The lapse in my free time on the internet has been proportionate to certain goings-on offline, just one of those being the lapse in the garage roof’s ability to stay outside, where it belongs. Want to see a 1964 Plymouth Valiant hold up a roof? Here ya go…

I nearly levitated from the frustration of trying to get the car out before it could be too damaged without risking someone being in the garage. The garage walls are barely standing. The car’s out now, and unscathed. We’re still waiting for the adjuster to look at this mess so we know how to proceed.

I’ll be done being a hermit once this and other stressy stuff is settled down a bit.

Hubby stayed home sick today. He’s been coughing for a few days now. It sounds like he’s finally getting better. If science hadn’t proven this wrong, we might blame the fresh deep freeze our state is in. Another round of nasty winter weather. As I played taxi today for my youngest, I was extra thankful for my new truck tires. The old ones might as well have been skis. Here’s a plug for Discount Tire. Their prices and service are outstanding! I got four decent truck tires and a guarantee in case of things like nail punctures for under $500. Fast service too. The last tires, used when I got the truck, lasted to Virginia and back and beyond. The unexpected drifts across the road tonight had me wondering if these might also last for a drive towards a warmer climate. And then only back to this frozen state for visits. This daydreaming did not get in the way of stirring another batch of soap tonight. I spent too much of today trying to figure out what was wrong with my software that it wouldn’t print out a decent quality graphic for soap labels. Found out it wasn’t the graphic or the software. An alternative printer driver cleared things up. Grr. Tonight’s batch of soap has a fresh, floral smell. Truth be told, there is nothing quite as intoxicating as the real thing, and as I type this, I’m taking in the most beautiful smell of a pink hyacinth that’s on a table by my desk. And… root beer. A 2a.m. root beer was just the ticket to making today, now yesterday, all better. Now that it’s gone and the fire is dwindling, it’s time to bank the coals and grab a couple hours of sleep. All this has been just a note that I have not fallen off the face of the planet.

Yesterday’s blizzard left a crystalline today to the plows. One super nice plow truck driver even stopped to help pull my son’s car out of the driveway drift my husband had gotten it stuck in. Like other Minnesota residents, we’ve just made the best of staying home for the weekend, inside, other than to shovel or turn the cars on for a while. I hate doing the latter, because it means going out at 2 in the morning when the windchill is nearly 30 below, and having to deal with frozen doorhandles.

Gretchen, our skinny kitty, has been manning the weather radio. Whenever its siren goes off, she jumps up angrily and steps on the buttons until it shuts off. Hopefully she’ll be her grumpy, sweet self right after this Tuesday. That’s when all the cats will go in for their yearly shots, and the two girls will spend the day there after getting neutered.

The kids (though one’s an adult and one nearly so, they’ll always be my babies) have been upstairs playing games for part of today. Their laughter is the sweetest sound. In about a month my son will be off to college, and I’ll miss hearing them together.

I’ve spent this time tending the fire, checking the newer batches of soap, exercising, and getting to know the PrestaShop backend and templating. Because of this sensible store software, I may not finish writing my own. What a time-saver that will be!

Speaking of time, how long do you think it will be before the Metrodome’s inflatable roof is fixed? What a silly idea for this climate! And what ever happened to the idea of outdoor sports?

Back to code and coffee. Stay warm!

This is what happens when you say “Bring it!” to winter.

Here’s a peek across our front yard.

And in front of the neighbor’s, at the blotted-out highway.

We’re stocked up on essentials, and staying plenty warm. Spring already can’t come soon enough.

My husband has called twice from Hwy 71 so far. Last time, he was in a line of cars that had been stopped by the Sheriff, presumably because of an accident. Or, accidents. Cars are in the ditches on each side, facing this way and that. Visibility… isn’t. If hubby can at least get a couple of more miles he can stay at his employer’s Olivia building until tomorrow. With the wind whipping against the house and the drifts steadily growing, I’m tensely waiting to hear from him again.

If you’re in southwest Minnesota and you don’t have an emergency, don’t drive. Stay home. They’re closing the highways anyway.

At three this morning I said to him “Don’t even try getting out of the driveway, because you’ll for sure get stuck in the road. Call in to work and wait for the plow, because I’m not pulling your car out of a snowbank.” At four this morning he was very quietly coming back inside, leaving his car in a snowbank in the road, to wait for daylight. We chained his car to my truck to pull it out a bit ago. Now he’s driving in the mid twenties below zero windchill, whiteout conditions, an hour away to get a couple of tasks done at work. *sigh* Schools are closed. The kids are having fun playing video games, and the wood stove is getting its winter workout.