Colder but not bad

Temps finally returned to normal, it's 17 right now.  Yesterday wasn't bad but last night we had a cold, cold wind just whipping around.  Man it was nasty.  Today the wind kept up but now it's calm so 17 feels almost balmy.  Very comfortable.

I DID use the spray foam on the 3 holes in the floors of the laundry room and the bathroom.  Wow what a difference that made.  big duh, very very big duh.  The holes where the drain pipes exit the house were bigger than the pipes so air was always seeping in.  Geez, probably more than just air...  Anyway, it's all moot now because boy did I plug those holes.  I didn't know you could use that foam around plumbing pipes so hadn't done it before.  I feel pretty lame, but as Julie & I discussed this week, we don't live in the past, we just live with the consequences of the past.  And now it's the present and things are better.

My only resolution was to do the dishes every night instead of leaving them in the sink.  So far so good but can it really count when it's only the 5th?  Well I'll do my best.

I had a nice lunch with Julie yesterday and got a few groceries for P&J then stopped at their house on the way home to deliver and visit.  We laughed a lot, which is pretty much normal for us.  Today I went BACK to Plattsburgh to the dentist.  I have a lingual bar (like a permanent retainer), which is what you get after you have braces that close gaps between your teeth.  Sometimes the bonding agent that's used comes loose, and that's happened to me twice.  Easy fix and a painless visit to the dentist.  Emphasis on painless.  And not even very expensive.

I started reading a Nancy Thayer book on my Kindle last night when I couldn't sleep.  I used to think she was a good writer.  Not so much any more, but it's not bad at all.  Not fine literature at all.  I got my copy of Hillbillly elegy today and will start reading that after I finish the book group book by Fredrik Backman (or something close to that).  He wrote A man called Ove and this one is something about "My grandmother."  It's got some of the same good qualities that Ove had but isn't as engaging.  I have until the 15th to read it, but by then I have to clean the house, too.  Burning wood makes such a mess.  Having dogs makes such a mess.  Being sloppy makes such a mess.  Being lazy makes such a mess.

I've been to Plattsburgh 4 times this week.  Tomorrow I hope to spend the day at home.  I have more laundry to do at the Holts, sheets to change, a shower waiting for me, and a thank you letter to write.  I wrote to my mother and Mark, mailed those today.  Just one more letter to write.

Saturday I may (at last) get my cat.  Julie and I are trying to work out a time that works for both of us.  This cat thing has dragged on for months and I've been assigned 3 different cats.  I think we've settled on one now, a large male (neutered, of course) that Julie says is a very, very nice kitty.  He'll have to be to fit into my life.  I'm sure he'll fit in just fine.  The dogs and I had a cat before so this should work out OK.  Should.  OK.  Work out.