That's Just Wrong...

I was late to morning bus duty today.  Not by a little, mind you.  By a lot.  Morning bus duty for those of use entrusted with the care and monitoring of the 7th graders is a three person job.  Without me, the remaining staff were a man down.  This was not good.  My fellow kid-wranglers were understanding, but still...

Worse, I have no good excuse whatsoever.  It all boiled down to a gross misunderstanding of the forward movement of time and the belief that morning time is somehow more forgiving than time during the rest of the day.  I also may have forgotten that, when I gassed up the car the other morning, I only put in enough for a couple of days.  You know how it is...just tiding the tank over until payday.  Stopping for gas this morning was necessary, but did not help with my timely arrival for morning bus duty.

I should be punished for this.  The universe should heap vast amounts of badness upon me.  There should be a plague of locusts zeroing in on my location right at this very moment.  A festering boil should be forming directly upon my backside.  Every size 1 dpn I own should snap simultaneously and without my even touching them.  

But it didn't work out that way.  Instead, I had a bit of luck.  Most undeserved luck.  I should feel badly.  I should probably call The Powers That Be and ask that they correct the oversight.  

I am not going to.  Sometimes you just have to sneak off into the dark of night cackling over your good fortune and try to not attract attention.

As one of my students went down to the library to retrieve something from the printer, I jokingly called out to him that he should pick up a book for me.  I was rather specific about that which I sought.  He's a reader and knows the library well.  Since he'd returned my last finished book for me, I figured he wouldn't mind perusing the stacks to help out his favorite teacher.  But, alas, he did not hear me.

Continuing in my jocular manner, I followed him to the library to continue begging him to get my book.  He continued to exhibit Teenaged Deafness Syndrome.  He later said that he hadn't heard a single word I'd said.  That was OK.  I had a couple other kids heading for the library and they were the types who needed supervision.  I had to be there anyway.

As I stood by the desk waiting for the kids to finish, I saw it.  It was The Book.  The one I'd been waiting for.  The one that eight million of the kids are also looking for.  It was right there on display and waiting for the next young reader to enjoy.  I stopped breathing for just a moment and began calculating just how much bad karma I might incur should I check out the book.  

On the negative side, I have already started reading one library book and don't want to start another.  It would be wrong to take advantage of the Teachers Can Take As Many Books As They Want And Keep Them For As Long As They Want clause.  This book should be made available to the children.  They are our future.  We must honor them.  Some of them will probably end up working in that Elder Care Facility for which I am destined.

Then there was the matter of that missed bus duty.  I had clearly not earned the right to take out a book for an indeterminate period of time, especially not one that is in pretty high demand.  

Grasping at straws and, I must admit, now holding the book, I remembered that I'd agreed to rip back that mitten yesterday.  It was supposed to be a gift and I knew that I needed to fix it before popping it into a box.  I am not normally one for ripping back and this represented a great sacrifice on my part.  Who but a person of great virtue would do such a thing?  

Clearly I deserved this book.  What else could I do?  If the universe saw fit to drop the very thing for which I had waited so long into my lap, then it would be rude to not accept it.  

I handed the book to the parent volunteer manning the desk and checked it out.  For the record, she confirmed that I was more than welcome to take it.  She even enabled me just a little bit when I waffled for a second there.  

So now I have denied some poor child the chance to read Eclipse and have probably spat right in the face of Karma.  Karma was probably on a lunch break and didn't see me sneaking the book out of the library.  Karma will figure it out, though.  Karma always does.

Now that I think of it, that may explain all that weirdness with the yarn today when I was knitting the second pair of mittens.  Why else would the non-working yarn keep sneaking out to the front and getting stuck in the stitches?  That isn't the sort of thing that just happens normally.  It could very well be that Karma is already back on track and making with the smiting...

I don't care.  We are looking at two more storms in the next few days.  I need to know that I have enough reading material to survive what might amount to enforced confinement.  You can only knit mittens for so long before you need a diversion, after all.  

Don't tell Karma about that.  All these mittens were supposed to be Christmas gifts.  Karma doesn't like it when you read ill-gotten bookish gains while avoiding the holiday knitting...

