Today's the last day of the Wolf Moon, January.  It's 10:30 a.m. and only 6 deg. below zero.  Spring is almost here now.  I count winter as beginning mid-Nov. and ending mid-Mar., so we have only about 6 weeks of winter left, but I am pushing it a bit.  Yes, winter is a struggle, but I have been outside for awhile every day and have enjoyed it; biting cold, freezing fingers, squeaking snow underfoot, muffled breathing. 

My chicken is making it.  Having 4 tarps over her with a light layer of snow between each one, her 25 watt lightbulb, plenty of straw to nestle in, warmed water to drink and plenty of variety in her diet, including dirt, and she seems to be happy, although bored.  When she can come out and hear the wild birds all around, get some sunlight on her feathers, then she doesn't mind winter at all.  Of course, now I don't know how old she is, but if I can, I'll find her a companion in spring. 

I don't turn on the tv in the daytime, except if the weather is bad, then the Weather Channel comes on.  I haven't been writing on my novel lately, I've reached a critical point where I need to develop the plot a bit more.  Otherwise, the story might become  dull and documentary-like.  Until I find that thread, I'll continue baking, cooking, cleaning out places in the house, and emptying boxes. 

Woke up at 8:30, and it was 22 deg. below zero, and the wind is blowing 30 to 40 miles per hour, gusty.  It roared all night.  I am not even going to open the chicken's house this morning until the sun has had a chance to warm things up to minus 2 by noon, perhaps.  The dogs ran out and ran back in in 2 minutes, that's for sure.  John went out at 4:30 a.m. to check on the chicken and see that she was still covered up and secure.  John stays up most of the night, tending the fire and making sure things are not getting out of control.  So far, the water lines have not frozen up, but every night, I save a bucket of water for flushing and a gallon jug of water for making coffee.  And of course, all my plans to go to town today, NOT. 

Yesterday, I baked 4 loaves of bread and made Hamburger Soup.  Today, I want to make cranberry sauce and apple sauce.  But I want to bake something again, just to use the oven.  I got two boxes cleaned out and thrown away.  One contained old baking dishes that I put through the dishwasher and they look a lot better.  Another washing and I'll be able to use them again.  I had given a couple of new baking pans to my daughter, who makes lasagna a lot.  Yes, little by little, the boxes are getting emptied and contents rearranged or given away or thrown out.  Maybe I'll be able to make it to town on Friday. 

My chiropractor has been sick, and today is the day I finally get back there to see him and get an adjustment.  It's been quite some time, and my back has slipped off its trolley again, I fear.  It seems that life is not possible without lifting things, at least for me.  I get very discouraged with it.  Note:  I just got a call from his office, and he won't be in again, so I'll be seeing his assistant.  Hmm. 

The weather has warmed up to a seasonal winter temperature, and that has brought happiness to my chicken.  She hears the wild birds, like crows, jays, chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers.  She responds most often to the crows, so maybe they know the same language. 

I had been using my left hand for my "mouse" hand instead of the right, and eventually I developed a sore spot on the palm of my left hand.  So yesterday, I moved the mouse back over to the right side.  I was eating my supper last night, and the right hand suddenly went numb.  I was scared that this meant a heart attack, but after calming myself down a bit and taking aspirin and various other supplements, I felt that the numbness was caused by moving back to the right hand mouse position. 

I am doing well on my New Year's resolutions and go for walks with Pepper if the weather is fair and not below zero.  I finally got my Christmas tree down, so there's a lamp on that table now, and the lighting is great.  My brother called me to tell me he had received mom's memoirs and sat down immediately to read them.  Now he is taking them over to a friend's house to share them.  My other brother also got his, called me to thank me, but won't have time to read them for awhile.  I haven't heard from my sister yet, so I'll call her today.  

I was at a gas station, somewhere in Kansas, perhaps.  It was remarkably pristine and all white.  There must have been 8 or 10 gas pumps, all in white, with a white cement block building for the cashier and snack foods, etc.  There was a white roof cover over the whole place, and I noticed that the cement floor was also clean and white, with no oil or gas spills marring the surface.  Every car at the pumps was also white, including mine.  People came and went into the building to pay for their gas.  Domestic bliss. 

I turned my attention to the surrounding countryside, while the gas slowly nozzled its way into my tank.  All around the gas station were green rolling hills, gently undulating into the distant horizon.  There were no buildings, very few trees in the distance.  A black ribbon of road snaked its way back out to a distant highway.  The sky was clear blue.  Not a cloud in that sky, except for one little cloud on the horizon. 

As I watched the cloud, it grew larger, and I ascertained that the cloud was coming this way at a rapid speed.  When it came closer, I saw that it was not a cloud, but a flock of geese, perhaps.  The geese approached and landed at the gas station.  These were no ordinary geese, each weighing about 100 lbs. and snow white, with long curling feathers.  They had human faces, and milled around me.  They began to speak.

One of them addressed me directly.  He told me they were angelic geese, this band of angelic geese had come for me, come to carry me home, he said.  I was done pumping gas, and removed the nozzle and shut up the gas tank on my car.  Did this mean, I asked, that I was to die right now?  He cleared his throat and nodded,  That's affirmative.  Well, I said, I have my dog with me, my Pepper, and what was to become of her, so far away from home, amid strangers, and me leaving her behind?  I said I didn't mind dying so much, I had lived a long time, but it would be cruel to leave my dog stranded so far from home in a strange place.  And besides, I was planning to walk her around so she could relieve herself.  Couldn't my death be postponed, I wondered, until I had made arrangements for her? 

Umm, no, he said, I don't think so.  What do you mean, I asked, what's the big hurry?  It's not like I'm asking for something unreasonable.  Failing that, I said, clutching her to my bosom, could I bring my dog with me?  Uh, no, no, you can't bring your dog, he said, staring at her.  If it's her black fur you object to, I said, I can put a white shirt on her...I have one in the car.  And I reached into the car, whipped out the shirt, and pushed her arms into it.  Now just her black furry head, paws and little tail stuck out.  The other geese began to laugh and shake their heads.  It's not that we object to her black fur, insisted the head angelic goose.  It's that, um, well, you don't get to make decisions like that...  Well, I said stubbornly clutching her closer, I'm not going without my dog!

