Electric Barracuda

Promo video for Tim Dorsey's new book, Electric Barracuda. I'm at 1:46.

hello from the warm, sunny Keys!

Hello from the sunny, warm Keys! I'm shopping for internet access, but it's expensive down here. DSL isn't available, which leaves cable, satellite, or dialup. We shall see.

I've been doing some cleanup yard work; the property looks a little less abandoned now. I can't send photos to my blog with this thing, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We're heading out to a steak dinner at the Moose in a little while. It's an interesting place. I wonder if they have internet access there? They're close to the library....

Next Wed. I fly to Orlando to spend a few days with the kids. A had her third Suppralin implant on Monday and is doing well. She's growing at a normal rate now.

Did I mention that it's sunny and warm here? *ducks and covers*

sNOOOOOOOOw!!!!!!

It's snowing. Again. I hope that this is the very last time that I see snow falling.

Snow, rinse, repeat

*sigh*

I should have known that, by planning to move to the Keys for good this summer (if all works out), I'd be dooming this area to The Winter from Hell.

The last few winters have had really cold spells but very little snow. Tom and I have been married for over four years; not once during that time have I not been able to get in and out of the driveway at the old homestead. It helped that Tom's truck is four-wheel drive. But now the truck is with Tom at our place in the Keys and it seems that a Prius (whose brakes seem to be working very well, thank you, although I've driven it very little this year) just isn't up to the task of plowing through more than an inch or two of snow.

In 1995-96 we had a blizzard that closed city schools for over a week and county schools for two weeks. That's when I made the transition from the county school system to the city's; I gave my two-weeks' notice and didn't work again until the city schools opened more than two weeks later.

I think that we had something like 53" of snow that winter. We've already passed that and it's only Feb. 10. I last worked on the 4th, and school has been closed since then. It's still up in the air if we'll go tomorrow. Watch out, Spring Break, we may lose you.

So, yeah. The Winter from Hell. Weeks of single-digit temperatures. Snow after snow after snow. Today we have a high-wind advisory. Does it get any better than this.



ETA: No school tomorrow. Five days in a row, seven since the end of January. *sigh*

It'stoodamncold

There you have it. One word. My reason for not doing a thing.

It'stoodamncold.

It was 8 degrees this morning. Eight. Eight. Unfrickingbelievable.

Yeah, yeah, I know that it was 31 in Miami this morning. It's been in the low 40s at night in the Keys. 31 is almost four times warmer than it is here, and 40 is five times.

I'm considering retiring and moving to the Keys without a job. It's five times warmer there at night. So we won't be able to pay the mortgage. The house in WV is locked in ice anyway. No one, including its owner, can get to it anyway.






I wish I could just leave. I won't because I'm too responsible to bail. But I'll think about it a whole lot.

Quick update

Two weeks in Florida, lovely (if somewhat cooler than usual) weather, work around The Cat House, lots of FaceBook time on the Crack (and utter irritation for several days when the Crackberry network was down and no one had told me about it) (by no one I mean RIM, of course, the people who own the company), walks around our new neighborhood, observing the wildlife, playing with grandkids, floating in a warm pool on Christmas night, three days of driving seven hours a day each way (my butt cheek gets numb, okay?), living in our place in the Keys, having to leave and come home, then the little surprise of finding 6" of ice and snow on our driveway in WV, two weeks after it snowed and over a week since a minor ice storm, not being able to drive up the driveway, cracking the front bumper of our less than 2-months-old Prius, getting stuck and having to walk uphill to the house in the dark in the snow and ice and 10 degree temperature with 40 mph winds while wearing clogs because one doesn't need real shoes in Florida even in the winter with no depth perception in the dark and faulty balance on a smooth surface on a sunny day while trying to balance several large tote bags on my shoulders and falling down and losing a clog while screaming "WHY ME?" (or something like that only a lot more profane) at the cold stars as I sat on the ice without one shoe not being able to balance enough to stand up to look for the damn shoe and Zippy had run ahead up to the house and was patiently barking at the front door for someone to let him into the nice warm house while I was crying and snotting without any tissues halfway up the driveway thinking that I was going to die within sight of my own house and no one would ever find me and a bear might eat my barely-frozen carcass and it's all because I can't move to Florida until we sell our house in WV or I get a good-paying job in Florida which isn't likely this time of year (either one) then the next morning I called the guy with the tow truck who came after daylight to pull the car out of the ditch (where I almost took out the side of the new car by getting this---------->close to a huge bolt on a fence post) then dragged my crap back down to the car after deciding that I was not going back to that house until the spring thaw or June, whichever comes first then still being stuck in the damn driveway about 6' from the actual road and spending half an hour trying to get the car that six feet while getting this------->close to the For Sale sign in the ditch by the road until a nice man took pity on me and pulled me out of the driveway and I will not go back to WV until I'm sure that I can make it up that damned driveway and last night my shoulder muscle spasmed and Betty had to help me to bed because it was agonizing to move and it hurt so bad I didn't sleep well even after taking some percocet or something like that so today I went to the doctor who prescribed a muscle relaxant that shouldn't make me dopey but sort of has so I'm going to go to Betty's house and take another one and see if I can sleep.

