll be hitchhiking!”

As we leave the parking lot and turn onto the main road that is bathed with sunshine {sweet sunshine, where have you been!?!?}, Grandpa gets out his sunglasses. I quote:

”Gotta put my sunglasses on so no one will recognize me and think I’m a movie star.”

Yes, my grandparents are hysterical and adorable. Be jealous.

Sisters, Gal Pals, and Bosom Friends, or more accurately, a sales pitch for Skype

Can we just all give a hallelujah shout out for sisters, gal pals, and bosom friends? I mean for real. They are the best.

I got to Skype with my baby sister last night...so fun. We gave each other tours of our rooms, made "the face", compared schedules, and laughed. It was good to see her face and hear her voice {another shout out is in order for Skype- can I get a witness!?}.

Then a gal-pal and I started chatting online. It's so great to be able to catch up and then go deep, or in our case, go deep and then catch up. :) We even set up another date so we can utilize Skype {helloooo, did you say hallelujah yet!?!?}.

And then my bosom friend AJ. I'm pretty sure that we laugh more than talk, but isn't that what bosom friends are for?? She showed me their new dartboard, which meant that she carried "me" up the stairs into the dart area. What a bestie. And she's learned to crochet, so holla! Oh, and we're gonna try to get her kids on Skype {if you're not praising Jesus yet, something is wrong with you!} for my birthday, so hooray!

anyway, this is a demonstration of the love i have for the above-mentioned people. let the ones you love know that you love them.....i give you permission to steal my idea and use Skype ;)

Hooray for Les Mis!

Just gotta say, congratulations to Les Miserables for 3 Golden Globe wins!

And now I gotta say, I usually do not watch award shows, but my grandma does, and I think this is a way of bonding with her, so last night we watched the awards together {I did re-read Catching Fire during the commercials, but we were on the couch together, so it counts}. Anyway, well done Les Mis!

Birthday Week!

My birthday is this week! :) Hey, if my sister gets the milk the ENTIRE month of August as her birthday month, then I certainly can celebrate the week of. Fair’s fair {and my parents’ voices chime together in my head “Life is not fair!”}. Anywho. Moving right along.

So I was thinking about past birthdays, and I had a deep and startling revelation. My parents gave me a purity ring on my 14th birthday, so this birthday will make this ring TEN YEARS OLD. Wow. Excuse me, I need to go shave the long white beard that has sprung from my freaking old face.

Anyway, that was my revelation. I’m getting old. And by old, I mean…perhaps too old to…actually, I can’t think of anything I’m too old to do. Except stay up all night, and even then there are exceptions. Guess I’m not that old. Beard, you can go back to the place from whence you came.

In other news, Davi wrote a post about getting back into loving reading and her favorite characters and fictional couples, etc. While I don’t think I’ve ever stopped reading or loving it {this is the pre-children Bek speaking; things might be different in a few years}, her post definitely made me think about my favorite literary couples. Click on Davi’s name to see her list, and keep reading to see mine :) clever, I know.

1. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe.
2. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy
3. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth
4. Katniss and Peeta
5. ??? help! I can’t think of 5! but I did think of…

Fictional couples who were wrong for each other! I’ve only got two, and you may disagree {in fact, I’m sure that some of you hardcore lit fans out there will be shocked and offended} but here goes, a short list of couples who should have chosen differently.

1. Jo March + Teddy Laurence were meant to be together, but no. Alcott had to bring in an old professor and a younger sister. Bleh. I’ve been bitter about this one since like 7th grade.
2. Lucy Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton…the saddest love triangle ever. Sydney was SO the better man, even with his roughness. Charles didn’t DO anything; Sydney was passionate and had depth. But it’s Lucy’s own fault for choosing the lame guy and then benefiting from Sydney’s great sacrifice. Augh. Kills me.

Alright, that’s all I thought of. What are your literary faves?

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Friends, my paternal grandpa will not be on this earth much longer. As some of you may know, he has lived with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years, and while that affects the mind, his physical self was not doing so well either. The weekend before I came back to the Frozen Tundra, I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa was...in a bad spot. I had never seen him like that, and I'm so grateful that Grandma and I could call for the nurse and make sure nothing was wrong.

He has gone up and down since then {has it really only been a couple of weeks???} and my mom keeps me updated, and from what I can tell, Grandpa is ready to meet Jesus face to face, and his body agrees. He could last a few more days, or he could be with us for a few more months. It just seems like the time is closer rather than farther, so I ask for prayer.

Please pray for my family, especially my parents and my grandma. Please pray that every step of this journey will be peaceful and that the pain will be eased by the knowledge that we will see Grandpa again in Heaven. That's what makes this season the best of times and the worst of times. It's so, so wonderful to know that even when Grandpa dies, we will see him again in Heaven, that he will really be himself without the horrid Alzheimer's disease, and that he will not be in pain; his hip won't bother him and he won't have to take pills. But it's awful to think that Grandpa probably won't meet my husband or kids; it's hard to think of family gatherings without him. And it's worst of all to think of my dad losing his dad. So please pray for my family in this journey of letting go of Grandpa, of rejoicing with him and grieving with each other. We are at peace, we are happy for him, and we are sad for us. Thank you for your prayers.

Funny Friday

An on-going joke that my grandpa and I have is that I need to be home by the time the streetlights come on. That's the time, according to Grandpa, that my mom had to come home when she lived at home, and now it's the time that I must come home, too. So this morning, our dialogue went like this...

Me: L and I are going to a party thing tonight, so I don't know if I'll be home in between or just after or what.
Grammie: Ok, that's fine. You've got a key.
Grandpa: Hey! Remember- be home by the time the streetlights come on!


Other funny items that happened this week: we went for a drive around the lake and saw people ice fishing. Ice fishing. Hello, are there not better things to be doing with your time, like living in a cave or or picking your nose or I don't know, cleaning your carpet with a toothbrush or something!!! WHY on earth would you want to spend your time sitting on the ice freezing your hindquarters off, waiting for a stupid fish to swim by and bite your {did I mention this!?} PLASTIC worm!?!?!? There are some habits of the Frozen Tundra {the new name for my current residence-thanks, AJ!} that I will never understand, and I hope that you find some amusement in my bewilderment.

Enjoy your Friday!