Moni,

Love the list.

1. Ditto on preferring rain. For all the trouble, mess and media attention, the ice is useless. Well, I know it melts, but a good, old-fashioned regular rain is still preferable.

2. I wish the bermuda grass would freeze to death! (Sadly, no such luck.)

3. I need to stay away from the seed company websites on a day like today or I'll order seeds I don't need and don't have room for. Everything looks so tempting and beautiful in those photos, especially on a gray, dreary day like today.

4. I journaled when I had a smaller lot in the city. Now, if I tried to write it all down, I'd never get outside to do anything.

5. DH has been out cleaning the garage, which is too cold of a job for me on a day like today. I like being warm, so here I sit with the laptop in my lap. (A laptop makes a pretty good heater too--it'll keep your lap toasty warm.)

6. We always try to be prepared for whatever the weather throws at us, but I'm glad we won't have to do our cooking on the outside bar-b-q grill. So far, little ice here and the power is on. (And, I have battery-operated socks to keep my toes warm if the power goes out, and those Hot Hands handwarmers. I hate being cold.)

7. I think we have enough food and water and pet food for at least a couple of weeks. I shouldn't have to go to the grocery store for a while.

8. DH is home today and, surprisingly, has only had one fire call today. DS is at work and said they were running extra ambulances to keep up with the larger-than-average number of calls they're expecting. We're just trying to stay warm, keep the animals fed, and are watching TV and eating.

9. Another wave of ice is supposed to arrive later today. It was at the Arizona-New Mexico border at mid-morning. It would be OK with me if it misses us.

10. No one in this house is eating at the same time today because we all got up and got going at different times. It's like a short-order cafe here today. Outside, we've have our usual herd of does/fawns, which means 3 mamas and 4 babies. There is a yard full of birds.....more birds than the feeders can handle, so I scattered a coffee can full of bird seed right along the edge of the driveway for them. With several bird feeders, and a lot of feed on the ground, we have everything from goldfinches to blue jays, doves, cardinals, tufted titmice, chickades, sparrows, etc. We even have an occasional flicker and, even more rarely, a painted bunting.

That's mine.

Dawn

1 Wish I had brought my bag of potting soil inside before it got too slick to walk out there

2 Glad I'm retired and didn't have to drive

3 Wood stoves and a pile of wood on the porch are a security blanket

4 getting in the mood to step up the shop lights and plant something

5 hope no more people are hurt or killed on the roads

6 glad I have electricity

7 really in the mood to plant something

8 at least it is moisture - haven't been getting any lately

9 Thank goodness DISH antennae not covered by ice and is working

10 Sometimes we get some spring like days in February which will soon be here

1. My husband went to work....and I wished him luck. I think he mostly stayed on the gravel roads and made it OK. Since his part time job is at the County Barn he should know which roads have been sanded before he starts home.

2. I have lots of food and supplies for a long storm if necessary but hope I don't need them. Have a generator for backup, and a gas heated building to live in if I needed to.

3. Filled the bird feeders yesterday so I have had a carpet of birds under them all day.

4. Took out all of the garbage yesterday so I didn't have to go out again.

5. Yesterday I called my husband to tell him the walk way was very slick especially if he came in across the side yard. Posted to you guys to be careful on the ice. Decided to make two more trips outside (before it got bad) to put away some luggage. As I started to step off the front porch (about 5 inches high), I heard a strange noise and glanced over my shoulder to see the school bus sliding to a stop. In that moment, I forgot about the slick patio stone, and stepped down on it. My feet went flying out from under me and I hit the ground. My abdomen hurt and my left hand where I tried (but failed) to catch myself. I went on to the storage shed and put the first suitcase away and came into the house before I noticed that my arm and ribcage hurt a little. I think my left arm was still bent as I tried to let go of the suitcase and catch myself because I have huge bruises both above and below my elbow where I hit the reinforced side of the suitcase. It was soft side luggage, but that frame is not very soft. I don't know what my right hand was doing. LOL My tummy has bruises, and my rib cage is a little uncomfortable but nothing is broken. I thought I was doing fine until I tried to get out of the bathtub this morning. My muscles hurt in places that I didn't know I had muscles. All I can say is I am grateful I fell forward and not backward. The steel rods in my back hitting the concrete would not have been good. I didn't even hit my head or face at all.

