Baby, it's cold outside...
I've stopped looking at our handy dandy digital thermometer with the remote outside sensor. The number is big, and it's been continually negative for days on end. We're all excited about the prospect of a zero degree day in the forecast.
Beyond the weather, I've got some random stuff on my brain this afternoon...
I'm impressed by the toughness and resilience of my children in taking on the weather twice every day to go out and take care of their cows and calves, the horse and chickens. Lots of days the dogs won't even go out with them! They stay in the house, safe and warm, while my four determined kiddos head out into the tundra and take care of those that rely on them for food and water. I shouldn't leave out the hubby, because he is out there longer than the rest and does all the other maintenance items - grinding corn for feed, hauling hay, moving snow - so that chores can be as quick and painless as possible.
I'm impressed by the toughness and resilience of my children in taking on the weather twice every day to go out and take care of their cows and calves, the horse and chickens. Lots of days the dogs won't even go out with them! They stay in the house, safe and warm, while my four determined kiddos head out into the tundra and take care of those that rely on them for food and water. I shouldn't leave out the hubby, because he is out there longer than the rest and does all the other maintenance items - grinding corn for feed, hauling hay, moving snow - so that chores can be as quick and painless as possible.
Chris and I spent some time with his grandparents this morning. It's made me a little melancholy. Grandma has been the rock in their marriage, and very healthy. Just before Christmas, aggressive cancer was found to be the cause of her stomach problems. She has lost about 50 pounds and is fighting a tough battle at her 88 years. Grandpa is not dealing well with her illness and has decided he'd rather not eat, thank you very much. They are both in the care center for the time being, where there are people to help with daily needs for Grandpa and keep an eye on Grandma. She starts round two of chemo this week, and she's not really recovered from round one. I pray for them so many times a day...
Speaking of melancholy, M'Lynn and Erica are just about done with the first semester of their Senior year. I have not quite kept up with my timeline for getting ready for their graduation celebration, but am being mindful of enjoying these last few months of our whole family being 'intact'. Mostly, I had hoped to be done scanning in their photos by now, so its not one of those deadlines that will cause too much trouble that I've missed it. Quite frankly, I now have enough photos to do a slideshow, I'm just working to get all the printed photos scanned in because I want them scanned. We had a few get wet in the basement last spring, so that motivated me to preserve them more permanently.
On a more positive note, I spent some quality time outside with my camera yesterday. It was therapeutic. I am one of the few, crazy people who really appreciates the beauty of snow. I really love it. Which is good, when you live where it snows. a lot. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to live somewhere and hate the weather 3 months out of the year!!
My last 'me' thought for this entry - I finally stepped back on the scale last weekend and then again this weekend. It was a pleasant surprise to have only gained 5 lbs over the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years eating extravaganza. And this week I took two of those back off.
