...and the wind continues...

Conditions at 6:00 am - 9* and VERY windy (still) and light rain
Expected later - light rain and the temperature is going to drop to 3* by this afternoon with the winds subsiding a bit

Yesterday, in town at least, it didn't seem as bad as predicted. The wind didn't seem as strong as the day before and the rain was intermittent and light. Come 5:30, it was a different story as the rain picked up and so did the wind. By last night it was howling and continued on into the night, and still continues this morning.

We had our cookie exchange last night and it was a most pleasant evening. Because there were only five of us, we ended up just sitting around the kitchen table and chatting. It wasn't a late night but it was really nice. Lesa even suggested we do it again, maybe in the spring, and do appetizers or something. I'd like to do something like that every once in a while. I'm really glad to see them so keen. The party broke up fairly early as people had to get home to see what was going on at home - Lesa's kids who are just old enough to be left alone, and Brenda waiting for a phone call made everyone need to leave fairly early. But the up side is I got all the dishes washed up and everything put away before I sat down to watch a bit of TV before going to bed.

This morning I'm trying to get the fire to light and having a bit of trouble. I haven't had a fire going for about 3 days as I really didn't need it. But it's going to get cooler today so I thought I'd get it going so the house will be nice and toasty when I get home tonight.

Tonight I have to stay home. About a year ago, I received this form in the mail asking me to participate in a study on aging. So I said I would. A fellow came out and asked me a whole lot of questions, and input the information into a computer. Now almost a year later, I received a longer form in the mail inviting me to participate in a long term study on aging that will go on for the next 20 years. You had to fill out this form and send it back. All it basically entails is an interview once or twice a year for the next 20 years or so. The trouble is the initial interview takes place on the phone and lasts approximately 20 minutes and every time they call it's when I've just gotten home and I'm usually on my way out somewhere or they call during the day. Sure enough, someone called me last night about 7:15, just as I was waiting for the girls to get here. So again, I had to say no, I can't do it right now. But we set up a tentative appointment for tonight so hopefully it will work out. I feel badly because it seems like I don't want to cooperate but that's not the case.

I can't believe it's only three more days till Lloyd arrives (hopefully). It seemed like such a long time coming and now all of a sudden it's here. I just got my schedule for work and I don't have as much time off as I had hoped. I'm off the 24th to the 27th but then I only get the 1st of January off as it's a Saturday. In an office I would have gotten the Monday after as it falls on the weekend, but because we are open on Saturday that's the day we're closed. It works okay for me as I usually work Saturday but I'd be a little annoyed if I didn't work on Saturdays cause then you kind of miss out on an extra day off.  Oh well, as Lloyd always says, it is what it is. I should just be grateful I have a job, and I am.

Well other than some tidying upstairs, and some laundry and some wrapping, I am almost ready for Christmas. The only thing I'll have to do next week is some groceries. Other than that, I'm done. I must admit it's a nice feeling. I just have one more little thing to pick up to add to one of my gifts and that's it. YAAAAY!