Our snow removal guy was later than usual to our house this morning to remove the foot of snow from our driveway, so I couldn’t get my car out to drive to work in time. Instead, I “opted” to work from home again today. The house had grown rather cool by lunchtime, and Harvey was looking for a warm place to settle. Since my lap wasn’t available yet, I turned on the gas fireplace in the bedroom and he was more than happy to settle in front of it on top of the blanket at the end of the bed. It took all my willpower not to lay down beside him.

I finished up a major project for work today, so I should get a bit of a breather for the end of the week. Unfortunately, I’ll have to go into the office on Thursday and Friday, since I used up my two telecommuting days this week on Tuesday and today, due to the bad weather. (I usually telecommute on Thursday and Friday.) At least I didn’t have to travel in the snow.

Tonight’s cocktail do jour; Blood Orange Cosmo. “Wait!” you say. Didn’t I have one of these recently? Yes! But that was made with bottled orange juice. Tonight’s cocktail is made with fresh squeezed juice from Blood Oranges, and let me tell you…HUGE difference and WAY better!

Here’s to a quiet and quick ride to the weekend.

So we’re getting some snow here. About 18” so far, and it’s still snowing.

Our snow guy has been by 2 times so far, and will be back at least once more. Fortunately, I could work from home and Jeffrey’s office closed, so he had a day off. (Sonofabitch!)

We lost power for about an hour, so I had an extended work break. We lit a fire and kept it going all day. After work, we scrounged around for dinner and started a movie. No sense bitching about the weather because we can’t control it, so might as well enjoy it from inside, dry, and toasty warm.

Sometimes I look down at him and am filled with awe at this gentle little creature that brings so much joy to my life, and also envy at his ability to be at such peace and rest. I don’t believe in angels, but if they were real, surely he would be one.

I’ve been trying to do better with blogging: posting, reading, commenting, and responding to comments. But the Webgods are making things difficult. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m having a much harder time consistently commenting on other people’s blogs, Blogger and WordPress alike. Sometimes I can comment on my phone, sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I can comment on my laptop through Firefox, sometimes through Safari, and sometimes through neither. I usually have to log into both WordPress or Google, sometimes over and over again, even when I’m going form one Blog to anther on the same host-site. Sometimes it won’t let me log in, requires me to log in before I comment, or requires me to log in after my comment, and then my comments disappear. Maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong (all of a sudden after years of blog reading and commenting.) I’ve hard there are nefarious goings on at Google, so maybe that’s wreaking havoc with my settings and smooth transitioning from Blogger to WordPress and back, something that was never a problem before now.

Or maybe I’ve just grown to old and stupid for these new-fangled things and should stick to reading comic books and writing letters.

I hope I can figure it out soon because it’s driving me crazy and making me appear to be a non-participating blogger.

So, for the record, I’m reading all your blogs every day (I use Feedly to get all your posts in one place.) and I’m trying to comment each time, even if it’s just a “like” so you know I’ve been there, but the forces are against me.

Sigh.

I need a doughnut. (With sympathetic nods to Michael)

Something I worried about: Making it another 3+ years at my job. Things got rough again these past couple of weeks and I was holding on by a thread. I had several nights of stress dreams (and a few during naps, as well) and that’s telling me I need a mental health break again, and soon. Unfortunately, my next vacation isn’t until May. And even that will just be like putting a wet rag on a forest fire.

Something I saw: We’ve been re-watching movies starring Paul Rudd. One of the few actors I’ll watch in almost anything. My favorites, of course, are his Ant-Man films.

Something I heard: I tried listening to some Imagine Dragons music yesterday while cleaning house, solely because I keep seeing clips of the very attractive lead singer performing shirtless. Since I like what I see, I wanted to hear what his (their) music is like. I don’t hate it, but it hasn’t won me over yet. I’ll give it some more listen, though, before I decide if it’s for me or not. I suspect I’ll like it more watching him perform it shirtless.