It seemed that we were at an impasse, and we stared at each other.  One or the other was going to have to blink.  The other geese began to wander around the gas pumps.  Hey guys, look over here, one of them said.  The angelic geese waddled off to see.  You see it?  Oh, yeah, they said.  Hey, yelled one of the geese back to the head goose, who was still staring at me with a puzzled look on his face.  Over here!  I think this is the one, not her.  I, too, looked over there.  There was a woman pumping gas at her white car, and she leaned heavily against the car, then she slumped to her knees.  Oh yeah, they all said, this is the one, not her with the dog.

I looked back at the head angelic goose, who continued to look at me, nodding his head.  Well, he said, not this time, not this time.  I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.  I was ready, I said, I was pumped.  It's just my dog, you know, I don't want her to suffer.  He smiled philosophically, nodding.  Don't forget to pay for your gas, he admonished, and walked over to the other geese.  The woman was now lying flat on the cement next to her car.  One of the geese had returned the nozzle to the pump before any spillage could occur.

I was alone with my dog.  I could now pay for my gas and take my Pepper for her walk.  And I could even drive away, continuing on my way to wherever it was I was going.  I almost felt lost, regretful that I wasn't going with these lovely angels.  But I still have time, a little more  time, I thought.  So I just went about my normal activities, and the dream ended. 

I watched the Republican "debate" last night, and it is pretty obvious their instructions were "don't look like those rabble Democrats and argue about anything."   Smiles, congeniality, light-hearted humor and even warm compliments were the order of the evening.  And don't they do such a nice job of it?  What a pleasant debate, as our country sinks into "recession."  What nice fellows.

They all lined up on the policy of making the tax cuts permanent.  They all claimed to have lowered taxes umpteen times.  They see nothing wrong with exporting manufacturing overseas.  They all want to continue the war in Iraq indefinitely, claiming that we can and must win it.  They all say that sure, the present policies are spending way too much money on domestic programs.  They are all for deregulation, so nobody can track business practices, and nobody can do anything about those practices.  They all worship Ronald Reagan.  And none of them probably knows how much we owe to other countries to continue the present policies.  Perhaps they see our country continuing to borrow from other countries to continue the war in Iraq.  All their policies amount to a recipe for bankruptcy.  Is that what they want?  Do they not care that we are on the verge of disaster because of these very policies? 

What we need to find out is exactly how much is owed to foreign governments right now to fund the war.  We need to find out how much the monthly payments are every month, even as we continue at breakneck speed to our credit limit.  Our children and grandchildren will be making those payments, or we will lose our country.  It works the same way as the mortgage lending scam we are experiencing right now.  What we need in office is a money manager, not a nicely groomed charming fellow.  A law-abiding citizen who will work diligently to reverse the greedy big-business way of spending us into the poorhouse.     

It's 20 deg. below zero right now, and the sun is shining brightly, so I expect and hope it will warm up by noon.  I want to visit my daughter today, we plan to have lunch at the little restaurant half-way between our houses.  That's if our vehicles will start, which by noon, they should. 

Winter is always a struggle; I guess it's meant to be that way.  In six months, I'll be dying of heat.  Which is worse, the cold or the heat?  I've always believed, you can always warm up (just get under the covers), but sometimes it's hard to cool down (just take a cool shower or bath).  However, after you're out of the bath, you get hot again right away, whereas, just staying snuggled in bed keeps you warm.  My everyday wear now is boots and big socks,  big flannel shirt worn over all my other clothes, day and night, and crocheted hat.  And that's just in the house.  When the temp. reaches 70 deg. in here, then I can bathe, but not until it's warm enough.  If I need to bathe sooner than that, I use a hair dryer to warm up the bathroom.  I also need to use the hair dryer for about 20 minutes tucked in next to my dishwasher before I can start it up.  Seems it freezes a bit next to the wall.   I won't even open the chicken's door until it gets warmer in the daytime.  But enough of the weather in here.  It's still a beautiful day. 

I finally got around to a thorough cleaning out and washing inside the refrigerator yesterday.  I love it when the frig is so organized and spotless.  Is it frig or frij?  Whatever.  I need to bake bread again, seems like every other day.  I made 4 loaves last time, oh was that 3 days ago?  Guess there is not much to say, dogs are fine, and I get to see my girl today. 

I usually insist that I like cold weather, or at least winter weather, but it has been very cold lately, mostly below zero, and not much above in the daytime, either.  I am cold in the house and must bundle up.  The other night our chimney plugged up and the smoke backed up into the house, then the fire went out.  John climbed up on the roof at 3:30 a.m. with a long stick and whacked around in there, then the fire started blazing up again.  It was a mess cleaning up the scrapings from the bottom of the chimney.  We thought that would do it, but this morning, the fire is having trouble again.  At least I don't smell smoke, but I can see the fire is just not working. 

I finally finished typing my mother's memoirs - 79 pages in all, and got 4 copies printed on my Lexmark printer, with no problems.  Then they had to be resorted 1-79, I had to find big envelopes, clip the pages together, address and seal the packages up.  To the post office yesterday afternoon (it was actually 9 deg. above zero), but I couldn't send them via media mail, because of some stupid logic by the post office, so each one cost $4.50 to mail out to my brothers and sister.  That, and a gallon of milk, has to be it for the rest of this month - I'm broke now.  I had to use all my change saved for the past six months just to mail them out. 

January has been quite a difficult month to get through, financially and now with this chimney problem, the house is so cold.  I can't afford to call in a chimney sweep.  The good news is that it is supposed to warm up soon.  At least I got the first part of my property taxes paid.  My chicken is hanging in there, what with all the tarps covering her house, her water doesn't even freeze up.  Now I have found out that these chickens were not young when I got them, and that may be why the first chicken died.  I don't know what their life expectancy is.  My black hen has stopped laying eggs, but what can I expect, with this cold weather? 

Well, I see that my fire is going out, and this just isn't a good thing at all.  I will have to call John and ask him to go up on the roof again with his long stick.  This is not good. 

I suppose I should moan about the Packers' loss last Sunday to the Giants, but it's not going to affect global warming, increase pollution, save the polar bears, etc. etc. etc.  We have bigger problems to moan about.  Don't get me started.   

I have about 3 more chapters to type and Mom's Memoirs will be finished.  Then I can print them out and send them to my brothers and sisters, and we will be a step closer to understanding what happened to us, why we are so, I don't know, disturbed?  It started out being a very happy childhood, and now it is becoming a depressing litany, and I suppose the Great Depression didn't help any either.  Oy!  But I think that all of our ancestral problems stem from sexual repression.  Of course, my thought is that without sexually repressed women  and men running around creating havoc, we would all be Polynesian gods and goddesses of love.  And that just wouldn't do for our up-tight ancestors, now would it?  What then, is the secret of having happy families?  I do not know.  I will be glad when the typing is over and I can send all these copies of the manuscript out to my siblings for their edification. 

