Fifty-three days from today is.......

Spring! 

 

Many are living through repetitive ice, snow, wind and overall ugly weather.  I am fortunate where I live, we are experiencing a nice winter.  Sun shines most everyday, temperatures cool but in the high 30's low 40's. 

My son resides in Ohio and when I spoke with him this morning, he told me about the terrible cold, wind and snow he has.  As he's telling me this, I'm looking out my window loving the warm, bright sun.  I didn't always live in the beautiful part of the country I currently do.  I left the Ohio region in March 2006.  Do I miss it? Ummmm, NO!  I visited my son December of 2012 and as my plane was flying over the city of Cleveland, I looked out the window and couldn't see the city.  Low, dark and ugly clouds were what welcomed me home after over six years away.  Not much different from when I left years earlier.

I am probably what you called spoiled now. When it does get cold here on the Western Slope of Colorado, I am a baby and whine for the warm weather.  Normally it's only cold here in December, than each month following it will get warmer.  Until of course in June it gets very hot and tends to remain that way until September.  I don't complain about the heat though, because I will cool down in the pool or in air conditioning. 

Every city/town has their plus and minus's.  My plus about Ohio is that is where my son lives and many of my friends and family.  My plus about where I currently live is 350 days of sunshine, warm air, beautiful blue skies, small town and great people.  Lots to do here.  Mountain biking, long walks along the Colorado River, skiing in the mountains less than an hour away, to name a few.

As you sit reading this and you are in one of the many tundra's around this wonderful country of ours, my hope is you are enjoying either a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of wine.  Are you looking out your window at all the beautiful white snowflakes falling? 

I am looking out my window at the hot winter sun, enjoying a glass of wine and doing my best to complete my romantic/murder mystery, The SelectMe.com Corpse. 

Where ever your day finds you, please keep safe, warm and know that spring is right around the corner, in 53 days!




 

March is right around the corner

Spring is right around the corner! Who is excited for nice warm spring days? I spotted a robin in my front yard last week, then the next day it snowed!
I am so over winter already.  My husband and I moved to the Western Slope of Colorado for the mild winters, warm and early springs, and exceptional summers.  This winter left a lot to be desired, just like everywhere in the United States!

Did you know that the month of March was named after Mars, the Roman god of war?
In England, it was the first month of the year until the 18th century.

On March 2nd, 1925 the U.S. adopted the practice of route numbers for roads.

On March 7th, 1876 Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone.

Where would we be today without the invention of the telephone?

"March is like a naughty child.... Blustery, teasing... captious...Wild!!"

Although February is a short month, why does it seem as though it is the longest? Possibility because of the cold and snow that keep many of us inside watching the snow fall.  Many snow ski, ice skate, snow shoe, and other outside winter activities. Myself, as a child I loved the snow and being out in it. Now at almost 54 years old, I like sitting indoors watching the snow fall as I knit or write.

Do you have any plans in the month of March?  I'm anxious to have my granddaughter visit me beginning the end of the month for Spring break. Although she will be here for a mere week, my husband and I have a lot planned for her visit.

Stay warm and where ever February 27th takes you, enjoy and have a wonderful, fantastic day.

 

My weekend.....

My weekend is over and the start of a fresh work work begins today. I had a productive weekend, unlike the last one,  how about you? Even though it's still warm here in Western Colorado, my husband and I are thinking ahead to winter and next spring. We purchased a new window for our home to install this fall. Nothing wrong with the old window, except next spring we are going to purchase a window air-conditioner that will go in the new window. We are tired of the swamp cooler which is positioned on the roof and much too difficult to take care of.  Our place isn't Taj Mahal, but for the two of us, it suits us just fine. When we eventually found the establishment we purchased the window from, we asked the gentleman, Ken, if he knew of anyone who worked on roofs. Our roof needs a little TLC and since Brett can no longer go up onto the roof after his quadruple bi-pass and installation of his pace-maker, defibrillator, we have to search for decent contractors. And we found him. Ken gave us a price, and it's much less than previous quotes. He's hired!
 Also this weekend, I made and canned eight pints of salsa with most of the ingredients from my garden.

Last weekend was a bit of a bust. My step-son and his wife of four days at the time, told us they were coming to see us. Brett couldn't make the trip for his wedding because it's risky for him to go into higher elevations due to his congestive heart failure. Since the wedding was held in Ft. Collins, CO, it meant that we would have to travel  close to 12,000 feet to attend, out of the question per Brett's cardiologist.
So my step-son and his wife told us they would arrive at noon, but arrived at 4:30pm, due to a tire blow out along the way. I arrived home from my writers group at 4:55pm and by 6:30 we left for dinner. After dinner, we went back to our home and had dessert which I had made. By 10:00pm, they announced they were leaving to head to their hotel which we set up and paid for.  At a face-pace the two of them headed to the front door telling us they would see us in the morning. Brett and I looked at one another, perplexed as why they bolted so early. The two of them have been living with each other for 3 years, PLUS they told us they were coming.
The next morning came and went, and so did my step-son and his new wife. They blew out of town, passed our home without  so much as a phone call, good-bye or thanks for dinner or the hotel room.
What is one to think? It's been over a week now, and Brett's son did leave a message on the answering machine that they were home safe. He also e-mailed us and told me that things didn't work out like he planned and asked me to take a picture of his dad and me and send it to him since he doesn't have any recent ones and he planned on taking a picture of us when he saw us. No explanation as to why they blew out of town, since neither of them had to return to work until the following Monday.
What is sad about this is that he doesn't know when or if he will ever see his dad again. Brett died twelve times, almost two years ago. His prognosis isn't great since his heart is working less than 20% on its own.
Sad that so many of the younger generation have no respect. His son wasn't raised like that, what went wrong? I don't think we will ever really know the REAL TRUTH as to why they flew out of here like a bat out of hell. It's not like their around the corner. They live 5 hours from us.

Where ever your week takes you, make the best of it, I know I will.