Our usual Sunday

Good morning.
As per my usual Sunday morning ritual, I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
Our temps are to be near normal for the next week, which means daily highs above freezing. :-)
Saturday was booked solid, and I did the house call afterwards.
I also managed to finish the next puzzle, and I think I'll do one more. There's still a lot of snow on the ground, so I won't be working in the yard for a while yet.

And for dinner, Craig made home made nachos. They are sooo good!

He uses light tortilla chips, extra lean ground beef, and 2% Mexican shredded cheese. So they're not nearly as bad as in a restaurant and still very tasty!

We finished the evening watching the first 4 episodes of season 2 of Hot in Cleveland.

Today, Craig cooks our last turkey and we'll do our usual Sunday routine. Coffee and the paper, Craig will get the turkey in, do laundry and bookwork and I'm gonna try and get enough motivation and do some major cleaning. We'll see. :-)

almost the weekend

Good morning.
Fortunately, we only got a dusting of snow last night. So I'll leave the driveway as is. :-)
I also made it through yesterday's 12 hours, although I went to bed at 10pm and didn't get up until 6am. 8 hours is quite a bit of sleep for me. And fortunately, the day wasn't jam packed. Just nice and steady with no issues. :-)
Today and tomorrow look to be a normal 8-3 type of day. Although tomorrow after work, I'm making a house call on the way home. That customer of mine who broke her hip a while back is being released from rehab and wants me to come over and give her a haircut.
And it looks to be flurries off and on over the weekend. But I'm definitely noticing longer days, so that helps with the mood a lot.
And after work today, I'll do our weekend shopping. Tonight it's Boca Burgers with breaded, oven fried, zucchini sticks. Tomorrow, home made nachos. and Sunday, Craig's cooking our last turkey.
So have a great weekend!

snow, snow, go away

Good morning.
I've just returned from clearing the driveway.....again. We got about 2-3 inches during the night which was a surprise since none was forecast. :-(
I've got a l-o-n-g day at work today. I'm going in an hour early to get in a customer I had to cancel last week due to illness, and now with the snow, I'll need to go in even earlier to clear the walks. So that will mean a 12+ work day. Hope my energy holds up. :-)
And they're calling for more snow tonight and tomorrow. whoopee.....
And as I'm sure most of you have noticed, the gas prices are going up and up. If they keep going that way, we may have to curtail a few of our trips. Right now, they're still all on. We've banked a nice little gas fund during the winter, and we've got some time before our first few trips to see where the the gas prices will be. Unless the gas prices hit the $4-$5 range, I think we'll be okay. :-l
So, time for my shower and on with the day.

comfort food

Good morning.
My late posting is due to me having to clean the driveway and salon sidewalk again. :-\
I'm sooo over this crap! I'm glad it's almost March! :-)
So yesterday, I did get the cleaning bug and did quite a bit of dusting and vacuuming.
I also played a new game called Settlers. So far it's holding my interest. :-)
We also started our last puzzle. I don't do puzzles after March starts because we should start getting some breaks in the weather where I can start early spring clean-up in the yard.
We also booked another camping weekend. That makes 9 so far, with the 10th and 11th decided, but to early to book.
And as promised, pics of Craig's newest, very tasty, new dish.
Ravioli Lasagna.....

Or the half that's left anyway. :-)
And an unusual pic of a smiling Craig!

And the dishes left for me.

But that's okay. It's well worth the clean-up for good food! And there's nothing better in the cold winter than comfort food!

winter's back

Good morning.
Well, yesterday morning started out looking a bit like spring, but then this came...

And by this morning, it looked like this....

Yes, it was still dark out at 6am when I went out to clear the driveway. Looked like about 6-8 inches fell. It was over a foot thick at the end of the driveway where the plows had gone by.

Once I got that done, I went in to the salon to see what was needed there. The main roads are pretty good, but all the side roads are a mess. It appeared the sidewalks at the salon had been cleaned sometime during the night, and had about 2 inches back on them, so I got that cleared off and threw some salt on it.