It is snowing, snowing, snowing out under leaden skies, and I love it.  Let it snow.  There's a fire in the stove, things are baking and cooking between typings, and all seems to be well.  Now they are saying my truck will be ready on Friday (I brought it in on Monday).  But they got backlogged with a couple of sticky transmissions.  I'll just bet they came in after my truck did.  I certainly hope I get it back tomorrow.  I need to pick up my mail, for one thing.  And the woodpeckers, who had all but disappeared for awhile there, are back in force, and the suet is going fast.  My chicken seems to be happy, dogs happy, me happy, except for the headache I've developed over all the typing I am doing now.   

My daughter came over to see me for a rare change, and we had lunch here.  She liked all the food I had prepared, and we had a good time.  The reason she had to come all the way over here, is because my truck is still not ready - in fact, hasn't been worked on at all.  If I had known that, I could have kept it for a few days and gotten stuff done.  But it is supposed to be ready on Friday.

We are prepared to get hit by a snowstorm this evening and all through tomorrow.  Then the temperature plunges to below zero.  Just think about the Packer game being played on Sunday in near zero weather again!  I was worried about it, but my daughter says that Brett Favre loves the winter weather, so that's good. 

John cut up another dead oak tree today, so we are prepared for the very cold weather coming.  Everytime I walk with Pepper, I am keeping my eye out for dead trees I can spot on my property.  We do have enough dead wood here to get through the winter, but it is such hard work, that next year I am hoping to be able to get a pellet stove or corn burner.  I don't like the sound of  "corn burner" as I feel there must be a better fuel than to burn food that is already in short supply because of ethanol production.  But I heard from my son that pellet stoves are going to be outlawed in the next year or so.  I wonder why?  Are these using wood that has been treated with dangerous chemicals?  I will have to look into my options for next heating season. 

So all is well, housework is done, except for two loads of laundry, soup has been made, bread has been baked, and I am ready for the evening.  I watched the Democratic debate last night again, and I like it that the field is narrowing.  The Democrats seem to me to have the better ideas this time, and I think I like the idea of having a woman president for the first time.  Black men had the vote before women were allowed to vote (or so I've heard), so maybe this time, we should have a woman president before we have a black man be president.  I am getting to like Hillary more now.   

I reread that article posted from Saturday?  What a grouch I was.  Today, I am taking my truck in to have it fixed, then home again, home again, jiggedy jig.  My chicken had been looking unhappy, moping in a corner, and even molting for a few days, and I was worried about her.  So I decided that maybe she needed dirt!  That's right, dirt.  I happen to have a big container of dirt left over from a harvested basil plant, so I started putting dirt in her cage alongside her food.  She jumped on it, and now I give her dirt every day in the afternoon.  She loves it and I can tell she's healthier and happier already.  I also have been giving her spinach.  I get a bag of spinach at Aldi's for 99 cents and it lasts quite some time.  I've also been opening cans of vegetables that I don't particularly like, such as French-cut green beans and creamed corn, and giving her some of these every feeding time.  Actually, I like these vegetables, but if they have been in the cupboard for some time without being eaten, why not give them to one who appreciates them.  Of course, she still gets her laying mash, oats and sunflower seeds, and bread torn up into small pieces. 

About every third day or so, I need to cook for the dogs, too.  I've got things down to a science now.  I start cooking the rice (brown and white) together in one pan with plenty of water.  In a frypan, I pour 2 tblspns. canola oil, and add the meat to brown.  The meat can be ground turkey, hamburger or ground venison, sliced beef liver, or chicken (cooked in the crockpot).  I season the meat a little bit with Season-All or Lawry's Seasoned Salt, a pinch of thyme, and either garlic salt or onion salt.  I add to the meat 1 stalk of celery, chopped.  When the meat is browned and/or cut up into small pieces, I add the rice and water altogether, 1 big fistful of oatmeal, stir, cover and cook for about 1/2 hour.  The doggies are all lying there in patient reverence with their noses on their paws.  When it's done, I take some of it out so it will cool faster.  When I can stick my finger in it and it doesn't burn, I know it won't be too hot for them.  I add this as a side to their Canidae dry dog food, a dog cookie, a dog biscuit and a few tiny pieces of Beef Roll, a new 60% meat treat I get at Farmers Feed Store now.  Sometimes I add a few pieces of Hillshire Farm summer sausage, beef stick, or even liver sausage.  Each of these treats is small, so they won't get fat.  When I set their bowls in front of them, they check out every little treat, going from one thing to the other, smelling them before eating.  I have the distinct feeling that they enjoy their meals this way a lot. 

Typing, typing on mom's memoirs - I have only completed 5 chapters now, they are very long.  This is turning out to be quite a story, fascinating to me, even though I heard many of them from mom over the years.  The memoirs only deal with her childhood up to the age of 18 or so.  I haven't worked on my novel at all for the past week.  I am eager to get back to working on it. 

The weather is just great now.  I love winter, and it has been snowing so gently for days, yet the accumulations are negligible.  Just enough to make everything seem magical out there.      

How about those Packers!?  What a great team we have this year, and doesn't Brett look good for a grizzled old man?  He has all my admiration, as does everyone else on our team.  And since the Cowboys lost to the Giants yesterday (whew!), the Giants will be playing Green Bay at Lambeau Field next Sunday.  I don't understand how or why the Packers have always meant so much to me, that I get emotional over them and the games.  Even when they were having bad years, my agony was supreme.  But this year!  I am enjoying the games so much.  Best year ever! 

I have begun to type up my mother's memoirs that I found in her cabinet.  I've been typing for two days (not full time, to be sure) and I'm only in the middle of Chap. 4.  It is very interesting reading, as she grew up in Chicago it the early part of the 20th century, before just about everything we now take for granted.  I definitely need to learn more about this blog thingie so I can make a category for her memories. 

The Packers play today, and I surely do hope they win, because it will/might be the last time Brett Favre plays this year or forever, who knows. 

I have a dead mouse to find.  I spent yesterday afternoon, deplaning stuff off the couch, which had become a catch-all for all the things taken down from the attic (wasn't that last year?).  These things are now stashed everywhere around in the house, temporarily, to be sure.  Then I pulled the couch away from the wall (not supposed to be doing that) and searched everywhere underneath and behind, but could not find the creature.  I now fear that it is somewhere within the couch itself.  So the couch is going outside onto the porch.  That means I have to deplane all the boxes of glassware and treasures stored in boxes out there to make room for the couch, which will have to be stored on end. 

