Snowy Friday Things

There are a number of things rolling around my colander brain today. That's making it incredibly difficult to come up with just one thing/theme to post here. Or would that be themething? In my world . . . probably. So I treat you to an end-of-the-week randomly rambling post, complete with photographs that may or may not connect to said ramblings.

Cripes - that door bell just scared the bejeebers out of me. Although I don't know what bejeebers are. Probably because they've all been scared out of me over the years. And the door bell? It's not connected to my house. It's the tone I use for new texts on my phone. But it's sitting next to me on the desk. And it's sort of loud.

Speaking of loud - we have thunder snow right now! LOL!! It's snowing/raining/snowing . . . precipitating like crazy here. Little beads of snow, slush, etc. Gotta love this weather - it's certainly interesting.

We're supposed to go to Longmont for the Odyssey of the Mind State Tournament tomorrow. However, the forecast in Colorado is that we're to get hammered by snow. While I know it's difficult to postpone and reschedule such a big event, I kind of hope they do. Putting all these people from around the state on the roads (or having to miss because of weather) just doesn't seem like the best plan. We would be leaving very early, too, which is when the roads tend to be the worst.

I did have to laugh this morning that everything in town seemed to shut down today. All the schools, many churches, and other organizations. Based upon a forecast. And it really only started to get significant within the past hour (around noon, mountain standard time - it's taking me a long time to complete this post). Quite the contrast from back in the day when the roads would be horrible and the place I worked didn't close down when they should have. Of course, they really should just check in with Dianne, the non-meteorologist, who knows best when to close things and when to keep them open. But the collective "they" haven't figured that out yet.

Oh, I keep forgetting to update you on the 40 Days of Water Challenge. Or was it the 10 Days of Water Challenge? Yeah, that was it. Surely it was. Because I did not do so great for 40 days. Ten days, yes. I'd love to report that I faithfully drank nothing but water for 40 days. But I didn't. I found loopholes. I was tired of being tired and having aching legs. So I compromised. On the positive side, I've had more water than I would have otherwise. And I will still donate $100 to Blood:Water Mission, because that's approximately what would have been saved.

I really don't like hand-washing dishes. Unless I have a friend to talk with on the phone. When I can plug in my headset and chat with someone, it's fun and groovy. In fact, time goes zipping right by. But since I dislike this chore so much, I've been putting it off lately. For far too long. Considering my significant lack of counter space, you'd think I wouldn't procrastinate. Ha! I just find more creative ways to stack everything up. LOL!! When we first moved into this house last year, I was pretty consistent about keeping the counter cleared off. I need to get back in that mode. But I did wash all the dishes today. I got to chat on the phone a little bit, but not the entire time. Instead, I looked out the window at the snow. Which is a blessing in and of itself. The last house I lived in had a window off to the side of the sink, but directly ahead was a dark wood wall. Oh joy. We spent three years there. The previous house? Eleven and a half years, looking at a brick wall. Originally brick red, later white. Ugh. So I am incredibly grateful for a window directly over my sink that looks out upon our back yard, the neighborhood, and the mountains. Gotta remember to be grateful for the small things in life.

The other area of cleaning in our house (okay, ONE other area...) is our finances. Things aren't terrible and hubby's still working, but we are so overdue for working on eliminating debt and not being so frivolous about getting into it. Last week, I ordered Marybeth & Curt Whalen's book, Learning to Live Financially Free. I've really been enjoying it and have been sharing its contents with hubby. We both feel that it's time to get a better handle on the debt and finances. I love their book because they struggled with so much of what we have over the years. They're so relatable. I also have a subscription to Mary Hunt's Debt-Proof Living, so I've been printing out some archived newsletters, 3-hole punching them, and sticking them in a binder for easy reference. In addition, I have her books, Debt-Proof Living and Life Your Life for Half the Price that I want to go through. I know the basic premise of what we need to do. It's a matter of sitting down and doing it. So that's our next big challenge here.

The other ongoing challenge is to free ourselves of STUFF. There is just so much of it in this house. Even though we've gotten rid of a LOT over the past six months, there's so much more to go. Of course, you're probably thinking, "Haven't I heard this here before?" If so, you'd be right. I have to keep reminding myself that it HAS GOT TO GO. As time goes by, I am less and less and less attached to my stuff, too. God keeps adjusting my attitude, which is a wonderful thing. I'd rather see someone else blessed with something than to hoard it "just in case." On this note, I've been reading Scaling Down, Living Large in a Smaller Space which has been exceptionally helpful for weeding things out. It enabled me to get rid of quite a few more clothes than I would have normally. Meaning there's actually a little bit of breathing room in the closet.

What is this? The sun is coming out? Crazy old Colorado. I saw on the forecast earlier today that in southeast Colorado there could be hail, rain, wind, and possibly an isolated tornado. We seem to be experiencing just about every type of winter/spring weather you can have . . . all today.

That crucial moment in a long and meandering blog post has arrived. Is there more to pour out through my keyboard or am I done? I still have to edit some pix and add them. Maybe that'll be it. Maybe my brain is entirely empty. Ha! Ha! Ha! That never happens. But I think this will do for today.

Do you see those shadows? What's up with that?


It was 32 degrees about 20-30 minutes earlier. Didn't stay up there for long.

Oh, this is here as a reminder that I have some books I need to review. I've read them, I just need to write the reviews. Like three of them. As much as I love writing, I have a tough time writing about other peoples' writing. So I wonder why I volunteer to review books? Because I'm kind of paradoxical like that.