*deep breath*

Zippy and I are living with Betty for a while.

Today's weather

Here (lifted from NOAA's website):

Winter Storm WatchHazardous Weather Outlook

Today: Snow and sleet likely after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 39. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible. Tonight: Snow, freezing rain, and sleet before 11pm, then freezing rain between 11pm and 3am, then rain or freezing rain after 3am. Low around 31. South wind between 3 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of 0.2 to 0.4 of an inch possible. New snow and sleet accumulation of around an inch possible.


Aaaaannnnndddd at our place in the Keys:

Today: Sunny, with a high near 80. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 10 mph. Wednesday: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a high near 83. South wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10%.Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

So, where do you want to be?

Why I didn't go to see "New Moon" again today

Chester's opinion of the snow:





It's mine, too.

Update from the Keys

Weather: 79 degrees and raining.

Health: ill, possibly flu. Going back to the condo to sleep.



Last night my stomach hurt so much that I thought I'd die. I couldn't straighten up. When I didn't die after half an hour, I went to bed. I figured I'd die or sleep. I slept. Fine today.

Overall, I'd rather be in Marathon.

Weather report from South Florida

Tom called at 9 last night as he left Orlando and headed to Ft. Lauderdale. (Someday I'm going to google to see if there really is a fort there.) He sounded far too happy when he told me that it was in the 60s there. It was 30 here.

It's supposed to snow here tonight.

*sigh*

Finally!

Vindication.


As an adult, I've realized that I feel better when I have a tan. For most of my life, however, science has pounded into our heads (okay, so I'm a little sensitive about the subject) that sun = cancer. I've been very careful not to burn and use sunblock when I'm on the beach, but without skin color, I feel exhausted, depressed, out of sorts, you name an unpleasant emotion, I've got it during the cold months.


The article linked above explains why this happens. I have a vitamin D deficiency.

I didn't realize that vitamin D is so closely tied to the problems I have in cold weather. I don't drink milk, occasionally eat yogurt, a little bit of cheese, so I don't get much vitamin D unless I spend time outside. When it's cold, I'm not going outside, and now tanning beds have such a nasty reputation that I don't want to use them.

I feel so good when the weather's warm and I can go outside every day. No wonder trips to Florida in the winter are so enticing. I feel like I genuinely need to spend time in the sunshine.

Too bad that living in a cold climate isn't considered a disability by employers. It is a disability when one dreads the end of summer and outright hates winter. I deal with intense depression and anxiety eight months of the year, but somehow I don't think I'd be approved for disability retirement.

I am so looking forward to living in the Keys!

Slow down!

Good grief. The summer is going by far too quickly.

I don't seem to be able to post with the Crack. I've totally forgotten how to type on an actual keyboard. Today is the first time I've driven in a month.

Let me tell you, living in the Keys is tough, dude.

We're looking at houses and have actually seen a few that we could move right in to. Many are disgusting dumps. Not a whole lot of choice in our price range, but more open every day. We saw a brand new townhouse in Key West, but it's really small and we have a lot of stuff.

I'm going through emails from realtors, looking at the properties they've emailed me. It takes forever, and we only have internet access at the library. The Crack is useless for something like that, but I'm having a blast keeping up on email and Facebook (Rita Knits is my name--join me!) and I'll miss that when we go back to the mountains and don't have cell phone coverage. It works well here for that.

