Snow is turning much more pellet-y. At least my windshield is tarped. Less scraping in the morning.

We had freezing rain that turned into rain. It was a pain coming home, as ice was all over the place and it was hard to see it.

Even though I have my share of social , Matt is the mover and shaker in our house. He is sometimes surprised when I have a plan that doesn't include him . I seem to be the present buyer, which is odd but whatever. And no one in our house watches the game

Everybody said, PNW is rainrainrain, constant rain. I know, I said, but I *like* rain. Well, it's a good thing. I thought I was prepared. But really? Lots and lotsa rain. Makes me appreciate the brilliant and beautiful sunny days we get. But yeah, rain.

H would happily ignore any and all holidays, including his birthday. I soft-pedal things just for him. StE was my partner in sneaky gift-buying-hiding-wrapping, seekrit plans-making, prep, baking, decorating, and anticipation. It's harder to do when you're the only one who enjoys both the prep and the unveiling. Neither of us unwrapped a single thing this holiday, and I was the one who picked out the ornaments, paper, cards, and wrapped, wrote mushy notes and packed everything to mail. H took it to the post office.

He has other attributes that offset this particular lack.

Bruise on the elbow has gotten more colorful [link] . The shin one is slow developing, mainly just swelling. And my ass just hurts, nothing to see.

Mike has range though, he likes the aquarium.

Happy belated bday, msbelle!

I should remember to plan to get home earlier than I think I "need" to, especially on the g.d. train. It was only an hour(ish) late, but that is more than enough when I'm ready to be home!

I spent much of the weekend holding a sad sick baby. It was fun!

When us kids pulled off a wonderful surprise party for Mom's 60th birthday, our dad told us in no uncertain terms not to even think about doing the same for him. He doesn't mind presents for his b-day, but no celebrations other than maybe a dinner out.

Earlier, someone was talking about having a too-full freezer, and I'll be at that same stage later this week, after I make a stop at Omaha Steaks. I figure if I'm saving all the money on food that I am, I might as well splurge on the good protein when I can, and OS has a pretty good deal they're offering with a coupon--2 filet mignons, 2 top sirloins, 4 chicken breasts, 10 burgers, and 4 stuffed potatoes, which I'm going to see if I can swap out for their box of 8 franks for a minimal extra charge, all for only $40. Those boxes will fill up my pretty small freezer quickly, so I'm going to have to do some burger cooking next week. (They look reaaallly good on the coupon!)

Yeah, the SO would be in serious trouble if he ever tried to pull off a surprise party for me. But he knows this and instead takes me on wonderful quiet national parks anniversary trips and buys me telescopes for Christmas. Well, just the one, but it was a pretty damn nice one, which I think counts for a lot of Christmases.

That sounds like a good deal, Kathy! We only bought from Omaha Steaks once, and I can't remember what happened, but they were all ruined almost immediately after. Roommate left the freezer door open or something.

Speaking of which, the housesitter left a box of stouffer's out on the counter. But fortunately it was just from this afternoon, so it's still fine and I'm cooking it now.

I am so glad to be home, y'all. I had such a great trip. Fantastic seminars, fun stuff to look at, lots of great time with friends, good food (Oh! I decided since we didn't end up going to hockey that I would splurge on dinner with my spending money, so we did go to Roy's! It was delish. The SO had the trio (salmon, seared ahi, butterfish) and I had the mac nut encrusted mahimahi. I wanted opah but they were out. So nom.) and lovely scenery. But I am still just so happy right now to be in front of the fire with my dog.

I miss the free un-capped internet access, though. I got lots of ebooks while I was gone, but forgot to download music too until the end.

The only surprise party I really enjoyed was when my friends threw me a surprise birthday party in March.

My birthday is in June.

I was at the party for an hour before I realized it was for me. That was funny.

(They did it to make up for missing it the previous June. And they knew I'd be surprised in March, which is when various people would be in town.)