I've decided to use a wooden door that was stored behind the couch to make a big table.  I will wash and set out all the glassware treasures of mine (that mom bought for me) and mom's, call in somebody who has a shop, or some antique dealer maybe, to make me an offer on the whole lot.  Then help that person pack up and take away all the stuff.  If that doesn't work, I may spring for a table at a flea market next spring and try to sell the things myself, separately.  It all has to go.  It would be a shame not to recapture some of the money that has been spent by my mother on all this stuff. 

Just from this, I am telling myself that I am not really living my life, am I?  I'm just coping with all the stuff and such of my mother's life.  Mom's couch, mom's glassware collection, mom's memoirs, mom's furniture, etc.  How did it get like this?  Even the houseplants by the window were hers.  Maybe I need to get a life of my own.   

I was happy to see a pileated woodpecker on the suet yesterday morning.  I just knew if I hung the bulk suet on a tree, it would bring them to it.  They can't cling to the tiny basket of suet cake for the small woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches.  They need something more substantial, like a tree trunk, to hang on to.

I took my truck in yesterday to get an estimate on what it's going to take to fix my exhaust system and the linkage that's been out for months now.  It's going to be a big hit on my credit card again, but the truck is worth fixing; it's still a good truck, though a '91 GMC.

Today, I'm going to 1) bake bread, 2) groom my dogs, 3) write more on my novel, 4) make a huge salad, complete with medallions of hot dog and Colby cheese cubes on the side.  This, and fresh-baked bread will be my food for the day.  And this day, I'm also going to 5) start a new box for filing all my bills and important papers.  The old box is stuffed and I can't get anything more in it.  It also is very confusing when everything is jumbled together, so this should make me feel pretty good to be so paper-organized. 

I'm reasonably well and happy, going for a walk today, and I'm always glad when I don't have to go anywhere.  I should also think about copying my mother's memoirs to send to my sister, who wants to read them.  And I should organize mom's poetry into something that could be published someday.  So I have lots to do. 

I guess I thought I had a really important issue to bring up to Senator Feingold, but when I had spoken about my voting concerns, people told me that there are absentee ballots that you can fill in now, and mail them in, and you don't even have to go to the polls, if you suspect it may be a problem for you.  And your vote will be counted, starting on such-and-such a date.  I admit I never thought of that.  But then, why do we hear such horror stories about voting?  Anyway, Senator Feingold said I brought up some pretty good points about eliminating the possibility of some people cheating in the election, by having same day registration and the use of social security numbers.  Others, though, thought that might be getting into privacy difficulties. 

I'm so glad I went to the listening session.  Besides my own concerns, many, many different topics were discussed.  And now to tune in to the New Hampshire primary results.  See what's happening there. 

Did I mention that I've begun writing a second part to my first novel, continuing the story of the main characters.  I've just finished Chap. 2, and I'm beginning to think I may have become an author in the past year.  I seem to want to write every day now. 

I have been going for walks every day with Pepper.  Yesterday, we could both see a long, black tail waving back and forth over the top of a snowbank.  Followed by a big black Lab puppy, who came bounding over to us, gave me a happy, friendly body slam to say hello.  All the time, I could hear his frantic owner, a new neighbor, I guess, yelling "Pepper!  Pepper!"  And I thought there must be another Pepper here.  I walked that black Lab back and told him he better go home.  He understood what I was saying and ran back home, but we got to meet him, at least. 

It's been raining and warm out, and walking is difficult, due to the rain on top of the ice on the roads.  Also, the snow levels are going right down.  We might get a little snow tonight, though.  There was a tornado already!  South of here, though, so we are lucky. 

Russ Feingold is coming to town tomorrow for a hearing session, so I and two girlfriends are going to go and see him.  This might be the perfect time to bring up my own agenda:  to have voting days extended next November, to Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  The population of our country has increased quite a bit since the founding fathers (or whoever) decided that presidents should be elected just on the first Tuesday in November. 

In my own voting ward, there is no problem, because it's a rural area, and I just go there, to the fire station, park in the lot, go in, jive with the local ladies who are in charge of running things, while they write down my name and address a couple of times, give me my ballot, I go into a booth and mark the ballot, come out and slip the ballot into a machine that counts it (under the watchful eye of another lady) and leave, feeling heroic.  The longest line I've ever been in had me waiting about 5 minutes while I looked at maps of all the wards on the wall. 

But I know that my voting experiences are not what most people have to go through in order to vote.  Once, when my mother lived in a nearby city, I took her to her polling place to vote.  It was a zoo!  There were lines of people like A-F, G-L, etc.  Stairs to go up or down, parking spot nightmares, ballots that were difficult to understand, noise, confusion, pandemonium.  Then, when we left, there were nasty young men taking exit polls, who I thought were rather rude to my aged mother.  I was getting ready for a fist fight, but mom got me away from them, smiling benignly. 

Since then, I've heard horror stories of bad weather; polling places that were difficult or impossible to get to; road blocks set up to discourage voters; people being turned away from voting by who-knows-who, claiming they can't vote because of their felony records; hanging chads; votes that have no paper trail; busloads of "voters" being sent around to various polling places; ballot-box stuffing; etc, etc. 

Obviously, we need to get something done about this most fundamental citizen right and privilege.  I think we need a big computer set up in a non-partisan place that contains every social security number in this country and beyond.  With a little circle in front of it.  When a person goes into a polling place, they should have to show their s.s. card to the lady or ladies, and these ladies (or men) punch it in to a computer, which computers will have to be set up in every polling place, and be directly connected to the main one.  It should all be protected from hackers.  When all of you see that your s.s. no. has been correctly entered, it will be sent to the main computer, and a check mark will be placed in the box next to your s.s. no., both at the main computer and at the polling place.  No other votes besides s.s. nos. will be allowed, and no duplicates will be allowed.  Standardized ballots should be made that all or most people can understand.  Local area candidates should be on another ballot.  If there's a problem, perhaps help should be available, but really....just simplifying and advertising how the forms work would be the most help.

But, the main thing is to have voting days extended.  Just think of how difficult it is for a person with an 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. job to then have to get to the polling place on that one day only.  It is an ordeal to have to stand in long lines to vote, and in bad weather, being harrassed by pollsters, and then the polls close before you get in to vote.  We, in this country, could easily and quickly develop a voting system that is safe, assures our right to a fairly private vote, is easy to understand, eliminates fraud and cheating, and makes voting a 4-day event that is done when it is possible, convenient and safe. 

