Get Out Of Here, Winter Storm Juno!!!

       
      Anybody want some snow?!...Come and get it!...PLEASE!!! ^_^ No worries, Y'all. I'm not gonna start this post complaining about the blizzard conditions of winter storm Juno! In fact, I've hardly noticed the fact that we're in the middle of a snow storm! LOL
      

      Oh yes, I've seen the wind whipping around, and across, the backyard most of the day...with a few hours in between of stillness.
 

      And I've seen the occasional 'critter' trying to get out and do a little prowling. ^_^ See the footprints?!...
 

      I think this was the neighborhood cat. :-) He likes to prowl across my patio area, and in and out of the woods.
 

      There was also an occasional bird flying by...very low. Struggling with the wind.
 

      And an occasional human! ^_^ But not 'us' humans!! LOL Hubby and I aren't the least bit interested in strolling around in wet...cold...white stuff!! ^_^

      We've been just enjoying our time together, watching tennis...playing Scrabble...doing laundry...crocheting (that would be me, not hubby!^_^) and eating! :-) In fact, part of what we were eating was a delicious bean salad that a new neighbor of ours walked over to us during the lull of the snow storm! :-)
      It just so happens that our new neighbor is a member of our congregation. (Jehovah's Witnesses) Her and her husband recently moved into our area! :-) How nice to have them so close by...within walking distance during a storm! We can support each other through it, if need be...But so far, we're just winter storm Juno eating and sharing buddies! ^_^
      

      As I said in the beginning of the post though, we've hardly noticed that we're in the middle of a snow storm! :-) If it wasn't for the snow piling up, we would think this was just a vacation in Florida!! LOL

      Okay...maybe a reference to storm Juno feeling like Florida is going a bit too far!! ^_^ 
 

       But it has been a really good day!...I've eaten Cheetos and bean salad until I'm about to pop! And I've beaten hubby...BADLY!...in a mean game of Scrabble! ^_^ In fact, so badly that I'm not sure he'll ever play with me again!! LOL...*slapping my own hand*...Bad Wug!!...I giggled my way through the Scrabble game. I couldn't help it. ^_^ Hubby was so funny trying to make up big words...only to have me come right behind him and get more points with my little words!! LOL If I get him to play with me again...which isn't at all certain at this point!...I'll explain to him more vehemently the whole double and triple letter scoring thing...instead of just taking advantage of a snowed-in victim!! Ha! Ha!

      By the end of our game I think he was wishing that he had chosen to brave the storm!!...Maybe sledding would have been nice! ^_^
 

      At the moment, while the snow is swirling again outside, we're sipping on green tea and watching a fabulous tennis match between Venus Williams and Madison Keys! They have a set a piece, and we're heading into the third! :-) The snowfall from the storm is suppose to be all over by 10 p.m. Tomorrow it'll be all about digging out!...We'll cross that bridge when we come to it! For now....GO Venus and Madison!!! ^_^ And YOU all have a good rest of the day too! ♥

Snow TRAPPED!

TRAPPED! Another snow storm!
Will this "STUFF" never end?!
We've be wolloped, punched, and socked,
and now?! Another one on the chin!

'Adding insult to the injury',
there will be an inch of ice!
I guess winter thought we needed
just a little 'SCARY' spice!

Do I sound bitter? Sick of it?
About to lose my snowed-in mind?!
Well, that would be correct!
That is, the brain cells I can find!

TRAPPED! Sick of snow,
and it's icicles everywhere!
Good thing I have crochet!
It will replace my pulled out hair!

'White Stuff'...And Reality...Always Here!

      Yes...that is snow!...alias, 'the white stuff'! O_O It started falling again yesterday afternoon, and it kept on falling all evening!...In fact, "let me look again", yep! It's falling still this morning!...
 

     In fact, just standing in the backyard, and looking upward, you get a face full of the 'white stuff'...in big flake-fuls!!...
 

      I know, I know!...I complain entirely too much about it!...especially considering that I really don't 'hate' it 'that' much. I mean, it has its good points...like, for instance, how pretty it looks on top of the flowers, plants, and trees after it lands on them in the backyard. :-]
 

      It truly makes for calmness...outside, and in my mind. :-) Both of which I'm thankful for these days...
 