Here's the drive and the car cleared of snow.Yesterday, with the most energy I've had in a week, I got in a cleaning mood and did quite a bit. I still had plenty of time to play on the puter, place a supply order for the Salon, and book another RV weekend. We've got 8 booked as of right now. Out of the weekends left, I still want to go to the Elkhart, Indiana area. I'd like to take a tour of the Newmar factory in nearby Nappanee. I think it would be neat to see where our mo-ho was born. :-)

And dinner was simple to, ham steaks with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed cauliflower. Today Craig wants to try a new dish, Ravioli Lasagna. If it turns out, pics and the recipe tomorrow. :-)

ps......

I didn't notice until just now, that I missed my blog's anniversary, which was back on January 24th. Must mean I've been doing it so long, I don't even think about it anymore. This is the start of year 6 with blogger! 1030 posts!

blah, blah

Good morning.
As usual, I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. Also while I was there, I repaired a couple of cabinets that hang on the wall, over the sink, in the supply room. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the top side of one of them was nearly 2 inches from the wall at the top. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the support brace along the top of the cabinet was bending. It was secure in the middle where I attached it to the wall, but it was bending out on the ends. It was a fairly easy fix. I got a section of 2x2 wood, cut it the length of the brace, pushed the cabinet back up so the brace was straight and attached the 2x2 along the brace. It can't bend now!
In other news.....
While I was down and out with the killer cold, we had a week of spring like weather. It got all the way up to 50. We've lost nearly all the snow we had. It was nice to see bare ground for a change. But it won't last long. As I write, another winter storm is fast approaching with a prediction of 6+inches of new snow. Hey, at least February is over half done!
And if you remember me fixing holes in the perimeter fencing, and putting out traps to catch rabbits, I didn't catch a one. There were no signs of them. Even if I don't get one in a trap, they'll eat the carrots I put around the outside. But they weren't touched either. They may have been coming into the yard to eat, then going back out to their nests. The new snowfall will show me if that's true.
And while recovering from my cold I finished another puzzle.

This one was sent to me by a blogger friend, Phillip. He thought it was a very challenging puzzle. I found it challenging, but fun because of it. Some of the puzzles I do are too easy. :-)

And it feels good to be back to 'normal'. :-)

I'm feelin good

Good morning.
Just a quicky post before I run off to work.
I'm back to 100%! Just a little bit of a cough lingering. It feel so good to be 'alive'! :-)

one day at a time

Good morning.
Well, I'm feeling even better this morning, so I'll attempt to go back to work. Customers are starting to pile up. :-)
Craig, surprisingly has not caught anything yet. Let's hope it stays that way. Although he has been tired this week, working longer hours to help me out doing some of my customers.
So not a terribly long day today. Starting at 8am and should be done around 3pm. Wanted to keep the first day a little easier. Saturday is really booked, so let's hope I do okay today. :-)