Something I tasted: I had an amazing roast duck Friday night at a (newer) local restaurant. I only had duck for the first time a couple years ago in Provincetown, and I fell in love with it. I don’t find it served often around here, so it was a real treat.

Something I learned: This was a harder one for me this week. I am always eager to learn new things, and it’s terrible to reflect back on a week and not be able to recall one single new thing I’ve learned. The only thing I can recall learning is that we get way more crumbs down the cracks of our cushions than we thought possible…and definitely need to vacuum under them more often. (Or stop eating n the living room.)

Something I accomplished: Getting the house cleaned yesterday. It was so awful. I am a neat freak by nature, so our house is always orderly: beds made, cabinets closed, dishes done, laundry folded, garbage out, etc etc. BUT the house gets so dusty and dirty from natural wear and tear (not to mention little puppies and forced air heat ducts) and we had grown a bit negligent on doing a proper cleaning. Although it takes hours, and isn’t “fun” in any sense of the word, it is a huge relief to have it done and to feel like our house isn’t one big dust bunny any more, at least for a little while. And we even rearranged furniture a bit to give it a fresh look. We’d pat ourselves on the back if our muscles and joints didn’t ache so much from all the bending and stretching and kneeling.

Something I bought: New motion sensor flat light bars that attach, almost hidden, to the underside of shelves and closet ceilings, and have several light settings, bright to warm. The best feature is that the lights are rechargeable, and the light is connected to a magnetic base, so it’s easily removed and plugged in to recharge. No batteries. I love them and will probably get more. We also bought a new Bear runner and modern frosted light shades for our bear themed guest bathroom, to try to give it a slightly more modern look. It really “needs” to be redone and updated, but we don’t have the funds or the energy to survive more remodeling. So we do what we can, cosmetically.

He slept in late, but I got up with Harvey and sipped coffee in the early morning stillness.

He eventually emerged from the bedroom with warm kisses and hugs for both of us, then got to work making breakfast.

We continued with coffee, watched cartoons on the couch together, and smothered Harvey with affection as he snuggled between us.

With the last sip of our coffee, we got to work at opposite ends of the house, washing and dusting and scouring and cleaning every inch of this modest, adorable, dirty little home we’ve built together.

Several hours later, after stashing the last of the cleaning supplies away, we took a few minutes to sit and nurse our aching joints and reassure Harvey we didn’t hate him because we ignored him all day, then showered and dressed and headed out to dinner at a new local favorite restaurant.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner and cocktails, with wonderful music and ambience, making post-retirement plans, discussing future vacations, fretting about our jobs, and sharing our lottery win wishes.

With favorite music narrating the journey home, we both expressed excitement to get back home to our little buddy.

After sharing exuberant reunited greetings with Harvey, we slipped into comfy clothes, lit a candle, made nightcaps, and picked a movie with Paul Rudd (a mutual crush) to watch as we all three cuddled together on the sofa.

All in all, a pretty perfect day.

And this one’s dedicated to a dearly departed Warrior Queen, Anne Marie:

To all my women followers, bloggers, snd friends – CIS, Trans, Straight, Gay, Bi, Queer, of every age, race, and ability – this world is better because you’re in it!

Pegu Club

1.5 oz Gin*

0.75 oz Orange Curaçao**

0.75 oz lime juice

2 Dashes Angostura bitters

Shake over ice

*I made one with Tanqueray Sevilla Gin and one with Empress Gin. I preferred the Empress one.

**I used Cointreau because I didn’t have Orange Curacoao

It was my first time making it and I like it. I’ll be adding it to my rotation.

It was another very stressful day at work. I was exhausted at the end of my work day, so I lay down and immediately fell asleep. I had a series of stressful dreams revolving around my lack of control in several situations that left me a bit shaken when I awoke. I’m sure it was just my subconscious working things out, but it was not pleasant.

I think I need a vacation.