My poor friend is flying back tomorrow morning. She's going to have to chip out her car at the airport lot and it is dubious whether her route to work will be clear. But I'm planting a shovel out for her in the morning. And cookies. I would've shoveled her steps (which are a mess) but I didn't think she was coming back until later in the week. If I have a late opening or am closed, I'll do'em.

Oh! I should check on my oranges since it's been freezing. Oops.

Anne, I'm glad the power wasn't out very long and that you and Finn are okay.

I have a jug of cider on the porch. I should probably get that into the house.

Stay safe on the road, msbelle. I'm sorry you even have to venture out.

Thanks, Bev. It is COLD here - February cold, not December cold - and the house was losing heat rapidly. Finn has been more of a cuddlebug than usual what with the colder temps, which is lovely as he feels like a living plush toy. Soft, soft fur.

Tonight is apparently the coldest in PDX since 1972 (double digits, still) . I work 5pm to 3am. Around 8pm, as the temperatures were dipping, i realized that i had negelected to leave a sink dripping (old house, old pipes, water mains bursting all over the city, brrrrr) and posted my negligence on facebook. My cat sitter happened to be in the area (with a copy of my key) and volunteered to stop by and remedy the situation, Plus a little loving on two unexpecting but very appreciative kitties. I'm so amazed, she's so awesome. How on earth do you properly thank that sort of random act of awesomeness? I won't be going out of town anytime soon which makes it difficult to massively overpay her once or twice anytime soon. Is a random paypal contribution weird? Strangely, I don't know her home address so I can't even send her a package.

It's 35F and foggy here. I'm not hearing a lot of traffic on the nearby road, which is a bit ominous. But work is on, and there don't seem to be a lot of closings on the news. So I'm gonna work on the theory that the usual commuters are having a bit of a lie in.

Sinuses in full revolt. No obvious congestion, but 5 minutes in the cold and I now have the worst headache in a while.

I think I'm going back to bed. Or at least back to the couch with a hot towel for my face.

erin, how about an online gift card, like to iTunes or Amazon? You should be able to do those with a valid email address.

That's a good one, Theo.

I think I'm taking another hot shower. And then a horizontal surface.

Poor sara! Feel better.

House is cold this AM. I need to locate shoes, keys etc so I can go to the pool.

My student teacher starts today. I am full of ambivalence. Not about her, but about everything.