SA

WNBP On The Rocks

If ever there was a person sick of all things icy, it is I.  Yet another winter "event" rolled into Maine today.  While it wasn't nearly as bad as last week's gift from the heavens, it has rendered me highly unappreciative of the season.  And it is only December.  I still have months and months of this winter business through which to slog.

Happily, it is Wednesday night.  I am home where the ice can't get me and it is time for the Wednesday Night Bullet Post!  Let's see what we have on ice for you tonight:

*The drive to work this morning was, in a word, "unpleasant."

*We did not have a delayed start to the school day.  I'd sort of thought we might...

*Hence, I was a little unprepared this morning.  

*Hence, I was not as prompt leaving the house as I should have been.

*Hence, I was late to school because I had to drive really, really slowly.  

*I also forgot to clean the litter box before I left and both kitties were looking daggers at me when I got home.

*Good news.  The new car is like a tank in the snow.  It clings to the road like it has suction cups.  This was the thinking behind going with the car that had the higher price tag.  Go me.  I finally did something right in the vehicular judgement department...

*When I left school for the day, I discovered said car to be completely encased in ice.  Chipping was involved.

*This thing also has a wicked good defroster.  But I still didn't get the top half of the windshield cleared before I gave up and just left.

*I figured that, unless there was some sort of aerial attack, I'd be OK.

*A decision has been reached regarding the Too-Short-Mitten.  If it was for me, I'd just learn to live with a certain amount of asymmetry in my mittens.

*But, as I'd hoped to add these to the Christmas Pile, I guess I should rip them back and reknit the top.  Symmetry is good when gifting.  

*I'll do it over the weekend.  I don't feel like it right now.  

*I'm all tuckered out from ice chipping.

*I finished Ptolemy's Gate last night.  It is the third and final installment in the series.

*Sometimes, even when you know the author has done the right thing and that he could not have ended it any other way, you still feel sad.  

*You want to read it again to see if maybe things will turn out differently.  Maybe people will make better choices.  Maybe someone will see the light in time to make a difference.  

*It's a library book, though.  I should really return it so that someone else can enjoy it.  Fabulous trilogy, people.  Fabulous!!!

And there you have it:  Wednesday in review and served on the rocks.  I should probably get going.  There is much to do if I am going to be ready to head out the door on time tomorrow.  I have morning bus duty and late isn't going to cut the mustard again.  Especially since there isn't going to be a storm or anything upon which to blame my tardiness.  Frankly, I will be glad for the break in the winter weather.  If I have to look at another bit of frozen whatnot falling from the sky, I may go utterly mad with it all.

We are ignoring the fact that at least two more storms loom on the meteorological horizon.  We are ignoring it with great determination.  There is squinting and hand-clenching involved for maximum concentration power.

Ice is not nice.

SA

Eek!

I guess I'm just a nervous nellie.  I get all skittish when I think about that which may come to pass.  For example, as I was readying myself for school today got to thinking about how I have been out of the classroom for days and days.  Thursday: Sent home early.  Friday: Told to stay home due to massive icing.  Weekend:  Well, staying home is just what we do.  Monday:  Still home due to rampant power outages.  It's been a while.

And there are two types of people in a school:  Those who are there by choice and those who aren't.  The ones who aren't are herded onto buses and forcibly marched into classrooms.  They outnumber us.  By a whole lot.  They were not going to be happy about having to come back.  And I somehow needed to appease them while slipping a bit of education in there.  

Let us not even discuss the fact that the holiday break is rapidly approaching and that most of the kids haven't gotten around to understanding that this is not our last week before that happy time.  We have two days to go next week.  They are going to find out soon, though.  And then...well it doesn't bear discussing.

I quickly began reviewing and revising my day's lesson plan.  I didn't want to do anything to startle They Who Outnumber Us.  I wanted them nice and calm.  I wanted to avoid any unpleasantness.  I wanted to live to teach another day.  Things were tweaked.  Adjustments were made.  They were going to need to be eased back into this...

Basically, I chickened out.  I do that sometimes.  I worry.

The same thing happened with those mittens I was knitting.  As I watched the second of the pair progress and the skein of yarn dwindle, I got nervous.  Deep down, I knew that I had enough yarn.  It was going to be close, but I knew it was going to be OK.  