I'm back

Hello,
I'm going to live. :-)
I'm actually feeling a lot better today, but am laying low and doing as little as possible.
This one really knocked the wind out of me.
I'm not used to getting sick, so I just try and suck it up and not let it get the best of me and continue on with life. Not this time, It just hit me like a ton of bricks. Ate me up and spit me out. Monday was the beginning, just an annoying cough. By Monday night, fever and chills. Tuesday, I was completely wasted, spending the day trying to rest in between the annoying cough I couldn't seem to tame. Wednesday, I felt a little better. Cancelled most of my appointments but my last 3. I had a 4:30 coming from out of town, and was going to be here just overnight. Felt I could go in and do her and the 2 after her. My fever had broke that morning, and I was feeling better. Bad choice. I actually felt pretty good when I went in around 3pm. I had a message that my 5:30 needed to change her appointment. I thought good, I'll be done early. Then my 4:30 called and was getting into town early, and could I do her sooner. I told her I could, but I had a cold. She didn't care, she needed her color done. All of a sudden, I wasn't feeling as good so I called my 5:00 to let her know I had a cold in case she might want to change and not be exposed. She said she could change, so that was good. My color came in and I got her done and came home. Just walking from the car to the house, I got so chilled, I took off my shoes, turned up the heat, and left my coat on and curled up on the easy chair with 2 throws. I spent the next 2 hours drifting in and out. Craig woke me up around 6:30 saying I needed to eat something. I forced down some hot dogs and fried potatoes. (is that what you fix a sick person?) I was completely spent, running a temp of 102 now. I just wanted to go to bed. Craig thought if I went to bed that early, I'd be up in the middle of the night. After all, I usually get by fine with 6-7 hours of sleep. I explained I was exhausted and my body just needed rest. I went to bed around 7:15. I awoke this morning at 6:30. I felt sooo much better. But I decided to take today off to regain my strength and make sure I truly get better. Instead of worrying about the customers and money, I need to take care of myself. I'm not use to that.
So I got up this morning, temp normal, and I was hungry. :-) Ate a bowl of soup. Woke Craig up and sent him into work to cancel my appointments. Watched a little TV, then took about an hour nap. Watched some more TV, (there sure is a lot of nothing on TV during the day) had some lunch. Felt up to doing a post, and now I think another nap is due. :-)
And that'll be it for the rest of the day, rest.

sick

I'm sick, really sick.
To sick to post.
I'll try tomorrow.

we got lots of rabbits

Good morning, and a Happy Valentines Day!
It felt almost spring like with the temps rising near 40 yesterday.
After cleaning the Salon, I finished another puzzle while Craig got his beauty rest. :-)

This puzzle was given to me by a customer. Instead of a picture, this was a painting with really odd shaped pieces. But I enjoyed it.
I also got out and checked the perimeter. There were 4 holes in the fencing I patched.

Craig said it looked like they had wire cutters. I don't think they're that smart. ;-l

So I fixed the holes and set out some traps. They had already done a lot of damage. 4 bushes have already been eaten to the ground. They'll come back, but won't bloom, as they bloom on old wood. I should have gotten out sooner, but it was too cold. :-)
I then spent the rest of the day playing a game on the puter, and starting another puzzle.

Craig made a delicious meat loaf for dinner.

And this morning, I noticed the driveway is completely snow free. The first time since early December. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground, and I don't think it'll stay warm enough, long enough to melt all that. We'll see. :-)

it's another weekend

Good morning. It's another weekend! Yea!
It's currently 30 out. Warmer than it's been in a l-o-n-g time. :-)
We look like we're in for our January thaw, even though it's mid February. We'll take it when we can get it. :-) The highs might reach the low 40's by mid week.
I've just returned from cleaning the salon, and we finished the week fairly busy.
We came home, fixed cocktails, and played games on the puters, and I also worked on a puzzle.
For dinner, Craig made tasty wet burritos and we watched the movie, Due date.
Today, with slightly milder temps, I'm going out in the yard and checking the perimeter. There are rabbit tracks in the yard, so I have some holes or gaps in the perimeter fencing. I need to find/fix those and then trap the little critters before they eat everything to the ground. Our back yard (nearly an acre) is almost completely lined with arborvitaes which gives our yard a lot of privacy. I have 3ft high chicken wire weaved through them. You can't see the fencing, but it does a pretty good job at keeping the rabbits out most of the time. But during the year, between raccoons climbing it, and other critters, rabbits get through. It's a bit of a job finding the gaps because I have to literally crawl in through the arborvitaes. So that's the plan for today. We'll see if I stick to it. :-)
And don't forget.......tomorrow is Valentines Day. Make sure you tell your sweetie you love them!

2 mysteries solved, sort of...