Gotta run. We love it here. We can see ourselves living here. When I have time/opportunity, I'll post some photos. The Key deer are very friendly, very cute, and I've gotten to rub the velvety antlers of several males. Males are friendlier than females. We've seen tiny fawns, about Zippy's size.

Zippy is happy being a Key dog. He knows he has to go to the elevator to go O-U-T. There are huge iguanas all over the place, some as big as he is. He doesn't chase them. I think they could take him in an instant.

Later! I hope you're enjoying the summer. I really miss reading all of your blogs and hearing from you. I'll catch up when I can.

OH--Eric Brace has a new song and video, "Tranquility Base", an homage to the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Beautiful song, available on iTunes, and the video is on YouTube.

We've got the condo in the Keys for the summer!

I may not make it through the next two months.

Or maybe it'll make it easier, living up here in the cold, cruel north.

We can have the condo for 6 weeks or so this summer. Woohoo; Sisters' Week in the Keys!!!

In other news, Tom will be teaching Anatomy tomorrow.

*waits for comments*

Is it Prozac or Florida? OR Why am I feeling so great on a Monday?

I wish I could bottle this feeling.

I feel completely at ease (notice how well I'm ignoring stabs of anxiety), like I've finally been able to exhale. Remember that book, Waiting to Exhale? I knew exactly what she meant by that. I've spent most of my life waiting to exhale. Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Chronic Depression will do that to you.

After spending 8 glorious days in Florida, I am relaxed. I even feel rested. I have a touch of color (I know that sun is bad for the body, but it's so good for my soul.). (Even though an ignorant male teacher told me that it didn't look like I've been in Florida. The soul doesn't show.) If my soul has a color, today it is the serene turquoise of the waters off the Florida Keys.

We got home yesterday morning around 5:30 and went straight to bed. I slept until 7:30 p.m., got up for a couple of hours then went back to bed. I slept wonderfully. Tom is still on "driving straight through the night" time and didn't sleep as well.

I last reported in on Wednesday while we were in Ft. Lauderdale on a little hotel on the beach, with its picture window overlooking the ocean. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there; less than 24 hours, but it's a place we'll stay again. It was clean, comfortable, and had a wonderful pool area. We ate at the Yacht Club that night; Tom's daughter's boyfriend's father is the Commodore there. Good company, good food. Beautiful boats.

Donna and James took us to Marathon in the Florida Keys on Thursday morning. James' family owns a couple of condos there that overlook the Florida Bay. It's incredible; it has a wraparound screened lanai that faces the water (and palm trees and light house); I'd live on that porch if I could. We spent most of the afternoon there, reading and looking out at the view.

Donna helped Tom cook dinner while I took a nap. That's such a luxury for me now; I used to nap after work, but now that I have to get up so early, I can't afford it. But it was so peaceful at the condo that it lulled me to sleep.

We ate dinner on the lanai, watching the sunset. Tom and Donna cooked shrimp, basmati rice, and snow peas. It's a wonderful meal any time, but it was especially good eaten while surrounded by the Florida Keys.

Friday morning I slept late (as usual). (Donna sleeps later than I do, but it has to be noted that she doesn't get off work until 2 a.m. and has a reason to sleep later. I just need sleep.) We left for Key West around 10 or 11; it's just an hours' drive southwest. We ate lunch at Pepe's. We've eaten there before and like it. I had a BLT which for some reason I was craving; even that seemed exotic in Key West.

We split up and spent the afternoon wandering around Key West. I l0ve Old Town. Of course I asked for directions to the knitting shop (they finally have one! Used to only have a needlepoint shop with incredible handpainted canvases; it's still there, too.) I know my way around Old Town that I was able to find the shop without any trouble at all. That, in itself, is a miracle. The shop, Knit Wits (I think) has a wonderful selection of yarns, all organized by color, and even had that yarn crack (or so I hear, since I've never touched it before) Malabrigo in such an array of colors. It wasn't as expensive as I'd expected, but wool, for some reason, wasn't calling to me that day after walking in the hot sun. I chose some coral silk (my vacation yarn) to make a little scarflet. There's a bead store next door, conveniently joined by a walk-through, so I chose some beads to add to the silk when I knit it. Yes, I know that silk that is already beaded is available; I bought a hank in Sonora, CA last summer, gorgeous stuff, but $39 as opposed to $14 plus beads didn't speak to me right then.

