Snow, milk, bread and eggs

Our resident weatherman is leaving... yep. Dan, Dan the Weatherman is departing for more exciting opportunities elsewhere. For the record, he's the one weatherman who panics people into a frantic drive to the store in perilous conditions for bread, milk and eggs. You know. Winter survival food in the Deep South.

Apparently, covering tornadoes that rip the state to shreds isn't exciting enough to keep him here. He's off to places that appreciate his winter weather forecasts that boost the stocks of companies that sell the milk, bread and eggs. He is off to predict weather in other locales that will appreciate his panic driven warnings of wintry doom.

Yesterday, his forecast called for snow up to 2 inches in many places... and, to be fair, we DO have flakes drifting past the window.

Two inches of snow. That's enough to cripple the area since most drivers here have no idea how to drive in the snow and are a danger to themselves and others. Of course, that can be said for drivers everywhere in snow. People who live in areas blessed with greater snowfall amounts each year tend to get cocky and overestimate their ability to "handle it" on the road and drive like maniacs. This would explain the wrecked cars that are perched precariously on mountainside passes that you can see during the spring thaw. Some eager beaver who KNEW how to handle the blizzard just kept pushing on despite the fact that the semi trucks had all pulled over to the side to wait out the storm.

Stupidity in snow isn't regional. It's a global phenomenon.

But back to the forecast. We have snow. SNOW! Yippee! Visions of hot cocoa and floating marshmallows fill my mind.

The top of the car has a few flakes dusting the surface... time to pull out the sled and hitch up the Huskies for the trip to the gym today. I must remind myself to stop at the store on the way back. I'm low on eggs and this farcical amount of snowfall makes me want French toast with warm maple syrup.

ON YOU HUSKIES!! MUSH!! MUSH!!!

Wait... hold that request... the snow is now mixed with a sleety rainy mix. That doesn't bode well for the forecast of fun. Instead, we get rain. Cold, wet, winter rain. In buckets. Filling the ditches. Making low-lying areas a danger.

So, SWIM YOU HUSKIES!! SWIM!!!!


Good thing they have a well developed backstroke. Nothing worse than being a sled pulled by a dog that flounders around in the water wallowing through the choppy waves created by the panic driven paws doggie paddling along.

Sadly, at 35 degrees, the snowy show will not last long and the ground is far too warm to start planning where to build Frosty the Snowman in our front yard.

Oh well. November is too early for whatever snow and ice we would normally get anyway. Time to sit back, relax and dream of an all SEC National Championship with the Tide clutching the crystal football when it's all over...

It Comes in Three's

First, we drop some serious coin getting tires, brakes and rotors for the car. Not cheap even with the resident skilled handyman performing the work.

Then second, the washer died. Dead. Can it be repaired? Sure, but at a cost greater than buying a NEW one with the sales for Black Friday going on... naturally, the company no longer makes the model that will match the dryer which still works. Expensive decisions were made... we bought an entirely new set.

Now, our precious college student son Thomas just informed us via text message that his laptop computer has died. Number Three. The dreaded third shoe dropping. Yippee. In the way that I mean NOT... I don't believe the Dallas Cowboy's cheerleaders could be coaxed into a dance line for this announcement.

And by the way, if anyone knows where the money tree is located, I'd appreciate knowing where it is so I can gather a few leaves to pay for all of this. I promise to not be greedy and take them all.

I have begun to think the defining script on my tombstone should simply be a rolling tote board indicating the level of debt that has accumulated directly and indirectly in my life. It might be interesting to watch since there will be times that it will reflect the reality that is a financial blur... see those numbers just whooshing by?

I'm thankful that we have been able to arrange financing to take care of things thus far, but I must confess there are times that I wonder what it must be like for those who are truly monetarily rich to just simply say "sure, here's the money for ____, go right ahead and buy it" without once considering what sacrifices would be needed to pay for whatever "it" is.

Thomas needs this type of technology for school... it's virtually impossible to get along without it otherwise.

I guess until we sort this out he can use the computer lab and hope for the best.

♫ Santa baby, slip a Brinks truck under the tree for meeeeeeeee ♪♫
♪♫ I've been an awful good girl, Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight...♫♪♫