Then I got to thinking about how math and knitting don't always have a working relationship and that my yarn calculations could easily be off.  I got all nervous.  In fact, I morphed into a veritable Victorian lady and practically hyperventilated myself into the vapors.  Which is a problem since I don't own a fainting couch and it is my understanding that swooning Victorian ladies need that particular piece of furniture if they are going to proceed with their planned passing out gracefully.

Instead, I chickened out.  I knit the mitten a bit shorter than I knew I should.  I just hoped that the whole thing would work out.  Now I have a short mitten. Nothing wrong with that.  Some people (like me) need a shorter mitten.  What is a problem, however, is the fact that its mate is not quite so diminutive.  

Now, thanks to my utter lack of courage, I must make a decision.  I will have to either rip back mitten #2 and use the ample leftover yarn to knit it up to par or soak it and stretch it until it begs for mercy.  Neither choice is very appealing to me.  In fact, the options are so unappealing to me that I have tossed both mittens into the time-out basket and started another pair.  

This is why I don't have a mitten picture for you today.  I need to think on this.  The fact that I am a-skairt of my own knitting is just shameful, really.  The fact that I avoid it due to my squeamishness is beyond embarrassing.

While I deal with this mitten quandary and try to find a way to face my fears, I suppose I should show something.  Why don't you all enjoy a picture of the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty that I took last month but for which I could find no use:

The only thing he is scared of is an empty food bowl...

Last I heard, another storm was moving in tonight.  Who knows?  I may get a little more time to deal with the mitten issues.  There was a great deal of talk about a delayed start to the school day tomorrow if the roads are bad enough.  I don't think this one is going to lead to a full day off, but you never know.

Wait...that would mean They Who Outnumber Us would have another day off.  We only just got them back into the routine!  This is a tenuous thing!  They could turn at any moment!!!

I'll just be cowering under the bed if you need me.  Don't tell the mittens.  Or my students...

SA

Giving Thought...

I was rather surprised last night when my school district's auto-dial program called me (three times...) to inform me that school would be closed today.  It seems that power outages were still something of an issue in that area of the county and the superintendent made the decision to just stop trying to make electricity flow through the sheer power of hopeful thinking.

It was for the best, really.  Even with a three day weekend, I still had a whole bunch of stuff to do around here.  Between Friday's Ice Storm Survival Issues and all the preparations for yesterday's early Christmas festivities, I'd done little to keep hearth and home even remotely clean.  The extra day was like an early Christmas present.  I finally got gas in the car, emptied the dishwasher and vacuumed two or three layers of cat hair from the carpets.  And don't even ask how long it took to get all those dirty dishes in the sink taken care of!

In spite of all these pressing tasks, I was still able to spend much of the day settled on the sofa and finishing up The Mitten That Is Destined To Be Markedly Smaller Than Its Mate And Over Which I Have Stopped Obsessing.  Snuggled beside me was the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty.  He slept deeply, very deeply indeed.

Sometimes, though, he'd start chasing mousies in his sleep and then his belly would jiggle.  That amused me to no end.

This sort of thing is new.  When the AGK first arrived here, he was affectionate in his way.  He'd trill and chirp then stand up on his hind legs for head pats.  He'd let me rub his nose and purr happily.  Sometimes, he'd just sit in the recliner with his chin resting on the arm and look at me for hours.  I knew that he liked me.  He just wasn't much of a lap cat.

That's just the way it is with rescued animals.  They are who they are and we bring them into our lives knowing that they may not be the Christmas Card Kitty we'd imagined.  But sometimes they do suddenly start snuggling up with you on the sofa and let you laugh at their belly jiggles.

When that happens, you almost hear music.  It's better than anything else.

With the holidays upon us and people thinking thoughts of gifting, kittens start to look awfully cute.  The very image of one clambering out of a stocking on Christmas morn or rummaging about in piles of discarded wrapping paper is like something right out of a storybook.  Lots of little kittens will be discovered under various trees this year.

I suppose that it bears mentioning that the giving of pets as gifts is not always a good idea.  Sometimes it is downright ill-advised.  But I happen to know that all of my readers are thoughtful folks who would carefully consider the lifestyle of the recipient and how well they might incorporate a pet into their lives, so I don't worry about you one little bit.  You guys are on top of your game.  That is why I feel so comfortable offering up a suggestion.