Well, that's what I am going to propose to Senator Feingold tomorrow.  I think I will not stop there, either.  I plan to keep on with this until somebody says, yes, let's do it. 

So there I was, enjoying shrimp egg rolls, and I began to break out in big blotchy hives.  It was last June that I ended up in the hospital with a severe allergic reaction to seafood, but I thought I was over that.  After bathing, I took 3 Benadryls and went to bed.  Though I had an enormous headache and was groggy all the last day of the year, I took a nap in the afternoon and got revitalized.  The hives are gone, but sometimes I feel itchy all over yet.  Then I just take another Benadryl.  I managed to get a lot of housework done anyway. 

And so I've dodged a bullet on that one, and sailed right into the New Year with no problems.  I did go for a walk with Pepper yesterday, too.  Because there has been no sunshine for many, many days, I felt that the chicken needed some Vit. D.  I crushed up a calcium pill with D in it, and fed that to her this morning.  The sun is shining too, for the first time in a long time.  It is so beautiful out, very wintry.  The colors are white, gray, charcoal gray and black.  Snow caps on tops of everything about a foot deep. 

And I'm getting a lot done today, too.  Lots of laundry, dishes, baking bread.  I used a lot of odds and ends of flours in my bread today - wheat bran, flax meal, soy milk and soy flour.  I make the English Muffin Bread.  My brother sent me a recipe for White Castle Dip and says it tastes exactly like White Castle Burgers.  So I made up the recipe yesterday and it tastes more like slumgully to me.  But not too bad.  I've added rice to it and am now feeding it to my dogs (and chicken).  So I need to get going and do my exercises for today.  Don't want to fall down on my New Years Resolutions on the very first day, now, do I? 

The good news is that I finished my novel early this afternoon and printed it out with no problems.  So intent was I on this, that I didn't even realize the Packers were playing Detroit, tuned in the last 30 seconds, and was happy to see they won handily.  But it's done!  And I can now settle back to edit and search for a publisher. 

The bad news is that I thought I would go out there into the woods and help John bring in firewood.  He had found two dead oaks right here in my own woods, enough wood to last for some time.  The snow was knee deep and just walking out there to help had me struggling to breathe!  I did not realize what bad shape I was in.  Though I was able to help somewhat, I see that John is a powerhouse of energy and strength.  He is always running, skiing, snowshoeing, swimming, and does so every single day.  If he has to miss a day, he mourns for his exercise.  It has been an eye-opener to find out how out-of-shape I've become.  I gave up walking my dog in May sometime, due to gardening chores and because big, nasty, biting flies come out of the woods to harass walkers. 

Well, now I know what I need to do to get in shape again.  This will be my New Year's Resolution - to get out there and make my body work hard every day, doing things that are good for it.  I only hope it's not too late to start working out.  I was really surprised at how much I've deteriorated. 

I got up this morning, determined to stick with housecleaning, and nothing on the book will be written.  So I loaded up all the recyclables and took them to the landfill.  Everyone else in town must have had the same agenda; the place was jumpin' and we were all scooting around in the wind and snow, thrusting our recyclables into the many containers.  It took me a long time to load up and a long time to unload all the stuff I had.  I had to go into town then and get gas already - darn that ethanol stuff.  My mileage goes way down when there's ethanol in the gas.  John got his chain saw sharpened and cut up some wood.  Now he is snowblowing the driveway - it is supposed to get extremely cold again tonight.  My back end (of the truck, that is) is now very light and slews around on these back country roads.  I was lucky to get back into the driveway when I got home. 

And I made hamburger soup again - it's my favorite, lately.  I also cooked for the dogs, and they know when I'm cooking for them.  They are so eager to get the food.  I had to feed them early, just because of their longing eyes.  The weatherman had promised sunshine all day today, which my chicken needs to be healthy, but again, there are just gray skies out there.  At least she has her lightbulb in her house.  I've been feeding her small pieces of ham  lately.  She really tears into them.  Maybe the meat provides her with extra B vitamins that keep her going.  I know there's Vit. D in sunshine...

I finally picked up the mail on the way home, from my mailbox, which I had not done since before Christmas.  Looks like a ton of seed catalogs came.  John wants me to make pea and lentil soup right now - his favorite.  The slow cooker can come into play now.  As soon as that's on and cooking, I'm going to settle down with that stack of mail and catalogs, books that came recently, etc.  The novel is taking a day off while I contemplate how to dispose of the body. 

I have been writing, and I'm getting to the climax of the novel now.  Soon, someone will get murdered. 

After the phone call from Verna, Ida Mae sat in the darkness of her dingy apartment, almost in shock, at the dizzying array of questions she had mostly avoided answering.  But one thing was clear, there was money involved, and it could be a substantial amount of money.  It would be something if Ida Mae no longer had to work so hard for what she got.  Of course, Verna really had no idea what she was talking about; that had been apparent all through the conversation. 

The shock was that Chase was being paid $80.00 a month for his silence.  Why was he the only one being paid?  Why wouldn't Jack Mooney, of all people, pay Ida Mae for her silence?  True, she was paid for various jobs she did around town; most notably, the bus station surveillance, but that was a paltry sum compared to what Chase was getting.  Maybe Verna was lying about the amount, but there wasn't any indication of that in her voice.  And why would she lie about it?  Verna's interest had been to team up with Ida Mae to force the police chief to pay more. 

And Verna, still not satisfied with Ida Mae's responses to her queries, could only gnash her teeth and wonder what else she could do.  What rock could she overturn now and peer beneath?  In fact, she had gnashed her teeth since childhood.  In cases of extreme anxiety or anger, she even foamed at the mouth.  But the dentist warned her that she was even gritting her teeth at night, while she slept, a dangerous thing to do, he told her, as eventually, it would grind off the enamel from her teeth.  A very dangerous situation, indeed.

Oops!  There I go again, I'm so involved now in this book that I am always mentally writing.  If I can't find a publisher, this time I just might use this blog to publish.  The weather is wintery, the dogs go in and out, the chicken longs for sunshine and probably companionship, I cook and clean house, the clock ticks on and on.  I try to look at my seed catalogs, but I'm not interested just yet.  I did receive some books I had ordered in the mail.  They came this morning; the postlady brought my mail right up to the house and laid on her horn.  The dogs went nuts and I, who had, for once, decided to stay in bed and rest today, had to go out there in my bathrobe to fetch in the package.  She always catches me napping.  The only other time she brought the mail right to my door; same thing.  She must think I'm a slug. 

