January ends

and YIPPEE!  It's almost February.  I don't like wishing my life away, and can't really complain about this winter's harshness, but it will be nice to be that much closer to spring, then summer.  We had several nights of -10 or so, but also plenty of days in the 20's, so all in all we haven't suffered too much.  Got more snow yesterday but had lost a lot of snow during rainy days last week.  There's plenty of snow now. 

My friends Duncan and David are in Hawkeye right now--arrived Thurs., and will leave tomorrow.  They come for Extreme Workfest every January.  Like it if conditions are tough, so were a bit disappointed this year when temps were mild and there wasn't an extreme amount of snow.  They skied Whiteface, then later climbed Whiteface.  They reported that there was about 6' of snow on the trail up the mountain.  I wasn't surprised, really--when it's raining everywhere else it's snowing on Whiteface.

I had dinner with them twice, and good visits both times.  Duncan likes to call me and have long phone conversations, which we did, too.  It's always nice to see the two of them--their friendship is life-long, and they remind me of my brother and his friends from Illinois.  Those boys used to gather often and have really nice visits. 

Not much else going on.  We've started the ice-out pool (though D & D reported open water by the brook, so thought the "out" part was bogus).  I have no idea when the ice will go out--the lake froze right around Christmas, which is pretty normal.  I know everyone is commenting on how mild this winter is, but we still have 2 months to get through.  Last year in March we had 5 feet of snow in 2 snowfalls, so anything's possible.  So far I've only had my driveway plowed twice, and sanded once.  I hope he plows today.

Still fussing with e-readers at work.  Big meeting today, got lots of input from member library directors about the whole project.  I had a headache by the end of the discussion.

Dogs are fine, cat is too.  Chances is about the same but scratches a lot with her hind legs--don't know if this is just because she CAN, or if she's really itching.  It's great to see her use her legs for more than just walking, a real improvement.  Tess is doing all right, but she & Treasure seem to take long walks together without telling me where they go.  I tracked them the other night, they go down the hill toward the lake, at least--not out toward the hardtop.  They were gone for a couple of hours yesterday, which makes me uneasy, but if I'm going to let them run loose I have to suffer the consequences.  Then, later in the day when they were out again only Treasure came back--no Tess.  She appeared in a little while, but it's worrisome.  With my luck I'll end up with just Chances Are.