I also bought some red, black, and clear beads to use with the "Bloodlust" All That Glitters that yarnlust (etsy) has specially dyed for me. I've decided to make Shipwreck with it. I know that I'm totally crazy to even consider it; I remember how much I moaned and bitched about The Never Ending Test Knit. I won't put any 5000 beads on it, either; I'll probably use only 1000 or so, spreading them a little thinner than the pattern calls for. The clear beads have sterling silver inserts in the holes; I bought slightly bigger ones to use on the silk I bought there. I'd thought of using only sterling silver beads on it, but they're just ridiculously priced, although I think they'd look spectacular. They'd have to have a clear coat on them; I can just see me polishing thousands of tiny beads. (Not.)

We stopped for drinks at Louie's Backyard, a place I've read about in many Florida noir novels. It's right on the beach, with Dog Beach next to it. Key West is very dog-friendly. We enjoyed looking over the ocean as we refreshed ourselves before heading back to the condo.

That night we ate at a nice little restaurant, then packed our stuff in preparation for leaving at 8 the next morning. ( I personally think that anything before noon should be banned.) We picked up our car in Ft. Lauderdale then drove to J.'s house to pick up little Marie, A.'s kitten. We brought her back to have her spayed before taking her back to A. in the summer. She was a wonderful little traveler.

Tom wanted to drive through again, so we got home at 5:45 Sunday morning. We didn't unpack the car, just went straight to bed.

All of my photos are on my laptop, but you can be sure that I'll upload some when I can. I know you can't wait.

I finished sock 1 from the Twilight sock yarn. I forgot to put the hearts on the top of it, so I put one on the top of the foot. I got the second sock right and knit 3-4" before it got too dark and I could turn on Twilight. The laptop won't turn up loud enough for me to hear it, but I could see it juuuuuuust fine. It's still not a well-made movie, but I like it just fine. Still reading New Moon too, even though I took several other books with me. I am doomed, I tell you.

But I'm happy. That counts for a lot.

Spring Break!

Thank God for the institution known to educators and students as "spring break". This year it's particularly late for my system; it's been a long time since Christmas Winter break.

Kids were really squirrelly at school last week. A fire alarm was pulled as a prank and we all spent about 15 minutes outside in the cold rain waiting for the fire department to arrive and give us the "all clear" before we could go inside, rumor spread through the school that a gunman in camo was running wild through the school, and ambulances took a couple of people to the hospital after they suffered stress-related symptoms.

It was with infinite relief that Tom and I left Friday at 2 p.m., heading to Florida to visit our daughters and grandkids.

Tom likes to drive straight through; it's a 14-15 hour drive, and for some reason I can no longer sleep in the car, even when it's been 22 hours since I slept last. Fortunately he's able to stay awake and alert better than I am ("alert" being the big difference between the two of us), and we practically flew down the interstates through Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia, and Florida. In spite of many piss pit stops, one stop for gasoline (we got 519 miles to the tank, which is pretty good for a 10-year-old Camry), half-hour break for supper at a local barbecue place (good food at good prices), and 1-1.5 hours in stop and go traffic in a road repair area, we got to Davenport (just SW of Orlando) at 5 a.m. Saturday.

We were both dead by that time; I was practically swooning from lack of sleep. We checked into our Super 8 $45-a-night room and slept for 6 lovely hours. (Note: I've had some good luck using Hotels.com, but in this case, it was cheaper to go through the Super 8 website.) It's not the Ritz Carlton by any means, but it was clean and the a/c worked. Kinda noisy, but my white noise machine took care of that.

A. and her best friend were in a small pageant in Deltona that afternoon, so we drove back to see them compete. My daughter, J., made the dresses for both girls and "did" their hair and makeup (minimal makeup). They look enough alike to be sisters, even fraternal twins. Some people asked J. if she's sure they aren't identical twins. Honest.

This was a tiny pageant, typical of the South, held in a fraternal organization's building, maybe 15 girls total. All were cute as buttons; some were perfectly comfortable on the stage, but some others weren't as fortunate. Me, I'd have been a basket case if I'd tried that at any age, much less 9.