6. Do what I say.........and not what I do. LOL

Carol,

Well, I'm glad you can laugh about it because it sounds painful.

I'm just glad you didn't break anything, and especially that you didn't break your ribs or your spine, because they take so long to heal.

I saw on the website of The Oklahoman that a U.S.P.S. employee fell on a sidewalk yesterday and suffered a head injury and is intensive care. That's certainly a reminder to us all that walking on slick surfaces is dangerous.

I scattered rock salt on the back steps to melt the ice, but not the front steps, and I guess I should have done those too, because we use both.

More stuff (seems like mostly sleet and freezing rain with an occasional tiny snowflake) has been falling here the last hour or two, but it still is extremely light here.

Dawn

10. I was laid off a week and a half ago. Days like today make me happy I don't have anywhere to drive to.

9. I have internet and can apply for jobs online without going anywhere.

8. Instead of applying for jobs, I've re-planned my garden layout.

7. I've also read 100 pages or so of The Bourne Ultimatum.

6. Last night I made sourdough bread and it turned out delicious!

5. Tonight I will fry some deer backstrap and sliced/frozen squash from my parent's garden this summer. (It's possible the deer is from the garden too. My dad shot two who were grocery shopping in his garden this year.)

4. I made hot cocoa and sat with my son, discussing marshmallows and chocolate.

3. Having a lot of time off is pretty cool.

2. I have a pile of bills I ought to be paying.

1. And I have plenty of time to surf the garden sites without worrying about work-nanny-computer-stuff.

1. I wanna plant something too!!!

2. I wanna get my hands dirty and smell the goodness of the earth.

3. DH thinks we have had about 3-4 inches of rain in the
last 24 hrs. LOts of ice too.

4. I'm glad I'm retired too.

5. I made a coconut cream pie yesterday and it's gone today.

6. DH cooked supper while I surffed the net.

7. The birds have been on the back porch all day eating seeds a couple of squarles even showed up. It was too cold and rainy to fill up the feeders.

8. The ice has covered our small pine trees and they are bent completely over touching the ground. Hoping they will be okay.

9. I like the rain but I love the sunshine. The only thing I like about winter is knowing that spring comes next.

10. Spring Spring don't delay
    brighen our days with sunshine rays.
    Bring on the birds and the longer daylight hours
    breath warm on us as we play in your flowers.

Teresa

1. Glad that with me not working.. right now, I didn't have to be out in this mess, And with the muscle spasms in my back, snuggling up in bed is the preferred state.

2. Thrilled and relieved that DH managed to get to work safely, run his mail route safely and get home safely and several hours before I expected to see him.

3. Glad that the kids are home and safe and not cold and waiting for school buses.... but about ready to hug the life outta them if they don't stop bickering because they're stuck inside!

4. Happy that I'd decided yesterday to make homemade veggie beef soup for dinner tonight. It was sure good after simmering all day!

5. Really wanting to play in the dirt... so like Dawn, I really need to stay away from the online cats... I made another order today that I didn't really need. But it's so gloomy and cold and I want spring!!!!

6. Glad my house is warm, snug and I have plenty of groceries and don't need to go anywhere.

7. Wishing DH didn't have to work tomorrow.. but you know the adage.. "Neither rain, nor sleet...."

8. At least I'm involved in several seed swaps at the moment and can prop up in bed with all my seeds and envelopes, etc spread around me with the dogs warming my feet.

9. Glad to have all my kids here and know everyone is warm and well fed :)

10. Really sick of hearing the sleet coming down... it's a really, really annoying sound.

Kathy

Gamebird,

Sorry to hear you were laid-off from your job. It sounds like you are making the most of your time off, though.

Teresa,

I hope the pine trees are OK too. I hate seeing trees snap from the weight of the ice.....it can take so long for them to get a certain size and the poor trees here in OK have suffered such severe ice damage the last 3 or 4 years.

I hope that this storm passes quickly and spring starts working its way into our lives.

Kathy,

I hope the back is feeling better and that you will heal quickly. I am glad your DH is OK. I heard about the letter carrier who fell and hit her head in OKC Monday and am hoping she makes a complete and speedy recovery.

Ditto on the sleet sound. At least snow falls quietly. I hope we all get sunshine today so some of this ice can melt off the trees and power lines before more of them come down. And, of course, anything that doesn't melt and evaporate today will refreeze tonight, and we don't need that.

Dawn