Nothing at all like January

This is just such a strange winter. It gets a little cold, now and then, there's a little snow, but it doesn't last. Yesterday's high was maybe 40, so fairly brisk, but today it's predicted to be 50 -- and it's already 54 -- and I barely needed my sweater for our Starbucks run. And it's January 18th. I should look back at old blog posts and see what the weather was like, other years.

1/19/25: the post title is "Deep freeze" -- 'nuff said. Very cold and snowy.

1/14/24: the photos are of snow, I mention that the predicted high that day was supposed to be 11 and the next day's predicted high is 6. 

1/22/23: the photos are of heavy snow and reference is made to Rocket Boy still being home because I-70 was closed at the Colorado-Kansas border due to heavy snow.

I could go on, but you get the point. 

At least it's snowy in Minnesota. I read an article in the NY Times that said the weather was really working in the protesters' favor because they know how to deal with snow and ICE mostly doesn't, mostly kids from the south who have never experienced weather like this before. The protesters were pouring buckets of water on roads and walkways where ICE goes, so it would freeze and they would slip. The protesters have Yaktrax like I do, so they can handle it.

I can't really deal with the news right now. I read a little and then I put it away (close the webpage, set down the physical paper). 

Of course, having a mild winter is certainly easier than having a cold, snowy winter. It just feels wrong (and I can't help thinking about the lack of water, how the trees are stressed, what will this do to our water supply, etc., etc.). But life is easier when you don't have to shovel, or worry about lower-case ice. I can wear my sneakers instead of my hiking boots, and there's absolutely no need for Yaktrax most of the time.

The lack of snow and ice makes it easier to go do things, like the art museum last weekend. It also makes Rocket Boy's commute easier. This past week I went to a concert by myself on Tuesday night, something I might not have done had it been icy. The concert was one of the free Faculty Tuesday concerts. The title was, "You're Playing WHAT? With WHOM? An Evening of Unusual Ensembles." The faculty member who organized it was someone who teaches "collaborative piano," so that was appropriate. My favorite pieces were two that she played with someone on vibraphone, and another with a string quintet plus trumpet!

I might go again this week, depends how I feel on Tuesday. I'm getting my first shingles shot today, so I don't know how long the effects last.

Teen A, who is endlessly surprising, surprised us this weekend by going to the cabin Friday night (another thing you can't really do when the weather's bad). He didn't actually tell us he was going, but two things clued us in. First, when I said I was going to the grocery store, he asked me if I would buy him a big box of granola bars. He always asks for granola bars when he's going hiking or into the mountains for any reason. Then, after dinner that evening, he asked Rocket Boy to show him the key to the cabin, and then he left (apparently with the key) and didn't come home that night (not unusual). The next morning, out of curiosity, RB texted him and asked if he'd actually gone to the cabin. He texted back, "I was there but now I'm not." He came home around noon, refused to answer most questions. He did say there was very little snow up there.

I keep saying: two more months until they're 18. Two more months until this is not my problem. Of course, he's driving a car that's in my name, so it still will be my problem, but less so. Last week I got a speeding ticket in the mail -- the kind that's generated by a red-light camera -- and whose face do you think was on the ticket? Not mine, that's for sure. I scolded him, then paid it out of his Social Security money. At least it said there were no points associated with it. 

Cooking has been going pretty well since we finished up the Christmas ham, two weeks ago now. This week I made Tomato Lentil Soup on Monday and we had the leftovers on Tuesday (since I was going to the concert). I made Couscous with Vegetables and Almonds on Wednesday, a baked pasta dish on Thursday, and bean and cheese quesadillas on Friday. So, pretty easy dishes, but a good variety, and I had something for us to eat every day. Last night we ate out at the Southern Sun, and tonight, instead of our usual foraging, Rocket Boy is fixing salmon (and probably rice and vegetables). Maybe there will be enough for leftovers on Monday (in case I don't feel good, from the shot).

I keep thinking about what it will be like next year -- and beyond -- when the boys are in college or working, or whatever they end up doing after high school. Right now the plan is for Teen A to commute to Metro State and live at home, and for Teen B to live in a dorm (wherever he ends up going). If Rocket Boy is still working at that point, I'll still be cooking, but maybe a little less often, maybe we'll have leftovers for dinner a few nights a week. If he's not working, we'll trade off on cooking, alternating nights. That sounds good to me. I like to say that when the boys are off on their own, I'll never cook again, but that's probably not true. It's not so bad to cook a little.

***

OK, I'm back from the pharmacy! The shingles shot was painful! It kind of went on for a while. But I'm so glad I got it. And now I have to go back for another one in 2-6 months. I put it on the calendar for April 19th, that's 3 months from now.

While I sat and waited for my vaccine, a strange man sitting near me started talking to me. He might have been homeless, I'm not sure. He was eating something, maybe a yogurt. Anyway, he started out saying, "What are you getting a shot for, don't you trust your immune system?" I explained that it was the shingles shot and you don't want to get shingles. In fact, he was right, shingles is mainly due to a weakened immune system. But I have diabetes, so I don't trust my immune system. "Shingles!" he said. "My grandpa had that, almost died of it." I said yes, my father had it, it's nasty. Then we proceeded to discuss shingles, with me giving not always accurate information (I looked it up later). He told me that if he got it, he would just drink a gallon of whiskey and smoke a lot of weed. I agreed that sounded like a reasonable treatment.

Then he said, "You know, you could walk out of your house tomorrow and fall down dead." I agreed that was true. "And then what's it all for?" he asked. I agreed again. "Where do you think you'll go?" he asked. "Heaven or Hell?" I said, well, I didn't really believe in either, so I would just wait and see what happens. "God bless you," he said to me, and for a moment I wondered if he were an angel or something like that. 

Then he asked me what I was there for again. I said the shingles vaccine. "Shingles! What's that?" So we went over it again, with me giving more (but different) incorrect information. It obviously didn't matter, since he wasn't going to remember.

Fortunately then they called me in for my shot.

***

So, the week ahead. Tomorrow is MLK Day, so the kids will be home, but I think Rocket Boy is going to go to work. He gets to take 2 out of every 3 holidays, something like that, and so he might skip this one since the weather's not bad and he's not sick, etc., etc. And the rest of the week, not much is going on, no appointments that I know of (although RB usually has some that he doesn't tell me about). I might go to Tuesday's concert if I feel up to it. It's David Korevaar playing the piano, which should be really nice.

Last week went well, in terms of my new schedule and my resolutions and all that. The previous week I didn't manage to do any of my scheduled Thursday things, but this week Thursday went well. It was Wednesday that was impossible. So that will be OK, if one or two days each week don't work out, as long as it isn't always the same days (because then certain things would never get cleaned). I did the shopping on Monday, cleaned the bathroom on Tuesday, flaked out on Wednesday, vacuumed and did genealogy on Thursday, and mopped the bathroom floor on Friday (first time in eons). So it was a productive week.

And this week I will just do my best. It's January, even if it doesn't feel like it, no need to push yourself beyond what feels good. Bears are hibernating (maybe). I can do some low-key hibernating too.