Friday, January 17, 2020

Snow, Wind, and Cold Oh My

      

     I'm writing this in a McDonald's up the highway  from my home while pup is having his sedated grooming. They'll do his annual blood work as well, so while an addition expenses, it won't have to be done with his set of boosters in May. I thought it was important to make sure all is well before he goes to sleep. Having pets is not thrifty, but the love you get back is priceless. He lives up to the first part of his kind, Shitzu, emphasis on the first part of the breed, but he's my boy and I would have had a really hard time going cold turkey empty nesting without him to care for and for him to keep me company. Over the weeks that DH was so sick, barely able to shower some days he was so exhausted, pup was there, keeping him company. He will be our last and I know I baby him, trained him poorly, but he seems to just belong with me.

     While I don't have school kids anymore, I still follow the district on social media. Schools are closing at 12:00 today. I hope this is all done within an hour or so of when the snow is supposed to start and we are home, out of the snow, wind, and cold by mid afternoon. Where my daughter goes to school, about 260 miles north, they are already closing highways due to blowing snow. While she is on a smallish campus, she does have a bit of a sprint between two afternoon classes on opposite sides of the campus. I remember those days -though I was at a college five times her size, and I remember the biting cold from my dorm on the far west, to the dining hall, the farthest building, besides other dorms, to the west. We would cut in and out of buildings on the most bitter days for a little reprieve. My son;s first apartment off campus was a bit of a walk, and I remember him complaining. DD2's off campus year, she would sometimes catch a bus, if the timing worked, to bring her the 10 blocks or so, up the main route, so she would then only have to walk a few freezing cold blocks to her house. I guess it makes young people hearty with stories to tell-like me, 35 years later.

     In my hours to kill, besides getting some work done, and visiting the blogging world, I will stop at the Aldi's here and  top off our groceries for the weekend. I plan to make both a big pot of soup and a hearty chili. I'm getting the bread maker out too to make cinnamon roll dough and some bread for the soup and I am out of yeast. I'd love to do more baking, but with just the two of us and staying home until Sunday and no work until Tuesday, it would likely go to waste. Plus, I do not need the calories. I'm assuming I can freeze 1/2 the cinnamon roll dough. I think I'll roll it all out, fill with the cinnamon and brown sugar goodness, cut it into the 12 rolls, but then freeze and store half before the second rise to bake at a later time. There's still bean and ham soup in the freezer, two meal portions froze separately, made from the Thanksgiving ham bone. I'll remove one container for a meal, to make room for freezing either half the soup or the chili. We have dinner theater tickets on Sunday, so between bean, chicken noodle, and chili, meals until Monday are taken care off, with leftovers going into the week. We won't starve, and other than to get the dog outside for his jobs, and then the inevitable shoveling, I'm staying put until Sunday. 
 I'm writing this in a McDonald's up the highway  from my home while pup is having his sedated grooming. They'll do his annual blood work as well, so while an addition expenses, it won't have to be done with his set of boosters in May. I thought it was important to make sure all is well before he goes to sleep. Having pets is not thrifty, but the love you get back is priceless. He lives up to the first part of his kind, Shitzu, emphasis on the first part of the breed, but he's my boy and I would have had a really hard time going cold turkey empty nesting without him to care for and for him to keep me company. Over the weeks that DH was so sick, barely able to shower some days he was so exhausted, pup was there, keeping him company. He will be our last and I know I baby him, trained him poorly, but he seems to just belong with me.

While I don't have school kids anymore, I still follow the district on social media. Schools are closing at 12:00 today. I hope this is all done within an hour or so of when the snow is supposed to start and we are home, out of the snow, wind, and cold by mid afternoon. Where my daughter goes to school, about 260 miles north, they are already closing highways due to blowing snow. While she is on a smallish campus, she does have a bit of a sprint between two afternoon classes on opposite sides of the campus. I remember those days -though I was at a college five times her size, and I remember the biting cold from my dorm on the far west, to the dining hall, the farthest building, besides other dorms, to the west. We would cut in and out of buildings on the most bitter days for a little reprieve. My son;s first apartment off campus was a bit of a walk, and I remember him complaining. DD2's off campus year, she would sometimes catch a bus, if the timing worked, to bring her the 10 blocks or so, up the main route, so she would then only have to walk a few freezing cold blocks to her house. I guess it makes young people hearty with stories to tell-like me, 35 years later.