Good morning.
First of all, in answering a comment, from M&C in Palm Springs, (where they reminded me it's in the 70's out there, :-P) do you really think I'd be here at 0 degrees instead of Palm Springs if I had a choice? But there's always that little thing called money. And the cost of taking the time off. (since I don't make money when I don't work)
I know, I take off all that time in the summer, so ya, it's all about choices. But for what it'd cost to go out there for one long weekend, I can take 5 long weekends here. But thanks for thinking of my well being. :-)
Now on to the mysteries.....
Like I said, I replaced the furnace filter, and shortly after that, the temp was where it should be. I went in yesterday morning, cranked it up to 72, and with-in an hour or so, it was at 72. So apparently, the filter was the issue. I even put the old thermostat back on and it still maintained the temp. Now we have had a bitter cold January, so maybe a slightly clogged filter was enough to block the airflow enough, causing it to shut off after a period of time. I'll continue to monitor the temperature and see. :-)
Now the card in the door. Come to find out, even though the address on the card is a P.O. box out in East Lansing, Their physical office is just a half mile or so down the road. I live in Clinton County, (just barely) and just down the road is Ingham County. The road I live on changes as it goes from one county to the next. Where it's called North Grand River Ave. in Ingham County, It's West Grand River Ave. in Clinton County. Sooooo, that means just 1/2 mile or so from my house is nearly the same address as mine, except with north instead of west in it. We had numerous problems with people looking for our house when we first moved in because of the similar addresses. The owner of the business card thought some of his mail was going to the West Grand River address instead of his North Grand River address. Why he was thinking that, I never did get a clear answer, and my address number isn't the same as his. But he didn't know that because our address is on the mail box post, and it's covered with a big snow bank, so he just guessed that I was the one. He is now corrected on that. :-)
Mystery solved. :-)

I'm getting whose mail?

Good morning.
As you can see on the right, we are a crisp 1 out this morning. But if you also look, we are going to have a bit of a warm up.
Ummmm, 38 will feel like spring to us with the bitter cold we've endured so far this winter. :-)
Yesterday I replaced the thermostat at the Salon, and nothing seemed to change. It ran for a while taking it up a few degrees, but wouldn't take it to the temp I set. It finally did get up to 71 by mid afternoon. Someone suggested changing the air filter. It wasn't terrible, but I changed it and within an hour, we were at 73. I can't believe the filter could have had that much effect, but I'll see what happens this morning when I go in and turn it up from the night setting.
I also found a business card stuck in my door when I arrived home. Scribbled on the back was a note asking to call this person. Says his mail was being delivered to our address and he could pick it up. First, his business is no where near us, second, why would he think we were getting his mail, and third, why does he think we'd still have it if we were getting it? Which we haven't. In the past, if we accidentally got someone else's mail, I'd put it back in the box with a note on it.
So after I get to work this morning, I'll call and see what this thing is all about.
And I also finished the latest puzzle....

An early summer garden. I can't wait for my yard to look something like this! Maybe 3 more months. :-\
And now I've got to get ready for work! I need to go in a bit early to clean the floors....again....

all about work

Good morning.
It's currently 10 out, going for a high of 18.
But the long range forecast is calling for 38 by Sunday. If the forecast holds, it will be the first time since early Dec. that we'd get above freezing. :-)
In other news......
We went shopping for a new thermostat for the Salon. When I go in in the morning, I turn it up from our night time setting of 64, to our daytime setting of 72. The furnace comes on, but turns off after it goes up a few degrees. It will stay off for a while, then turn on again. It takes hours for the temp to get to where I set it. So I don't know if it's the roof top unit, or the thermostat, but the thermostat is cheaper to replace. :-) Then we'll go from there.
Fortunately, I can crank on the hood dryers. They bring the temp up pretty quickly.
Back home, I had another lazy day, playing on the puter, and working on the puzzle.
I down loaded the Super Bowl episode of Glee to watch with dinner since I was too tired to stay up after the Super Bowl to watch it. :-)
And dinner was smoked pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy, and broiled asparagus.
And today, it's back to work. The Salon looks pretty busy this week, so the week should go by quickly. :-)
Love the weekends!

lazy me

Good morning.
Another lazy day yesterday.
After I finished cleaning my puter, I spent most of the day playing games and working on the puzzle.
The game I just finished was called Drawn: The Painted Tower. I really enjoy puzzle games and this one had nice graphics also. I also downloaded the next one called Drawn: Dark Flight.