This was K.'s first pageant. She's heard A.'s accounts and really wanted to try one herself. She did beautifully. She walked out as if she owned the place, full of poise and confidence. Fortunately she's a year older than A. and was in another age division, so they weren't competing against each other.

What none of us had expected was that two mother/daughter teams who appeared on the series "Little Miss Perfect" would be competing (and frequently it is the mothers who are competing, as well as the girls). One set I've known for a few years, but the other was unknown to me before the show.

This one told me horror stories about the shooting of LMP. The tv team spent the entire 48 hours before the pageants with the families; after a while, you kind of forget that there are cameras and mics in your face. They also twisted things to make it look like rich girl/poor girl and even suggested that the "poor" girl wear a boa constrictor as part of her "wow wear". Her mom emphasized that it was the producer's idea, not hers, and when she was talking on the phone to her husband, actually no one was on the line; it was all fake. They showed the "rich" girl's mom spending thousands on this pageant alone and the "poor" mom buying her daughter's clothes at Good Will, not telling that the mom wanted the girl to dress up like Miley Cyrus and was actually going for the Salvation Army-clothes look.

Anyway, that aside, it was a fun afternoon. The girls really didn't care who won; at least, A. and K. didn't. They both were first runners up in their age divisions, which they thought was pretty cool. The little girl who won A.'s division was a LMP winner; strangely, one of the judges for this pageant had "done" hair and makeup for the girls at LMP.

But sweet little A. R., the LMP winner, tried her best to give A. her crown after the pageant was over. She really meant it, too. When A. wouldn't take it, she tried to give A. her sash. That type of thing isn't all that typical of pageant winners.

I have a cute video of the three girls talking and cutting up while waiting for the judging to be finished, but I won't post it. I don't want to put their faces and names all over the internets. Suffice to say that they had a good time goofing off, dressed in their finery, and entertained others who were waiting.

I've attempted to upload photos from the pageant, but my internet connection is too poor to allow them to show up.

So, onward and upward.

On Sunday, Tom and I took A. and B2 to Homassassa Springs Wildlife Refuge. I have always been fascinated with manatees, and this is the place to go to see them. There are 6 or 7 manatees who live there year 'round, and there's also a small zoo. We enjoyed the manatee feeding show.

We didn't do much on Monday. That afternoon we took A. to Costco to buy her first pair of glasses. The poor child is near-sighted, as I am. She chose a cute pair. I don't remember having much input when I got new glasses as a child, until I was in the 10th grade or so. I thought it was important for A. to choose glasses that she likes; she's more likely to wear them and have confidence wearing them if she has some say in the matter.

Tom, A., and B2 prepared dinner (vegetarian spaghetti) that night. B2 had never handled a knife (except the time he took one out of the kitchen drawer a couple months ago and cut his leg) and was kind of tentative using it, but he managed. A. had helped Tom cook dinner three years ago and is an old hand at it. B2 didn't eat much, but A. made up for it.

Yesterday, the first chilly day (high winds, cool temps) Tom and I took B2 to the Reptile Farm (I think that's what it was called) at St. Cloud. We love old Florida-type places like that. Later I'll put up photos of all these things, but not with this internet connection. B2 had a good time feeding the turtles. The man who ran the place told me that B2 is a true gentleman. He shared his turtle food with a little girl.

This morning we got up and left for Ft. Lauderdale at the ungodly hour of 7 a.m. I wasn't aware that there is a 7 a.m. in Florida. It was around 40 degrees when we left, but Ft. Lauderdale is warm with a nice breeze. We're staying in a hotel (it calls itself) across A1A from the beach. You should see the view from our picture window. (You would have if the internet connection wasn't so crappy here, or if Ntelos had allowed my crapcam photo to be posted.) Tom, his daughter, and I spent an hour by the pool, soaking up the rays and enjoying the peace and quiet of the nice little courtyard. You'd never know that we were on a main thoroughfare.

Tonight we're going to the yacht club for dinner with Donna's boyfriend's parents. Tough life, huh? Good thing I packed some Chico's Travelers Collection clothes. Tomorrow we're heading for Marathon for a couple of days in the Keys.

(Clothing note: I packed my Chico's denim capris that I haven't worn since September, and they're all too big for me. I really have lost weight!)