In my hours to kill, besides getting some work done, and visiting the blogging world, I will stop at the Aldi's here and  top off our groceries for the weekend. I plan to make both a big pot of soup and a hearty chili. I'm getting the bread maker out too to make cinnamon roll dough and some bread for the soup and I am out of yeast. I'd love to do more baking, but with just the two of us and staying home until Sunday and no work until Tuesday, it would likely go to waste. Plus, I do not need the calories. I'm assuming I can freeze 1/2 the cinnamon roll dough. I think I'll roll it all out, fill with the cinnamon and brown sugar goodness, cut it into the 12 rolls, but then freeze and store half before the second rise to bake at a later time. There's still bean and ham soup in the freezer, two meal portions froze separately, made from the Thanksgiving ham bone. I'll remove one container for a meal, to make room for freezing either half the soup or the chili. We have dinner theater tickets on Sunday, so between bean, chicken noodle, and chili, meals until Monday are taken care off, with leftovers going into the week. We won't starve, and other than to get the dog outside for his jobs, and then the inevitable shoveling, I'm staying put until Sunday. 

14 comments:

  1. Stay warm - it is a wonderful thing to have heat and a full fridge/cupboards before the storm hits. We are supposed to get another major snowfall today, this after our 1.5 foot 2 days ago. We shoveled out yesterday and then it froze so glad we did it. Our schools shut yesterday and today except the college reopened today. I am starting to go housebound crazy though

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The wind is picking up and its biting. Shoveling is going to be awful.

      Delete
  2. You are correct about the cinnamon roll dough. Let the dough rise, punch it down, form your rolls, then freeze those you wish to freeze.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like a good plan for a cold weekend. I'm heading to Tokyo, and it sounds like it will also be chilly there. . . it may even snow. We shall see. I'll be taking Sam to an ortho appt in the morning, & then catching an early afternoon flight. That's pretty much my weekend, unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It seems there's no escape form it-short of a vacation.

      Delete
  4. Like everyone else I hope you stay warm.
    A dog's love is unconditional!
    The weather is supposed to be chillier this weekend, but it is a relative term compared to your cold. You have inspired me to make chili!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He's cuddled by me right now. I didn't accomplish much yesterday but today, full speed.

      Delete
  5. My Aunt who lives outside of Bemidji said it was 31 below last night. Poor thing.I also remember walking clear across campus in Montana and the wind cutting me to the bone when I was in college.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's what my daughter reported. She's happy for her nerd hat.

      Delete
  6. How close are you to Mankato? I have a good friend who lives there. While we get the snow here in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, you get the cold. Try not to freeze!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Im a couple hours drive from there. There's been a lot of snow south and North of us.

      Delete
  7. Gosh that sounds cold! We were supposed to get snow last night (it rained so I guess they got snow in the mountains) but it's glorious here today. Perfect actually, they can keep the snow where they need it and we can live without. Still, if you've got everything you need and a nice warm home it can be a lovely way to spend a few days can't it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pup with his new haircut sure didn't think much of it. It will be along time before a day will be called glorious around here. After the cold comes the melty mud, and then we are bound to get a couple big March and April storms. I have my sights on May.

      Delete

Join the conversation. Your comments are welcome. Dissenting and different opinions are welcome as makes for good conversation. I moderate comments to be sure I read them all and stay ahead of the spam. Advertising products or services without permission will be deleted, as will anything that may be harmful to others-read promotion of debunked "experts" and conspiracies. If you're a blogger, feel free to include your blog URL.