Here's a little preview if your interested.
I may start this one today. :-)
We've also been looking to fill our remaining camping slots. We've narrowed the choices and just need to decided for sure. We seem to have more places we want to go this year than slots to put them in. A nice problem to have. :-)
And for dinner, Craig made a new casserole, Southwestern Turkey Casserole.
It was very good, and very easy to make! And I love casseroles in the winter.
And that's all I got for now!

I got another bug

Good morning.
I'm doing this post from my lap top because my desktop puter got another bad bug and I'm currently cleaning it. :-/ At least it wasn't me that got the bug. :-)
Yesterday, we went to Kohls, and I got a couple of new shirts, and Craig got a couple pairs of pants.
Back home, I downloaded a new game, and a movie. That was when I got hit. It was one of those fake antivirus malware, and it was a bugger to get rid of. But it's gone and now to make sure I got everything, I'm running a series of security software.
I also managed to clean the bathroom, :-) and I started puzzle #4.
For dinner, we had slow cooked cranberry pork roast. It was delicious! We served it with real mashed potatoes and honey ginger carrots.
And we did watch the Super Bowl. It was really a good game, and I was happy to see Green Bay win.

normal, whatever that means :-)

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon.
And my throat is back to normal.
We ended the week very busy, so despite the snow day Wednesday, it was a good week.
And today is Super Bowl day, but we won't watch it. Not even for the commercials. I can see the commercials on-line tomorrow. :-) We like to watch college sports, but not pro sports so much. And don't even start in on the MSU Spartans. Don't want to even discuss them!
Today, it's clothes shopping. :-) Kohls has some good deals and sent me an additional %15 off everything coupon.
And Craig's going to fix a new dish today, Slow Cooker Cranberry Pork. I'll post pics and recipe if it turns out good. :-)

It's good to be alive!

Good morning.
This is a pic of the final clearing of the driveway, once all the snowing and blowing were done. This is about the most snow we have on the ground at any one time here in Lansing.

This was the parking lot at the Salon on the day of all the snow.

The PT Cruiser is mine. There were only 2 businesses that opened that day.

This is what happens when you heat your soup in the microwave a little too hot. :-)

And a pic of me to show I am still alive! :-)

Actually, I'm back to about 95%. The lymph nodes in my neck are nearly back to normal, and with them my sore throat. I'm even back to eating 'normal' food!

That was one nasty bug to have lasted a whole week!
Yesterday was busy in the Salon, and I'm working late today and tomorrow.

Yes, it's good to be alive, when you feel well. :-)

long day, not very profitable

Good morning.
I made it to work yesterday morning. The main roads were pretty good. They even had our parking lot cleared. But no one cleared the side walks. So I had a 3ft drift to get through to get to the door of our Salon. Grabbed the shovel, and cleared a path to the parking lot. I then proceeded to get several calls. One confirming I was there before she came in, and the rest to cancel and reschedule. I ended up doing a 10am , and nothing until my last one at 5 pm. Why is it always the first and last that end up showing up? And, my 5pm appointment was off all day because her work was closed. Didn't she think of calling to see if she could come in earlier? Did she think I wanted to sit around all day just for her?
Oh well. I did manage to do a bunch of cleaning, and took in my laptop and played some games to pass the time. Craig came in around 3pm for just one customer, and one other stylist made it in for just 3. The rest had precanceled their appointments so they could enjoy the day off. I couldn't see taking the day off since I already had 4 days off due to my throat. Which by the way is still sore this morning, though it does seem to be getting ever so slowly better.
I got home, and re cleared the driveway of another 3 or so inches of snow. The wind had finally died down, so it should stay clear for a few days I hope. :-)
And thanks to the 'snow day' yesterday, the rest of the week is going to be busy and long. I'll need to work later than usual on Friday and Saturday, to get all the people in that I couldn't yesterday, or last Saturday when I was home sick.
Well, now it's time to get ready for another work day.

