This is what happened last week.  There was more but this was the first round--about a foot on Tuesday night, then close to another foot Weds.  It's pretty, and as always muffles the noise so it's still and quiet.  The dogs like the snow--Tess is adept at making very good dog snow angels and Treasure eats the snow.  The driveway was plowed twice (we call that a $100 storm) and I actually shoveled a path to the deck stairs.  Oh I'm getting good at this "owning a house" thing.

It's my last week at work, down to the last few days.  I still have plenty to do and have yet to finish cleaning up around my desk.  WHAT AM I WAITING FOR???  I have a lot of files that might be of value to someone.  I keep weeding them, throwing out more each time I go through them.  Mostly I have a lot of discarded books that at one point I thought I would want.  I go through them, too, and throw out a few each time.

Lots of meetings this last week--what ARE they going to do when I'm gone?  I have no strong feelings about who will do my work or how well/whether it will get done.  It's up to someone else now, I've given it my best 30 years.

I have lists of things to get done before leaving for RI on Sunday.  This morning I came to town extra-early so I could get my blood done.  Sure, good idea, except I brought the wrong paperwork so it was for naught.  It's not a big deal for me to get here early, nor is it a big deal to have the blood drawn.  It IS a big deal to have the lab orders, though.  duh.

So far I've had 2 farewell lunches with friends.  Tomorrow night is our union Christmas party.  Thursday I have birthday lunch with Barb, Friday is dinner with Bill & Fred, Sat. is dinner with the Holts, then Sunday at last I'm on the road.  I can stay in RI for a long time, if I want to.  I'm thinking of 2 weeks but if it gets too cold here I'll hustle on home to protect my house.  It got down to 39 in the living room over Thanksgiving, when the outdoor temp was 4, so I'm wary of cold weather.  I shut off the pump (learned that lesson the hard way) and hot water heater, but just about every year there's some problem while I'm in RI at Christmas.

The dogs are great.  Tess is really slowing down but can still wag her tail in a circle.  Treasure is very needy so the two of them really like it when I'm home.  Last week I only worked 2 days--I took one day off to have my new electric stove delivered, we were closed one day, I had a doctor's appointment in Saranac Lake another day, so it was a good week for the dogs.

Last Sunday I went to Saratoga to the calling hours of a friend.  It was a good trip, easy drive down and back, but I didn't stay long at the funeral home, nor did I stick around for the funeral.  I knew that, if I'd gone to the funeral I would have cried a lot, probably loudly, so I skipped that.  She was a wonderful woman, a couple of years younger than I am.

I have lists and lists of things I need to buy or do before leaving for RI.  Yesterday I had 4 stops in town before I left for home, tonight I think I'll have 3 or 4.  I have to get a new tag for Tess' collar, thank you--she lost hers and I hate to take her to RI without any identification because she always seems to get away at least once per visit.  At Thanksgiving she & Treasure took off into the woods and I had to track them down.  Scary.

I'll be in an Internet-free zone in RI but will take my laptop and go either to Mark's work place or to Java Madness, where the deck overlooks the marina, and will check my email and the weather here.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

She's up!  She's pretty!  That's my version of a creche on the table--3 Lab ornaments, 1 sheep ornament and a tiny hunter.  I bought the tree on Saturday, cut it down to table-top size, put it up and decorated it on Sunday.  Is it straight?  Not quite, it leans forward a bit, but it's a nice tree.

Back in the saddle

Thanksgiving was only a week ago and yet it is a world away.  I had a grand trip, easy driving and good visiting with Liza and Mark.  The weather was OK, some cold days and a couple of warm ones.  Mark & I took the dogs to the beach, I took Liza to the beach, and for a change of scene Mark & I walked the dogs all over the Univ. of RI campus, which is near where he works.  That was a real treat.  Campus was deserted and I got completely disoriented because there are so many new buildings added since I was there in the 70's.  It's really most impressive now.  And pretty.

We went to the annual art sale that we always hit, and it was as much fun as we expected.  A lot of pottery--Liza bought me a great bowl for my birthday and I bought myself another great bowl because I liked it.  We picked up odds & ends, as we always do.

Liza & I went shopping a few times.  Since she doesn't drive anymore she's dependent on Mark and feels bad asking him to take her places, plus she needed to get him some Christmas presents, so we had fun driving around and seeing the sights.  She likes to go to the grocery store--they all know her there and she picks up a few things each time she goes.  Like, she needed Kleenex so we went there and she bought ONE box, not 2 or even 3, just one.  So when she runs out again she'll need to go right back for more.  I found it all entertaining and was happy to be there.

Thanksgiving itself was fine.  We had our usual food--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash and a zillion lima beans.  All delicious.  I made 2 pumpkin pies, one from fresh pumpkin that I got from Linda and another using canned pumpkin.  News flash: there's no real difference in taste between the two.  And 2 pies is a lot for 3 people to eat.  They were both good.  I use an old Martha Stewart recipe that includes 1/4 tsp of chili powder and that makes a difference.  yum.

I got home on Monday, around 2 in the afternoon.  It sure is nice to be at home during the day!  I'm looking forward to retirement, which is only 2 weeks away.  Yay!  Work is funny, I don't have that much to do in the way of tasks but I'm swamped with assignments and cleaning.

Yesterday I spent the day in Crown Point, barcoding their collection.  That was nice but frustrating--because it takes so long to get there (1 1/2 hours) we don't have many hours to actually do the work there.  It's going to take a wicked long time to get that collection done, but I'll be long gone by then.

I talked to a friend this morning and found out that my good friend from the past, Brook, has died.  She had brain cancer and was in a hospice facility so it wasn't a great shock but it's very sad.  When I first came here Brook & I were very close and spent a lot of time together.  We lived near each other and had dinners together often.  Her boyfriend and Jamie were friends, and Dan worked at our sawmill for a while.  Oh those were fun times and I'm very sad.  I'll go to the calling hours in Saratoga on Sunday.

Dogs are fine.  They like being at Liza's but are confined to a pen when they're outside.  They own the couch while we're there.  Mark & I take them for long walks when he doesn't have to be at work but other than that the only exercise they get is getting in & out of the car.  But they sleep a lot.  It's very peaceful.

 The mother at the beach on a calm but cold day

 Thanksgiving morning at the town beach--really high surf and a lot of gulls.  Very dramatic