I got underway about 2:00 p.m. finally, after getting presents and things loaded up in my truck.  The biggest effort for me was getting all the snow and ice chopped, brushed and scraped off the truck.  John snowblowed the driveway on Christmas eve, then again on Christmas morning.  I drove right out, after warming up the vehicle.  We had a wonderful Christmas party then at my daughter's house.  Eight of us, my daughter had a new all-white tree, there were plenty of presents, and my son-in-law made Italian beef tenderloins in au jus, with baked potato, rolls, applesauce, Jello and a salad.  Cheesecake for dessert.  I brought some dressing and extra spritzers.  Everyone had a good time.  We played the Johnny Cash DVD with all the old songs, and marveled at how much the singers have changed.  Crazy how we still remember every word of those songs.  I left about 6:00 p.m., and everyone left right after I did.  That surprised me, but it had begun snowing furiously, and everyone wanted to get home before the roads became too bad.  It sure was good to arrive back home safe and sound, feed my dogs, and put my chicken to bed.  I called daughter to tell her I got home safely; that's when I found out everyone else had left, too.  A very happy time for all of us.  I hope everyone else had a good Holiday, but my heart goes out to those who spent it alone; that would include my two brothers, who live too far away. 

Today, I think I'll just continue, slowly, with my Quarterly Housecleaning Festival.  Now to make some New Years Resolutions.   

Near blizzard-like conditions, they are saying on the Weather Channel...this is the most wonderful weather of all, to me.  Only about 4" of snow so far, but it is supposed to continue all day.  I just love this.  Of course, it might be a little more challenging if I had to go someplace, which I don't, but there have been many days like this in years past, when I did have to go to work or whatever, and I have relished the effort.  I absolutely love snow!  And especially, this kind of a day, where it is somewhat warm and snowing.  I have already put on my parka and stood out in it and just let myself get covered with snow.  My dogs have also been out, and we have laughed at how funny they look when they are all white and big.  Then they come in and shake themselves off, and lick their paws for awhile.  Pepper is especially funny, being black and fluffy. 

I was able to remove the strainer basket on my dishwasher last night, after locating the instruction manual, and was horrified to see what a clogged mess came out of there.  It took me about half an hour to get it all cleaned out.  Of course, I only got about half way through cleaning the kitchen yesterday before tiring.  So today, I need to wrap presents, bake bread, and continue the cleaning festival.  I am also getting near the climax of my novel, only a few more chapters to go; I'm hoping to finish by the New Year.  I also wrote for about two hours yesterday.  So it was a pretty full day. 

Ah yes, this is the shortest day of the year, and tomorrow, the days will be a little bit longer each day.  Of course, winter has just begun.  Here it is drizzling rain, and the snow pack is going down, down, down.  Come on, where's our winter weather?  But, the good news is that we barely have to keep a fire going now, so that saves a lot of work and wood. 

I actually started cleaning yesterday, the day after the girls got together at a friend's house for a Christmas party.  I am making good progress, cleaning shelves, scrubbing out refrigerator, toaster oven, microwave, sink drains, getting behind every little thing and scrubbing away.  I have been in hot water all morning, and just stopped now for my lunch.  I really felt so much better after getting the Christmas party out of the way...I don't know why social commitments are such a pain...I enjoy them, but glad when they are over, and I can just be me at home again.  Well, I love being home, that's why I'm Shackhappy. 

Yesterday, I organized all my supplements - there are 3 shelves full of them.  I guess I am prepared with a natural cure or remedy for just about anything that could ail a person.  I even have activated charcoal, in case of food poisoning, or overconsumption of alcohol, etc.  The charcoal will absorb stuff in your stomach so it can pass on without harm.  I have stuff that will destroy worms or parasites within your body, flu remedies, lower cholesterol, cause you to lose weight (okay, maybe not ME), stuff that will prevent Alzheimer's, and on and on.  All but a few are current and have not expired as far as freshness.  I am thinking of passing on some that I may never get to use, such as Coral Calcium Complex, because I am taking Calcium Citrate now instead, at my daughter's insistence.  I could donate to the Food Pantry; the bottles are unopened and are still current, so somebody may appreciate them.  I will do it!  Probably on Monday, I know they will be open. 

I broke a tooth off eating spaghetti the other night, and I can't get used to the feeling of this jagged remainder.  It doesn't hurt, and I think I will just go on as if nothing happened.  At least for awhile.  Except for my smile, which shows a blackish hole at the side of my face, but then, I don't have to see it.  Yes, I must be losing my sense of vanity, along with everything else.  So, onward with the cleaning! 

A week ago, John brought some cookies that he thought he liked, but he didn't, so I ate them all.  They were Pfefferneuse (sp?) cookies, and were anise-flavored, or licorice-flavored.  He did not like that flavoring.  Today, I made him some similar cookies that he does like, they are called Russian Teacakes, but flavored with vanilla.

Cream together 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla.  Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. salt.  Add 2-1/4 cups flour and 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts.  I chopped them fine, so they resemble coarse flour.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roll the dough with your hands and fingers into little round balls, about 1 inch in diameter.  Place on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Remove and cool slightly.  Sift powdered sugar into a bowl and roll the balls around in the sugar until coated.  Place them on a paper plate or paper towel; when completely cooled, roll them all again in the powdered sugar.  This recipe makes about 4 dozen.

I got all my Christmas shopping done yesterday, and I'm so glad it's over.  Now all I have to do is wrap.  Tomorrow the girls are getting together for a pot-luck Christmas party at a friend's house.  I am bringing the little Russian teacakes.  And a pretty plate to put them on. 

I got mad yesterday, when I stopped at the Holiday Station for extra gas this month.  There's a sign on the pumps that said this gas contains ethanol now.  I went in and loudly told them they are losing me as a customer if they don't get rid of the ethanol.  I went through all that ethanol crap last summer; my gas mileage dropped dramatically, like 15%, and I had so much water in my tank, that I'm sure it had something to do with it rusting out the tank, which of course, I had to have replaced (again) last summer.  The manager humbly told me it wasn't his fault, and I said I knew that, but I wanted him to pass on my comments to the higher ups.  I am now looking for a gas station that doesn't have ethanol in their gas.  I did get a 4-pak of Heet and got one can in my tank; hopefully, it will take care of the moisture now.

And I've had the last back adjustment from the chiropractor this year.  My back feels pretty darn good and he even adjusts my wrists and elbows, which have improved a lot.     

