Snow!!

I've got lots of pics of Em, as evidenced in the posts below, but I never took pictures of all the snow we've had. Storms started last week on Thursday the 11th with ice. Luckily we lost power for only about two hours in the middle of the night Thursday into Friday. Tens of thousands of people in the Greater Capital District were without power, some of them for six days!

This week we had snow on Wednesday, but Ron and I were able to get to his doc appointment in the afternoon. Thursday was clear, and Ember and I went to Colonie Center.

Friday morning I had my annual physical with my doctor up in Niskayuna, about an hour's drive from here, and I took Ron's truck because snow was predicted to start falling mid-morning. As it turned out, I got all my errands done after the doc appointment and was 2/3 of the way home when it started to snow. It snowed all day and half the night, dropping 10 to 12 inches in our backyard.

And for tomorrow, Sunday the 21st, another 8 to 12 inches of snow is being predicted, starting early Sunday morning.

Em was supposed to visit last Thursday into Friday, December 11 to 12, but because of the predicted ice storm starting Thursday morning, Michele and I met halfway between our two homes Wednesday evening and Em hopped out of mommy's car and into Grandma Marla's. She was sooooo excited! As Michele opened her car door, I could hear Em yelling, "Get me out of my car seat. I have to go home with Grandma Marla right now!"

Em's never spent two nights and two days. She was fine, taking naps and going to bed as usual with no problem and playing and having fun, but when she woke up Friday morning, she was a bit weepy and clingy and later on, when she woke up from her nap, she asked, "Is my mommy and daddy here?" We had a good time with her visit. She's old enough now -- 2 years and 9 months -- that she is trustworthy enough to be allowed to wander most of the house by herself. I can easily do dishes, make supper or do laundry and feel confident she's not getting into anything.

She even went potty down here with no hassle. Life is so much easier when all that stuff goes into one place: the toilet!

Ron and I took Em home in Ron's truck late Friday afternoon because the roads still weren't very good. I felt Em was safer in the 4-wheel drive vehicle.

So as usual, the past week has been busy. I am all done shopping and have just two more things to wrap, one of which is a roll of quarters for Tony's stocking. He goes to a laundromat to do his laundry.

I was supposed to see Cara today, but the road were too bad for me to want to drive the 37 miles to her house and then drive to Latham for the movie. Ron offered me his truck again or offered to drive me up, pick up Cara, take us to the movies and wait for us, but I declined both offers.

Weather: Well, it's been snowy!!

Exericise: Very little.

Gas prices: They've settledin at about $1.82 a gallon at the lower stations, a price I can easily live with.

Life lessons: The simplest thing in life can be the most rewarding. I will never forget Em's face or her words when she saw me in the parking lot of Stewart's waiting to bring her here to Greenville. She was grinning from ear to ear and wound her legs and arms around me just as a money would.