Brrrr!!

I have a common cold. I pretty sure I feel worse than most people though because for them it's business as usual and I didn't even get out of bed for two days. My husband has taken to sleeping on another floor because my barking is keeping him awake. It keeps me awake too. It may even be keeping the neighbors up because I'm pretty sure I'm rattling the entire house with every coughing fit.

Somewhere while I was wrapped snugly in my own little cocoon of mini-misery, 2014 turned into 2015 and now we're in the middle of an arctic blast of frigid air. I know this because the National Weather Service keeps sending me alerts. Judging from the number of emails I've received, our local utilities company is quite concerned about frozen pipes as well.

I want to get back to my normal routine so this morning I decided to go for a walk. Neither of my walking partners cared to join me although one did text me to “Bundle up. It's cold out there."  

Never one to ignore good advice, I did just that: I put on two pair of pants, an undershirt, tee shirt, sweatshirt, polar tec fleece, hat, mittens and my real winter coat. Toasty warm, I headed off into the winter weather.

Northern girls layer

Out of nowhere, a dog lunged at me. This dog has allowed me to pass by many, many times so I can only attribute his behavior today to the fact that he mistook me for an Ewok. 

Another walker passed me. She said “We're the only ones brave enough to be out today. ” I asked her where she was from. “Virginia,” she said. “You ARE brave!” I replied and she smiled.

I was beginning to feel feverish so I removed my hat and gloves. As I was taking off my coat, I realized that I couldn't even see my breath. How cold can it be when you can't even see your breath? Maybe I'm not feverish! Maybe I'm overdressed.

When I got home, I decided to check the official temperature. “37 feels like 33.”

Sub 40. This IS serious cold.

WW.StillSwimmingUpstream.com

The Moose

Last week I had the pleasure of spending time alone with my daughter-in-law, Susan.  We shared a room at the Mount Rainier Lodge in Paradise, WA. (Where, by the way, there is no cell phone service or wifi.  I had to use a pay phone make a call.  I didn't know pay phones even existed any more!  But that's another story…)

Taking this picture was scary for me.  That is a dramatic ledge in the foreground.

On Saturday, we took a five-hour hike at high altitude.  We had a blast slipping and sliding through deep snow and drinking in spectacular vistas.  We truly do live in America, the beautiful.

Snow…in July?

 Back at the lodge, we plopped down on our beds and began reading.  Soon though, I fell asleep.

In addition to her other skills, Susan is an accomplished animal tracker.

When I awoke, Susan was so excited.  "I heard a moose!!"  she said.  "I jumped up to look out the window but I couldn't see it.  So I tracked the sound to its source and I found…
…..it was YOU."

www.StillSwimmingUpstream.com

The Perfect Couple

When Jerry gets up in the morning, he's like a ninja.  He silently slides out of bed while I remain deep in slumber.  He could be dressing an inch away from my face and I'd never know it, he's that quiet.

When I get up, I'm like a baby elephant.  With every step I take, the house shakes on its foundation.  Pictures rattle as I bump into walls and doors.  It's hard to believe I can make this much noise when I'm trying to be so quiet.  Not only do I wake Jerry (and anyone else who might happen to be sleeping in our house,) I'm pretty sure I wake up the neighbors too.

It's true what they say:  Opposites DO attract.

Sleep

Yesterday morning, shortly before five in the a.m., the whole household was jarred awake by the crashing and banging of a dramatic thunderstorm.  Then, just as fast as it arrived, it departed.  Sweet silence was restored to our world.  Everyone here over the age of two was excited by the idea of going back to sleep.  The under two crowd was just plain excited.  We stayed up.

Asleep!

Awake!

One of my earliest childhood memories is of being livid because I was forced to take a nap.  Times change.  Now I am in love with nap time - for the grandsons.  Brody is an excellent napper but Baby Grayson has an iron will and he's not crazy about napping.  Luckily, I discovered a trick on Wikipedia.  He was yelling his angriest cry at top volume when I wheeled out the vacuum cleaner and turned it on.  In seconds he was not only quiet, he was out like a light.  The magic of white noise!

I mentioned this to one of Jessica's friends today and she said, "You better be careful.  We burned up our vacuum motor doing that!"

I wonder if there's a white noise app for the iPhone?