I ask that anyone who is considering the gift of a furry companion this season please give some thought to adopting an older animal.  I've mentioned this before and do apologize for the repeated message.  But, given the season and all, it seems appropriate to put it out there again.

My last two cat adoptions have been from the "Adult" room at the shelter and I firmly believe that any future additions to the family will come from the same place.  I have never once regretted opening my home and my heart to an animal who, while not a cute, capering kitten, was more mature, more settled into his/her personality and ready to be loved.  

Most U.S. animal shelters are experiencing a level of overcrowding right now that hasn't been seen in a while.  In fact, many will let you take home an adult cat at no cost whatsoever, already spayed/neutered and vet-checked.  The AGK even came with a free year of microchip service should he ever take to wandering.  (which he has, to date, shown no signs of considering)  

In spite of these dire circumstances, any reputable shelter will also take the time to interview you and help you to make the best possible choice in new furry friend.  They know their stuff and they love their clients.  The staff will happily do everything in their power to make sure that the cat you choose is uniquely suited to the needs of the owners.  

We all know that the kittens will find homes in short order. But those older animals, many of whom have years and years of life and love to share with the right family, often have a longer wait. If your heart is set on a kitten, you have my blessing. That is often the best choice for a family. But, I do like to point out that there is another option and it is one that has blessed my life a thousand times over. That big, orange boy snoozing by my side this afternoon and the fluffy girl draped over the back of the couch were the cats meant to come live with me. Both came to me as adults.

If you are not considering adoption right now, you can still share the joy of the season with the animals who must spend the holiday waiting for their family to find them.  Volunteers and donations are generally welcomed by most facilities.  However, I do urge you to remember to contact the shelter or review their website to learn just what they can accept in the way of assistance.  Animal welfare organizations have different needs and it is best to make certain that your gesture will be one that can be used to benefit their clients.

For those of you in the U.S., this link will take you to the Humane Society's website.  The opening page gives you information on donating to their organization.  From there, you can travel to their main site and learn more about how to support animals in need.  You can also locate a shelter in your area in the event that you are considering adopting or supporting at the local level.

We here at The Sheepish House Of Mismatched Mittens And Napping Kitties are grateful for your time and attention.  We promise to get right back to the regular knitting content just as soon as we get our soapbox put away.  We don't wish to unduly influence anyone nor do we want to put any pressure on you.  We are above that.  We would not resort to using an obnoxiously cute photo to make you rush out and help animals in need.  Nope.  Not us.

Merry Chris-Mouse!!!!  I iz adorable, rite???  And I iz a big, grown-up boy!!!!!

SA

An Apparent Dress Rehearsal

Mommy and Daddy Sheep called yesterday to report that their power came back on in the late afternoon hours.  Owing to the fact that they have sensibly installed a generator and were able to enjoy heat, light and hot food that they did not cook over candles as I did, we were scheduled to proceed with our Christmas Dress Rehearsal regardless.  But it was ever so much better to know that we were going to be doing it under less trying circumstances.

Niece Sheep and Great Nephew Sheep are soon to be heading south to spend the holiday in warmer climes with the in-laws so we all gathered this afternoon for lunch and an early start to the Christmas season. 

(Waving to the in-laws... Niece Sheep's MIL is a reader, it seems!) 

While it meant getting a few things done sooner than is my habit, this was a very good thing.  It seems that I have managed to work my way through the stockpile of gift bags, wrapping paper and tissue over the past few years.  I had enough to wrap up a few gifts, but it would have been a very sad thing, indeed, had I made this discovery on Christmas Eve when I usually resign myself to the task of wrapping.

For the record, I seem to have an endless supply of gift tags and tape.  In fact, should I be so inclined, I could open up a Tape 'n Tags Emporium and make a small fortune.  I'd be living the good life and could maybe even use some of the proceeds to get more wrapping paper...

Niece Sheep's scarf was late to the blocking mat, but did finally make it.  I guess I got all caught up in the Ice Storm Survival mayhem and didn't really think about getting that done in a timely fashion.  As such, I ended up pinning it out and giving it a steam instead of the proper blocking that I think it really needed.

It was still kinda purty, though...