I have only two more presents to buy, and I'm restraining myself from buying myself another Christmas present.  I've already purchased a lightweight jacket for in-between temps.  Between windbreaker with flannel lining and heavy winter coat.  My usual "good" coat is about 15 years old, and I feel guilty wearing it downtown, as I imagine people thinking, "well, here she comes in her green coat again."  But that's silly.  The fact is that even though it still looks okay, the fiberfill filling has become very thin, and I mostly need it to go out and do chores, like getting in firewood, feeding the chicken, and bringing the dogs out and then in again.  So I don't feel bad about getting this intermediate jacket.  If I wear a sweater under it, it's as good as a winter coat.  And I only paid $29.00 for it - had a coupon at Sportsman's Guide, and it was on double sale.  But I see where they have snowshoes for $53.00...but I'm not going to get them.  I have my exercycle upstairs that John got for only $10.00 at a thrift store.  And that will be enough for me.  Another thing I wanted for Christmas was one of those machines that wrap your food in plastic, suck all the air out, and seal the package, so you don't get freezer burn, etc.  However, this might be a temptation to put just about every little leftover in plastic and seal it up and freeze it.  I can just imagine...

It has been cold, but we have been missed by the ice storms and snow that much of the country has been getting.  I feel so bad for people who have no power right now, in the coldest part of winter.  I have heard from my grandson, who is busy daily with the snowblower, keeping the driveway passable where he lives. 

As I mentioned before, I must focus on getting those last two presents, and that will just about do it for this holiday season.  Oh, and I still have to assemble two baseball cap racks...wait...should I assemble them first?  How will I wrap them, then?  If I wrap them in the box, the giftees will have to assemble them on their own.  Hmmm, they at least are handy people who can do it.  And what if assembling them is harder for me to do?  I might, just might, wrap and let them assemble.  Is that nasty, or what?

I'm going to make Hamburger Soup right now.  Here's the recipe.

In a large soup pot, brown 1 lb. of hamburger and 1 medium onion, chopped, in 1 tblspn. cooking oil.  Add 8 cups water; 4 beef boullion cubes; 1-1/2 cups chopped carrots; 2 cups chopped celery with tops; 1-1/2 cups chopped green cabbage; 1/2 tsp. garlic salt; 1 small clove garlic, minced; 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper; 1/4 tsp. black pepper; 1 or 2 tsp. salt; 1 medium potato, scrubbed and cubed; 3 tblspns. barley; 3 tblspns. orzo; 1 medium tomato, chopped; 2 rounded tsps. capers with juice; 1/2 tsp. white sugar.  Simmer together 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. 

Once again, the chicken scores up on produce that would have gotten thrown out, were it not for her.  I had picked a lot of green and yellow beans, scarlet runner beans and cranberry bush beans as a last and final picking last summer.  They were all pretty old and tough looking, but I washed, trimmed and parboiled them and froze them in a big, gallon size plastic bag.  Although I've been using my "good" frozen beans now and again, these seemed destined to just sit there and get freezer burn.  Then the light bulb in my head went off - the chicken!  Of course.  I've thawed them out, and now cut them up into bite size pieces with a scissors.  She is out there now, gobbling down today's handful.  She really is enjoying them.  This morning, for her breakfast, she finished up the box of Ralston Purina hot cooked cereal.  I'll have to move on to Farina and oatmeal after that.  Who knew chickens liked to eat human food, too (just like dogs).  It's going to get colder again, but with her daylight sunshine, and her warm house at night, I'm not worried about her now.  Of course, I still feed her the regular laying mash, sunflower seeds, bread or croutons, a small handful of oats and whatever carrot peels, etc. that accrue from cooking.

Yesterday, I made split pea soup with brown lentils.  John specifically asked me to make it and even asked that instead of chopping the carrots, would I shred the carrots?  Sure I would, fussbudget.  The hambone, after carving off all the ham I could, also went into the pot, and we have a big bowl of carved ham for sandwiches and for adding to our soup to make it even hammier.  That, 6 or 7 cups of water, and one small onion, chopped, one stalk of celery, chopped, was all I put in it, besides a bay leaf.  I would guess I had about 2 cups of peas and lentils altogether.  I just poured them into a strainer and rinsed them under cold water.  Simmered on low most of the day, and it was all the heat needed to keep the house warm, too.

Today, I got all my Christmas cards addressed and mailed out; I think there were 10 of them.  And I finished Chapter 19 on my novel - a difficult part for me that ended up being only one page.  It took me all week mulling this over, but it's done now, and the story can finally move on.   

I've been making changes lately; tweaking things to be more economical and healthier, such as changing to the Energy Star 13-watt lightbulbs.  Lately, I've shopped around for vehicle insurance and changed to a lower coverage, which makes sense for an old vehicle like mine; gotten a much, much lower rate at AIG. 

Yesterday, I did not buy dogfood at Walmart.  I got it at the Farmers Feed Store and the brand name is Canidae.  Instead of two 20 lb. bags for $27.00 (approx.), I got one 40 lb. bag for $35.00.  It is made mostly of all meat meal products (60%) plus a number of other ingredients that are - wow! - really good for living bodies to consume.  Two of my dogs are exhibiting signs of severe allergies, and the other (Pepper) seemed to have a bladder infection, which may be why she couldn't last the whole night, in the recent past.  No more!  I have her on a regimen of amoxycillin, and the other two are getting only meat product food, plus rice and those other ingredients.  They are already liking the new food a lot. 

I also took the cover off the chicken's yard in the daytime yesterday, and I could tell she was a happy hen, being able to soak up a few rays of sunlight, plus get to see what is going on in her world.  Sometimes deer come up to her cage; bunnies, chipmunks and birds of all sorts like to commune with her, and I think she missed that a lot.  Even though it's cozier with the cover on, at least in the daytime, I'm going to take it off so she can see and get sun.

Ha!  I never did get beyond going outside and trying to move the chicken cage - it is frozen into the ground, so that's the end of moving her to the south side of the house.  And there's no hurry then to get the greenhouse built, went to town instead. 

My kids had a most excellent time in Green Bay on Sunday, and of course, my fav player, Donald Driver, was the only Packer to remain on the field after they won the game, blowing kisses to the fans.  What a champ!  And Brett and the others, of course, that played their hearts out.  What a bunch of champs!  My wish at the beginning of the season was that they should have the best year ever! and I think my wish is coming true.