I need a bigger snow thrower

Good morning.
They were right for a change. The National Weather Service that is. We got hit with about 10 inches. and the 30mph winds, and we had some nice 2-3 ft drifts. I can usually clear the driveway in about an hour, but it took me nearly an hour and forty five minutes. I need a bigger snow thrower. :-)


See the fence rails? the bottom one is about 18 inches off the ground, and the top one is about 3ft off the ground. That's a lot of snow for Lansing!
I posted these pics mainly for John and Derek. I know they really miss the midwest. :-)
And now I'm off to work. I've only had 2 cancellations so far and the main roads look pretty good. If I get more cancellations, I've got a bunch of seasonal cleaning to do. Oh, and I still have a sore throat. I think it'll stay that way until the swelling goes down. We'll see. I'm getting real tired of it. :-(

Doctor update

Good afternoon.
Ya, I'm sneaking in a little afternoon post.
Went to the doctor this morning and tested negative for strep, but because of the large area of my neck and jaw affected, decided to play it safe and give me some antibiotics. Filled the prescription, and hope that helps. My throat is about the same right now as it's been the last 2 days.
We also stopped at the salon to get our appointment books. They're calling this storm a whopper!



We are under a blizzard warning from 5pm today, until 7pm tomorrow. Possible 10 inches of snow tonight, with another possible 4 tomorrow. If that wasn't enough, there will be a strong wind that may cause drifts 3-5 ft. They're talking like no one will be able to get out tomorrow. If that's the case, we need to be able to call our appointments. We can check our messages from home to see if they call and cancel also. So far, I have 1 cancellation and so does Craig. 2 of the other stylists are planning to take the day off too.
Craig has been very good at fixing tasty meals that I can get down my throat.
Tonight, it's Swiss steak with mashed potatoes and gravy and steamed broccoli.

I asked him to smile for the camera. Look at the expression? He hates having his pic taken. I tell him my readers like to see people in the pics sometimes. Oh well. :-)

And I managed to get the puzzle done in just 3 days! Of course it was easy when you don't do much of anything else. :-)

Those trees were a bitch to do! :-)

So, the snow has started to come down, and time will tell what the end result will be. They're even saying the snow/wind combo might take out some trees, and thus power lines. Hope not. Although we do have a motor home next to the garage, and it does have a generator. :-)

I'll give an update in the morning, if we have power. :-)

Relapse....down to 65%

Good morning.
Things appear to be going the wrong way. I'm still having mild discomfort swallowing, although my throat doesn't feel very sore. Now the issue seems to be the swollen/discomfort in the throat region that has spread to the lower neck and up my jaw to my ear. I think I have a deeper infection going on. My temp is normal, so I don't know.
Craig thought I should have gone to the doctor a couple of days ago, but from what I read online, sore throats usually clear up on their own in a week. But I haven't found any info on the neck swelling thing, so I'll be going to the urgent care facility when it opens this morning at 9am.
We're under a blizzard warning, but less than an inch of snow has fallen so far, and the big snow is forecast for this evening, so I should be able to make it there and back okay.
Yesterday, I think cleaning the Salon wore me down a bit and didn't do much the rest of the day.
Read a little, played on the puter a little, and worked on the puzzle. Craig was in a strange mood. Me being sick seems to be very unsettling for him.
He did fix a tasty portabella stuffed ravioli with a meaty pasta sauce. I slowly downed it all. So I haven't lost my appetite. :-)
Being sick is sooo damn inconvenient!