In the interest of making everyone feel like it was Christmas, Mommy Sheep brought forth one or two gifts for all instead of just showering the younger folks.  Nestled in amongst my loot was what will probably go down in Holiday History as one of  my favorite prezzies ever:

It's one of Franklin's ornaments!!!!

That went right up on the tree within minutes of my arriving home.  I'm so very glad to have received it in time to be able to enjoy it during its seasonal appropriateness!  Mommy Sheep has come a long way over the past few years.  She is now very much in tune with our Knit Blogger values and understands the significance of certain things.  She walks in the way of the knitter...

I have but one complaint.  It's a small thing, really.  But I feel that it bears mentioning.  It is required of all Great Aunts Who Are In Possession Of A Camera to bring it along when there are opportunities to take forty or so pictures of their great nephew.  More than that, I think it is a law.  I could look it up, but I don't really feel like taking the time.  If it's not, it should be...

At any rate, I think there should also be some rules around this.  However, I am the only one who seems to feel this way.  Apparently, should the Great Aunt in question decide to allow her brother to take possession of the camera for the sole and clearly stated purpose of viewing the pictures on the memory card, liberties are taken.  And, apparently, should the aforementioned Great Aunt decide to take a minute to get a little face time with her nephew, have a civilized sort of discussion and perhaps offer him some sage words of advice regarding his future and whatnot, the camera will be used in a manner not previously discussed.

I ask you, is this how a Great Aunt of my standing and reputation should be portrayed????

It is also, apparently, a bad idea for a Great Aunt to repeatedly and with maybe more amusement than is really necessary, refer to her Baby Brother Sheep as a "Grandfather."  I could be wrong.  But, one has to wonder.  

Was saying it twenty or so times too much?

SA

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Greetings, Blog Readers!  Hysterical Mind here.  You will, of course remember me as that half of Sheepie's brain that processes any and all input at being a portent of doom.  I'm on blog duty tonight while my more logical counterpart, Rational Mind, sits in the corner writing "I will not make fun of HM" 1000 times.  

I am often on the receiving end of mockery.  "Oh, that HM," they chuckle, "always making mountains out of molehills!"  Well, this time, I am having the last laugh!  When everything goes to heck in a handbasket, all of a sudden I don't seem so crazy!  Ha-ha, I say!  And once more for good measure!  HA-HA!!!

The Sheep awoke yesterday morning at the ungodly hour of 4:30.  There really was no other choice.  She was hearing a great deal of crashing, cracking and booming.  She knows what those sounds mean.  She's heard them before.  She quickly put me in charge of operations, as would any sensible person or sheepie.

Cracking and whatnot indicates two things:  tranformers are blowing and tree branches are falling.  It was time for action.  First up:  check the news.  I did so and confirmed that there would be no school that day.  My district was one of the first to cancel, but certainly not the last.  Before the morning was done, nothing much was open for business.

Here's why:

Ice

More ice.

Then, just for a change of pace...ice.

Not great pictures, I realize.  But Dudes, there was so totally no way I was going out there.  I took these from the bedroom window.

Next up: heat. We rarely lose power here and, when we do, it doesn't last long. But they don't call me Hysterical for nothing. I firmly believe that the worst will happen in any possible situation. I turned on all available heating devices, started the coffee and began toasting up the morning waffle. Good thing. No sooner had the timer dinged on the toaster and the coffee finished gurgling than the power went out.

Fortunately, I have planned for such events.  We do not have to eat our waffle in the dark.  That would be uncivilized.

They laughed when I bought all those candles on sale at the discount store.  Fools...

With that bit of business out of the way, it was time to consider how we were going to remain updated on the situation, not to mention keep ourselves entertained.  Again, I had that situation well in hand.  The battery operated television was unearthed from the closet and pressed into service.

I will miss this thing when the digital conversion is completed in February.  It may be time to rethink picking up one of those digital converter boxes...

I had this place running like a well-oiled machine, I tell you!  We were fed, relatively warm and had access to updated information from the outside world.  Of course, I didn't exactly like what I was hearing.  Central Maine Power was struggling with all the outages.  They probably read the same weather report that I did, the one that said my county wasn't going to get so much with the ice.  They were concentrating on getting the power shut off to all the downed lines and weren't sure when they could restore service.  They were saying things like, "Gosh, it might be days..."

