Lots of ~ma for you, Anne. This time of year steals so much of whatever coping mechanisms we have.

{{{Seska&Girl}}}

bonny, you are still in my thoughts.

Aims, I love that picture of you and your sister - and I'm glad your meeting with her went so well.

This time of year steals so much of whatever coping mechanisms we have.

God, so true.

A year ago, the daughter of one of my neighbors died in a horrible fire with seven other young people. It's been a hard year for this group of friends, who were close to both mother and daughter. Here's a story about the fire and the community: [link] (My friend's name is Rebecca S. and her daughter's name is Melissa M.)

I killed the thread! Sorry.

I found out that I'm going to be a regular part time employee! I asked and I should get about 8-12 hrs per week, with the chance to pick up more.

I've already picked up 10 extra hours this week. It's not huge money or anything but it's good to be working and the store manager told me "we really like you!" which was nice to hear.

Then I went and splurged on a small space heater and some thick, cheap fleece throws to cover windows and what not.

And I'm lucky I left when I did - they closed 89 from exit 10 (a few before where I work) to past where I work.

It wasn't fun driving home, there was snow on the road and the only visible road were the tracks from where the cars drove in front of me. When I left work there was no snow on the road there and it wasn't snowing but as I got north it got worse.

yay for you askye - and be careful out there

I was careful, I went really slow, although at one point (before the roads were really snowy) I did pass 2 cars, it was getting hard to stay as safe distance. The car in front of me would go fast, then brake and slow way down, so I just passed them, which wasn't hard, I didn't get over 60 to pass them.

I felt the car slide a couple of times but I didn't go off the road and I remembered not to brake when the car slid. I still have my snow tires in the trunk. I'm not sure if it helps the car being heavier, but I think I'll leave them in there.

askye, yay for permanent part-time work! And I'm glad to hear that you're adjusting to driving in bad weather.

Today is the 7th anniversary of my first date with TCG. We're not really going to buy each other gifts on that anniversary anymore (switching to our wedding anniversary now), but we decided we would still go out for a nice dinner because it has become our annual, "Yay, we survived Christmas!" dinner. We're at Mom's for a couple days, and we're going to a restaurant we love. Hopefully we don't close it down!

That sounds like a wonderful celebration.

I'm glad it's only supposed to be really really cold tomorrow, not snow, because I really wouldn't want to be driving home around 10 pm in the kind of conditions that were going on today.

I still have my snow tires in the trunk. I'm not sure if it helps the car being heavier, but I think I'll leave them in there.

I'm sure the heavier helps, but why not have the tires on the car and your non-snow tires in the trunk for weight?