Sunday, December 27, 2009

It's been a while...

Well, I haven't posted in eons... I've shoveled so much snow in the last few weeks that I can't believe it. I wish I knew exactly how many times my weight I've moved - I feel like an ant. It's amazing how much I can accomplish (225 - 250 feet of sidewalk, a large driveway, three thresholds to the street and the sidewalk to our porch) without needing a break. I have definitely outdone my past self - but I already know what diet can do.

Speaking of which, it's been a crazy few days of cooking for the family. I've made numerous healthier veganized versions of holiday food. Mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, green bean casserole, wild & germinated brown rice pilaf. Rich food none the less compared to what I'm used to - will be nice to go back to a lighter diet again, but very enjoyable to share.

I haven't posted in so long due to work being crazy, and then the business taking up the majority of my remaining time, with a little breathing room. Nothing has been done and I'm going nuts because of it. We have a (small) New Year's Eve party this year in the new house, and its a huge mess with only a few days to go. I hope spring comes soon - the lack of sunlight is awful, yet then there will be more yard work to contend with. An exciting year to come for the business - I think that will be this year's "wild card".

And with that, I think I've covered a decent amount of what's been happening lately.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Long December

I feel like this work week was spent just surviving. We got our first snow Sunday night, so I spent a half hour shoveling the driveway before leaving for the commuter bus at 7:15. It's nice not to have to drive 45 minutes each way, but I'm away from home for 12 hours for a 8 hour work day (with 30 minutes for lunch).

Thankfully I was able to schedule 2 hours of PTO on Wednesday to come in late because I knew we were getting a huge storm Tuesday night. We had about 10-12 inches of heavy packing snow that would have been great for playing in if I didn't have to shovel and go to work. That day it was about 1 1/2 hours of shoveling before I could get out of the driveway. The commuter bus cancelled service because of the weather. Thankfully Milwaukee hardly got anything, and since I didn't have to leave until about 9:30 the roads were very nicely cleared and I made it in under an hour. Chris was able to work from home, and he spent about 3 hours shoveling our never-ending sidewalk. And I spent another half hour or 45 minutes clearing the areas of the driveway that were covered again from the drifts so I could get the car off the road. Clearing away the 4 feet of icey crap the snow plows into the driveway seems never ending. The entrance to the driveway is still just wide enough to get a car through and with 5 foot walls on either side. Like a parting of the White Sea.

We were so thankful to make it to Friday night, that we just sat around and didn't do much. Yesterday was productive though. We finished making and finally took mulling spices and holiday wassail to Nature's Garden to sell. Customers have been asking for them since our herbal tea class last week. From Allenton, we drove to Madison to Discount Tire to have the winter tires Chris had reserved put on his car. They make a world of difference. And not just in snow, winter tires work better below 45 degrees than all seasons. Unfortunately we have 3 sets of rims for 2 cars, so when I get mine, I'll either have to pay to unmount and mount summer tires on the same rims, or get another set of rims before Spring. We're getting new tires on my car in the next week. Yay.