This might have made the average listener cower in the corner.  Not me.  I am HM!  I was built for this sort of thing!!!

It was time to consider comfort.  We had plenty of knitting, reading material and other entertainments to keep us occupied.  But you can't overestimate the value of the psychological.  What we needed was hot food.  It is a very bad idea to use a propane stove inside and, as I mentioned, I was not setting foot out in that mess even if it was to heat up some chow.  But I am nothing if not resourceful.  

I've also maybe thought about how I might go about doing this sort of thing in the event of a forced confinement.  

Cooking by candlelight.  Seriously...

Dollar store warming trivet.  It can heat up some water for cocoa or warm up that chicken that got roasted up the night before.

Disclaimer (because the worst can happen and will if you aren't thinking about how it can all go wrong):  I was really careful with this camping activity.  The little grill was placed on the stove and well away from anything that might catch fire.  The same went for the warming trivet.  Both were set up on a heat resistant baking stone for good measure.  You also don't want to wander off.  In all seriousness here, the fire department was busy.  They weren't going to be rushing to my aid should flames get out of control.  I used tea lights, had a source of water close to hand and supervised well.  

Other Disclaimer (because it's best to be honest)  Are you going to cook a five course meal for your family this way?  No.  Don't be ridiculous.  You aren't cooking at all.  You are reheating food that is already cooked and safe to eat.  Like I said, it's the psychological aspect of eating hot food.  

The day wore on and still the power remained off.  I began to realize that we needed to think about how we were going to make it through the night.  It was all well and good to nosh on warm chicken and whatnot...but that wasn't going to keep us from freezing to death come nightfall.  Time to put Plan B into action!

The storm had passed and it seemed safe to venture out to the car to retrieve those chemical handwarmers that I found at the Dollar Store last summer.  They had seemed like a sensible thing to keep in the car for emergencies, but seemed even more sensible to have in the house right now.  I drew shut the insulated blackout shades that I purchased last fall to hold in as much heat as possible and lit a couple more candles.  Light and a wee bit more heat...not much, but anything was going to be helpful at this point.

I then went to the closet and selected our ensemble for the evening.  When staying in your unheated home for the night, the key to survival is layers.  Lots of them.  You wear tights, a pair of bike shorts and fleece jammie pants.  You don a tank top, turtleneck and alpaca sweater.  You put on a hat and you keep it on.  I realize that you may feel a little bit silly.  But don't worry.  You look far more silly than you feel.  But you will look even sillier when you lose an ear to frostbite in your own home.

Disclaimer (because I like disclaimers...) I am being half serious and half silly, here.  It is actually not always the brightest maneuver to remain in your home without any sort of power source or heat when temperatures are predicted to drop into the low teens for the night.  I put a great deal of thought into this matter.  There is a pet-friendly shelter fairly close to me, after all.  But I figured that, if I can't use the bathroom when I think my downstairs neighbors are using theirs, then how would I fare in a shelter, for God's sake?  I would surely die of self-induced pee-pee poisoning!  I firmly believe that this is the leading cause of death amongst Hysterically Minded individuals and grossly under-reported.  I opted to bundle up and stay put.

With these (and a myriad of other) plans put into operation, we were able to successfully survived the night.  The handwarmers were activated and tucked into my slippers for short periods to keep them warm.  Later, they went under my pillow.  Warm food was consumed and, with the aid of my itty-bitty book light, I was able to read my recently acquired library books until bedtime.  It was not the most pleasant night spent here at the manse.  But not at all unbearable.  Thanks to me.  Hysterical Mind.  Not Rational Mind who thinks that I am crazy for buying chemical handwarmers in July.  She gets no credit whatsoever for our still being alive and in possession of all our toes.

The power was back on when we awoke this morning and all was right with the world.  I remained in charge of things in case there might be a relapse of some sort and, I must admit, to gloat a bit.  I also wanted to review the Survival Plan and see if there was any way to tighten things up a bit for next time.  The only things I see that need to be done differently were these:  

1.  We forgot to charge the ipod.  We were forced to leech power from the laptop in order that we might continue to enjoy our audiobook.  However, I might question the advisability of listening to Max Brooks' World War Z ( a chronicle of the zombie wars) while Armageddon rages outside...

