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.