I'm off to take a shower and get gussied up for the yacht club. Ta-ta!

(I won't rub in how beautiful the beach looks from our room, and how warm it is here today, and how the breeze is just enough to keep one from baking while lying in the sun. I wouldn't do something like that, now, would I?)

(I would.)

It's almost spring?

In the Arctic Circle, maybe, but here it was under 8 last night. I just didn't have it in me to check the thermometer after that.

We didn't get any snow in our neck of the woods, but the city got enough that school was cancelled yesterday. We'll make up for it on Friday, but since I would have had to be here anyway, I'm not unhappy about it.

I just could not get warm last night. My ankles were freezing. Why didn't I wear my nice, warm legwarmers? I haven't knit in the ends, and it was too freaking cold to do that. I spent the day reading breaking dawn, book 4 of the twilight series. It's so much better than books 2 and 3, but I still can't quite figure out why I keep reading them.

I ripped out my neckwarmer on Sunday and started knitting another one. The bottom of it kept rolling up under my chin, and it was bothering me, so I just had to rip it out. That meant that I didn't have it this morning when I really really needed it. This one should be good and warm, though, if I ever finish it. The yarn is doubled in this one; I'm hoping that I'll have enough to finish it. If that happens, though, I refuse to start over; I'll attach another color and keep going. It's not for looks anyway. It's the Swirl Neckwarmer and it's turning out to be nice and thick. It's hurting my hands, though, because chunky yarn doubled is tough knitting. I don't think I'll try that again.

Or frog my neckwarmer on the coldest damn day of the year.

The state has decided--for now, at least--not to offer early retirement buyouts. If I can make it through two more winters, maybe, just maybe we'll be able to spend the rest of our winters in Florida. Summers, too, but I'm all for that.

Have I mentioned lately that I hate winter?

If not, here's a reminder.

It started snowing about 15 minutes before I left work today. By the time I'd gotten say, 15 minutes out of town, the roads were covered and traffic was going about 40 mph; by the time I hit the mountain, it was about 5 mph. It took about 25 minutes to go over the mountain; even with the state trucks salting the road, it was terrible. Trailer-trucks and little cars slid all over the place; the rest of us crept over the mountain at about 5 mph. A trip that usually takes 40 minutes took an hour and 10 minutes.

By putting the Camry into low gear, I was able to burn an inch or so off the tires and make it up our driveway. I've never driven in weather this bad. Ever.

And I never want to, again.

I'm hoping that school will be, at the least, delayed an hour or two tomorrow. It's supposed to snow all night (a full 4" is predicted, with another inch or so tomorrow. That is, if the local weather forecasters are right. And they rarely are.)

I hear that the VA General Assembly may put together a buy-out package for us old people so we can retire up to 5 years early.

I'm waiting.

We freezed

This was yesterday morning. Last night was -10.

This morning the pipes were frozen.

Tom managed to get them thawed, so we're in business.

Heh. I said "business".

http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTlegwarmersocks.html

I need these, but I'm too freaking cold to knit them.

Livin' the suite life

Do you recognize this landmark?

That's where we are tonight. The kids and I. Well, J & M are here to play for a while, but they're going home to take care of the cats (Rex the Bulemic Cat and Marie).

B2 has always wanted to stay at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, but it's a pretty expensive place to stay, especially if you happen to live nearby. But J was able to get a really good rate tonight, so here we are.

This is the place that the monorail runs through. B2's entire life has been dedicated to monorails and All Things Disney, so he's a happy little boy. He and J are at the Magic Kingdom while A, M, and I relax in the room.

We even went swimming tonight. (Not that I'm bragging or anything, but it's warm here.) (Okay. I'm bragging.)

At 12:24 a.m., A will be 9 years old (going on 15). She doesn't have to go back to school until Tuesday, lucky girl. I'm supposed to go back to work tomorrow, but, um, I'm *delicate cough* sick *cough*, so I'll fly home tomorrow night and go back on Tuesday. Let me tell you, that's going to be a dunking in cold water after being warm for a few days (and nights) and staying up most of the night and sleeping till noon or later.

I guess that this'll have to hold me till I get back down here. The earliest it can possibly be is the first week of April, spring break, so I'm resigned to a long, cold winter in West By God Virginia.