2.  We were low on D batteries.  We had to resort to doing that thing where you mix old and new batteries in order to keep the little TV running.  That is not a good idea.  But those were the circumstances and you do what you gotta.  We will be remedying this state of affairs as soon as, well...we can find some D batteries.  There are none right now.  The shelves are empty.  A lot of folks still don't have power...

3.  The new recruit needs training.  The Big, Fluffy Kitty remained by Mommy's side and lent of her fluffy warmth just like we'd planned.

But the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty, oddly excited by this weather event, used his time to plan sneak attacks on the Christmas Tree.  This shot was taken by flash in utter darkness.  There was no way to tell what was going on, but I suspected tom-foolery:

The flash reveals all!  Busted!!!!!

I thank you for your time and attention to my Ice Storm Survival Update.  I trust that you will remember my deft handling of this situation the next time you read one of those HM/RM posts and chuckle at my expense.  I am a master of planning and execution!  I am a hero among hypothetical constructs devised to illustrated the concept of abstract thought!  I walk with the giants!!!

I'm probably going to write a survival guide or something.  Just not right now.  I'm a little tired from all the excitement.  I should probably rest up a bit.

This is just the beginning of the season, after all...

HM  

Disclaimer:  It's really SA.  I should say that because we don't want anyone to think that I am not in full possession of my own brain.  I am.  Honest.  I just sometimes let HM think she is in charge.  Yeah...that's how it works.

Update

The power is back on (thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!!) and it looks like it might even stay that way for a while.  I figured I'd drop by and let everyone know that I survived the ice storm and all its attendant inconveniences rather well.  

Should the current remain flowing, I will do a proper post later this evening.  So do stay tuned for the first edition of Sheepish Annie's Ice Storm Survival Guide.  (brought to you through a generous donation from The Hysterical Mind Foundation For Disaster Preparedness)  I have all sorts of little hints and tips for making it through life without the mod cons.

Fun times over here...  

SA

Reading The Weather

I've been a teacher for twenty years.  And, in that time, I have observed that every proper school in which I've taught has had a library.  

I say "proper" schools because there was that year I ran an Alternative Education program for at-risk high school students who'd sort of dropped out of school and that was the year that I was stuck in a drafty, out of the way shack.  There was no library there, but the town's public library let us use their facilities so that all worked out.

But the regular teaching gigs all came with a big book room.  For those of you who enjoy this sort of thing, you will be very, very jealous of me.  Teachers can take out as many books as they want.  They can keep them for as long as they want.  No one will bother to send you an overdue notice until June and even then you can wiggle your way out of too much in the way of repayment.  The sky is the limit.  And, if you really make nice with the librarian, you can walk home with the books that they are retiring from the shelves in June.

In spite of this perk, I've rarely taken advantage of it.  It somehow felt wrong to wander around with library books that I have no intention of returning until I feel like it.  It feels even worse to have stacks of them waiting to be read because that just goes against the rules.  I remember taking out a lot of books on tape one year when I was teaching further north and had an even longer commute than I do now.  I needed something to listen to in the car...  But I never took more than one at a time and it still felt kind of weird.

In my new school, however, our librarian strongly encourages staff to peruse the stacks.  She cheers when you select one to read and looks a little sad when someone leaves without taking something home.  Who am I to make her sad?  If it makes her happy for me to take home two books and not leave them for the children, then that is what I will do.  I'm a bringer of joy, dag-nabbit!!!

We shall not dwell upon the fact that they are both from different series of books that I have been wanting to continue for some time or that I giggled in a kind of evil manner when I made them my own for a short time.  I don't even want to discuss the fact that I was there to try and snare a rather popular book in a new series before one of the kids could get down there and take it first.  That is shameful behavior for a teacher and karma's stepping in to punish me is probably why I didn't find that one...

My thinking here was actually more sound than it seems.  I wasn't so much trying to steal reading material from children as I was looking to stock up some supplies for a "just in case" scenario.  It seems that the first storm of the school year is upon us and it may be a doozy.  We were all released from school at 1:30 today due to the impending ice event and urged to keep an eye on the news tomorrow morning.  My own review of the weather facts leads me to believe that there is no way we will avoid a delayed start to the school day tomorrow.  I'm not seeing a full-on cancellation in the works, but who knows?  Better safe than sorry.  I planned ahead, just in case.