      It's been an emotionally tough couple of days...but I'm starting to recover a bit. I know I am because I find myself wanting to take care of mundane day-to-day things again, like balancing the checkbook, making a grocery list, and updating a few things in my Wuglyees Etsy shop.
      Other than eating, sleeping, and watching tennis, I haven't wanted to do anything the last two days or so.....Thus, I think I'm coming around. :-]
 

      Is the world gonna stop because I don't feel like playing?!...or because one of my best friends died?!....No! So I just have to find something to smile about...like a peacefully calm snow-covered backyard...and get on with it! :-]
 

      Other good things include the fact that it's 'pancake Sunday'!...even if I'm not eating pancakes this morning, that's a good thing. :-) It made me wanna eat something comforting. So I did!! :-) Hubby made me fried chicken and grits for breakfast!...And yes, I've already eaten it!! LOL
      I woke up hungry this morning...surprisingly!...and hubby was 'all over it'!! He made me a smile-able meal, with green tea, honey, and lemon following it! :-) And....uhhhh...a honey-dipped, warm donut too!! ^_^ Sooooooooooo GOOD!!
      Tennis News?!...Congrats to Li Na, Flavia Pennetta, Eugenie Bouchard, Novak Djokovic, and Stan Wawrinka in their Australian Open wins yesterday...And especially to Ana Ivanovic, for taking out Serena Williams!! WOW! What a surprise that was!!...and a really enjoyable match to watch!
      Okay...I have a meeting today...and some other mundane things to get back to as well. Life!...it's always right there to smack you back into reality, isn't it?! :-] Well, reality...here I come!! ^_^ Have a good day, Everybody!

Benches

Wooden, with an indent.
Sturdy, aged by the sun.
A place to rest when you are tired.
A stop when you are on the run.

A slatted back, for resting shoulders,
and cemented to the ground.
A wrought-iron rusted swirly arm-rest,
and a place to put bags down.

A place for you to catch a bus,
or to feed a hungry squirrel.
Where good friends can stop and chat
about the big news of the world.

Alone and beaten by the weather,
chipping paint, long past brand new.
Almost like some people we know,
who are inconspicuous too.

So reliably unnoticed,
all the benches that we pass.
Sitting there, just waiting for us,
if we too run out of gas.

The Calm Before The........'White Stuff'!!

      I can officially say: "The black custom crochet mittens...are done!" :-) And if the post office was open today...which it's not, because of the holiday...I'd be running to get them shipped off to their owner before the boat-load of 'white stuff' hits! O_O
      Yep!...There's a snow storm heading straight for us!! O_O They say we're bound to get somewhere between five and twelve inches!...So, I guess yesterday's calm in the backyard was the pre-requisite for tonight's storm!...You know, the proverbial 'calm before the storm'!

      It was really cold all day...and eerily quiet. Even the birds seemed to have disappeared...probably somewhere shopping for grocery supplies to hold them over through the storm! LOL...I'm joking around, but seriously...the animals 'do' give us a clue when things are going on!! And their absence from the backyard, after day-after-day of frolicking and playing, eating, and just generally 'hanging around' near the bird feeder should've been a clue to me that "A Storm Is Coming! A Storm Is Coming!!" O_O
      Certainly that beautiful sunset yesterday didn't give me a clue that anything was wrong!!...

      Of course, my not being as aware of anything coming might've been due to my singular focus on a certain pair of black crochet mittens! :-) ...
 

 (Mittens by Wuglyees)

      Or should I say "two pair" of black crochet mittens! :-) ... Yes!...I made two pair! :-) I have to leave a pair in the shop, don't I?!! ^_^

      This morning I'm working on a certain floral 'free gift' for my customer. :-) Guess what it is, if you dare! ^_^  And no, it's not bigger than a bread box! LOL...I'm gonna have it ready to ship with the mittens first thing in the morning, when the post office opens, though!...
 

      Later today I'll be listening to some 'public talks' I have on DVD...All the while waiting to taste all of hubby's experimental kitchen 'concoctions' that he's all excited about having time to delve into...'Concoctions' is what I call the recipes now...'kitchen concoctions'. ^_^ I call them that because...no matter whether they turn out delicious or detestable, they are always uniquely his concoctions!! ^_^
      I hope that whatever you 'concoct' today turns out as well...or that you have patient and loving 'samplers'. ^_^ Have a good day, Everybody! ♥

Butterfly-ish

I'm feeling butterfly-ish.
Wanna flutter...move real slow.
Wanna wander...mind and body.
Not be fast, and 'on the go'.

I'm feeling like I need
a quiet day to hang around.
Have everything wrapped up,
and just block out surrounding sound.

I'm feeling butterfly-ish.
Wanna lay in bed till noon.
Wanna have some time to morph.
Need a tree and a cocoon.

Tomorrow they'll be time
to change and modify.
To spread my wings, add color,
like a brand new butterfly.