Would You Look At That?

The sun shown a few times today even though it started getting colder.  I was glad that it

was colder because that meant the clouds went away even if it was only partly sunny.  I feel as if the sun is inside me when it shines  This evening it started to snow.  I didn't know it was supposed to but my electrician friend, TD, stopped by to replace the dimmer switch in the dinette because it had been flickering every once in a while and yesterday it turned off.  That's not a good sign.  I called him this afternoon and he stopped on his way home from work to put in a new switch.  Seems that the old switches only like incandescent lights (the old light bulbs) not the CFLs or LEDs.  Who knew?  He said we were supposed to get 7-9 inches of snow but I just checked the local weather and we're only supposed to get 1-3".  Much easier to deal with.

The colder temps and the salt I scattered on the driveway worked together to make yesterday's icy coating go away so I could safely leave today.  Except that when I tried to back out of the garage the snow that collects behind the tires in the wheel wells and then falls out when it warms up had fallen on the garage floor and then refroze so my right front tire was sort of frozen to the garage floor and then it didn't want to drive over the heap of yukky black snow behind it.  I finally prevailed and got myself to the Y for a round of weight machines with a little treadmill chaser.

I went to Meijer on my way home for a couple items I needed to make tonight's Asian Turkey Meatballs.  I cut it out of the Sunday Parade magazine in the newspaper and ran it through the WW recipe create function.  Such an easy recipe and so delicious.  You mix lots of ginger, garlic, cilantro, and sesame oil into ground turkey with an egg and some bread crumbs, scoop it out into meatballs and bake them for 20 minutes.  The recipe recommends drizzling sweet Thai chili sauce over them and sprinkling on toasted sesame seeds.  Yuuuuum.  Three meatballs is 1 point, a Tablespoon of chili sauce is 1 point, and the sprinkle of sesame seeds is 0 points.  I meant to make rice but needed to eat because TD was on his way so I just made some fake potatoes.  That was a good supper.  I'll get some bok choy to saute to have on the side next time.

I cast on the February Seaman's Cowl tonight.  I realized that I was just sitting there with my hands in my lap when I could have been knitting and purling around and around.


5 February--Tropical Obsession. 

Red orange walls flashed past as the truck sped through the sleepy village. "Stop," Edward said, "stop. That was a bar. I need a drink." But Louise didn't stop. She gave no sign that she even heard Edward's plea. "Louie," he whined, "I'm parched beyond reason. You kidnap me at the crack of dawn and drive me around this God-forsaken island covered with cactus that looks like it has been radiated, stark white rocks like moon rocks, and wild donkeys that..." His rant was cut short by Louise stamping on the brakes of the rental pickup to avoid running into one of the wild donkeys that had ambled out of a thicket onto the narrow road in front of them. Edward caught himself just before his head slammed into the windshield. "Maybe I should drive."

I don't remember who Edward and Louise are but I like them.  Tomorrow I meet ACJ to write for a couple afternoon hours.  I have hopes of getting the rest of the way through The Seaview so that I can make the few changes, additions, and adjustments before the April Writer's Institute in Madison.  Part of me wishes that I hadn't signed up (and paid for) that weekend.  It's much easier to stay at home and not risk having someone in publishing look at my work.  That's why one of my MyIntent.org bracelets says "bravery."  I need to remind myself to be brave.  I used to say that I needed to be brave so that my children would grow up brave but now I need to be brave for myself.
--Barbara