So on and on, trying to look at things differently, imagining that I am gone, or living in another world, and this world could all be done differently then, by whoever it belongs to next.  Then making the changes that are making a difference, helping me to live better right now.  Put up my Christmas tree yesterday.  Even though it is 15 years old (tabletop - 2 ft. tall), it is still pretty and doesn't take up much space.  I also lit up my little ceramic Christmas tree.  When looking for my artificial wreath to hang on the door, I saw that it was already up, having left it there all year long. 

It reminds me of a story my mother told me - that my grandmother left her tree up until Easter one year.  But when she touched it to take it down, every needle fell off, and just the bare branches remained.  I am content with artificial.  Save a tree, I say.  I also have a pencil tree, but haven't put that up since Mom died.  It was her tree.  And I enjoy saying "Christmas" this and "Christmas" that; just to enforce that it is Christmas.  So Merry Christmas!

It was well below zero last night, and still hovers around the zero mark right now.  But the dogs enjoy going out in the cold.  I bring Daphne in right away, as she has tiny paws, and she wants to come in sooner. 

The chicken is doing good, her water wasn't even completely frozen this morning at minus 5 deg. when I got up.  I put her water near the light bulb and that keeps it warmer.  I've been cooking for my chicken too!  Giving her canned vegetables, since I don't have fresh greens, but what I've been doing, is making cooked cereals, like Ralston, Farina, and Oatmeal, cooling it down to where I can put my finger in it and it doesn't burn.  Then I take it out there and pour a puddle of it out for her.  She doesn't even wait for me to get done pouring it, she's on it, gobbling it up.  I'm sure the warmth is beneficial and there's plenty of moisture in it, too. 

I now know that the other chicken died because of the cold.  It was one day of cold and that did her in, before I got the hotter lightbulb set up in there.  She was also a stressed out chicken, smaller, afraid of everything, and couldn't even manage to eat properly.  All things conspired to take her out before her time at the first cold snap of winter.  (Officially, it's still Fall.)

Last evening, the clan gathered for fiancee's birthday, surprise birthday party, that is.  She didn't know anything about it, and kept crying, for joy, I hope.  We went to Marty's Place North, quite a ways up there, but a beautiful restaurant, with lots of atmosphere.  They put our party at a big round table, in a small round room, several feet higher than the rest of the restaurant.  It was wainscoted halfway up, then glass panels, and made me feel like I was in a ship, for some reason.  From there, a winding stairway led up to the restrooms, etc.  There were stained glass chandeliers, stained glass skylights above, and other diners, both above and below us.  I ordered fish fry again, but most of the others ordered steak and chicken.  But I like fish, too, and knew that we are having lamb again this evening, our latest food love, that John is treating me to.

I gave him a pair of wool socks to wear on his running, skiing, snowshoeing daily regimen, and he was very appreciative.  He had only one pair of wool socks, so these are a boon.  My children are all going to a Packer game at Lambeau Field tomorrow.  It's the most beautiful stadium in the country now, I've heard.  They will tell me all about it when they get back.  They all have many items of Packer-logo jackets, hats, etc. to wear, and they better wear them all.  At least now, with the new stadium, they can go inside and warm up in a heated room and still see the game on a large-screen tv, if necessary.  My daughter said the last Packer game she went to at Lambeau, it was 15 deg. below zero; sitting on ice-clad metal benches, her teeth were chattering so badly, she had to go inside, but it was unheated then, so not much help there either. 

And I?  I plan to keep my toasty boots on all day, even with my bathrobe.  Except for the times I get back in bed and rest, rest.  I picked up the mail on the way home last night, and have plenty of reading material.  Also, I need to contemplate the next bit of my novel, as I've come to another difficult part.  I am thankful that none of my waterpipes burst or even froze last night, my heat tape is turned on, and a small fan blows warm air from around the fireplace towards other pipes.  All is good for now.  

I'm now on Chapter 19, almost through with it, so things have been coming along nicely.  My chapters are shorter than most, I think, and now I'm wondering if the book will be too short.  But I don't think I should worry about things like that.  I'm telling my story in as few words as possible, and I think that's the important thing. 

I'm going out to eat tonight with my children, celebrating the December birthday girl (son's fiancee).  We are going to a beautiful restaurant up north of here quite a ways, so I will drive to my daughter's, and catch a ride with them the rest of the way.  I got the birthday child some dress socks, tights, and the book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."  I think this is where my paranoia comes from that my book is too short, as it's quite a large book. 

We have almost run out of firewood already from what John brought from the man who wanted the trees cleared out of his yard.  John saw a dead oak that was leaning and couldn't fall all the way down (these are so dangerous), but he gingerly pushed it down and sawed it up.  It will last about one week.  Wood is so beautiful.  I always felt it was such a shame to burn it up, but it is also a miraculous thing that it can be converted into life-saving heat.  Just sitting by the fire warming my back or staring into the flames is very soothing.  I appreciate it very much.   

I was sick yesterday, who knows anymore with what, but everybody else I know was sick or is sick with it, too.  So there.  I loaded up with supplements last night; garlic, elderberry, MSM, zinc and oregano oil, and that seems to have taken care of most of the symptoms.  I feel good today so far. 

I had to shovel the 8" snowfall off the chicken house and yard; that was pretty strenuous, but then I also had to clear the snow off the tarp edges so I could lift the top and put in fresh water and check the temp. inside the house.  Happy to say the chicken is very happy and keeping really warm.  But the effort really had me down for awhile there.  I felt like I no longer wanted to keep a chicken.  But I've changed my mind now that I feel better.

I was weepy all day yesterday, too, worrying about all the single men in my family; my two brothers and one grandson, all of whom seem lost in a quandary to me.  I confided in my daughter and she gave me good advice.  Said that I should not worry about things that are not in my control, that they are all living the lives they have chosen, etc.  And she is very right.  But I called my brother today and I am now much happier.  None of the things I had heard about him from the other brother turned out to be true.  My other bro was himself lied to, perhaps.  So all's well that ends well. 

I have been spending the day making one phone call after another, taking care of my own affairs, in order to be able to make ends meet financially in the coming year.  It's not going to be easy.  I heard that Social Security cost of living increase will only be 2% or something like that.  Ha!  I have been looking for part-time work in the newspaper and will probably call some of these numbers this week yet.  I have to go into town tomorrow and take care of things.  I would have gone today, but they still haven't plowed our road, and by tomorrow, they should have plowing done. 

The good news is that I knocked out Chapter 17 of my novel yesterday; which came flowing out with no problem, surprisingly.  Sometimes I struggle for one sentence, but yesterday was a boon in writing.