A new knitting project is on the needles, I picked up a chicken and roasted it when I got home in the event of any inconvenient power outages and there is enough reading material to keep me occupied no matter what the weather.  I'm all set.  I even put aside that leftover waffle that I so badly wanted to eat with gobs and gobs of syrup.  That will make a nice breakfast tomorrow in the event that I actually get to eat at home instead of snarfing down foodstuffs in the car as I rocket south towards gainful employment.

Yes, I am all set.  With the assistance of my friendly librarian, I will be happy and occupied should the roads prove too treacherous for the buses.  I should probably feel sad when I think of that kid who didn't get his or her copy of Ptolemy's Gate in order that they, too, might wile away the hours...

But I sort of don't.

SA

Should've Had The Waffle...

I have one leftover waffle in the fridge.  It's still in good shape.  I only made them last weekend.  But I decided that it was too early in the week to be resorting to waffles for dinner.  Waffles lead to syrup.  Syrup leads to butter.  It's a slippery slope.  (what with all that butter...)  Before you know it you have thrown all dietary promises to the wind and are lying in a pile of candy bar wrappers at midnight.  

I'll wait and have it tomorrow.  That's close enough to the end of the week to call it good.  What I can do, however, is the Wednesday Night Bullet Post.  Let's see if a little indulgence in random blog posting makes me feel as good as that ol' waffle would've:

*There was an optional meeting with the superintendents of schools this afternoon for those of us interested in hearing more about how we will be suffering under the upcoming budget cuts.  

*Fun times.

*It was made clear to us that no amount of wishful thinking is going to make any difference.  The governor's proposed cuts are going to go through.  The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services are the biggest items in the state budget.  That's where the money needs to come from.  We are gonna get slammed and slammed hard.

*Monies that we thought we had coming are not coming.  

*I am holding firm to the belief that The Bad Job At The Middle School Into Which I Was Transferred Against My Will is a good thing.  No one else wants my job.  I should be pretty safe if I just stand really, really still so no one notices me.

*Day Four Of The Christmas Tree Watch comes with good news.  The Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty has discovered it, but his interest is still pretty short-lived.  

*Ornament Disruption Count:  2.  Both were from the "decoy ornament" category and found on the floor under the tree.

*No harm/no foul.

Here we see the suspect emerging from beneath the plastic branches and stepping over the weights that I honestly did lift this afternoon.

*I am cautiously optimistic regarding the future of my Christmas Tree.  

*I am less optimistic regarding the chances of my lifting those weights tomorrow.

*I got a Christmas card from the vet (AKA The Cat Whisperer) today.  It had the usual bits of holiday blather and a word of thanks for the pleasure of serving us.  

*And ended with the words, "May your kitty be blessed with tapeworm-free mice."

*Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

*My vet is clinically insane.  Ask anyone.  But the cats love her so whaddaya gonna do?

*She only treats cats.  Nothing else.  Cats.  She thinks that the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty has a good soul.  She could tell just by looking at him.  Didn't need an x-ray or nuthin'!

*Tapeworm...Ewwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

*Here's that scarf I was talking about yesterday:

Complete with unwoven ends and total lack of blocking.

*This is one of those scarves that really should be knit in two pieces then grafted in the middle.  

*But I'm going to steam it into submission.  It will bend to my will and shape itself as I see fit.

*I had a Lean Pocket for dinner tonight once I realized that the waffle wasn't going to happen.

*I like Lean Pockets.  I actually lived off them for several years.  

*It's just that they aren't waffles...

*In light of what is soon to be my scheduled taking of furlough days from school, it seemed wise to learn how to eat what is in the freezer.  It is probably a good time to practice that kind of thing.

Now that I think of it, though, there is also some ice cream in that freezer.  I guess if I'm going to be practicing good habits regarding leftovers and consuming what I already have, it would be best to eat that, too.  I think that if I just move that two-year-old bag of broccoli out of the way, I can get to it easily...

SA

By Then, I Had No Skills Left...

It all ended with me sitting helplessly and hoping that a solution might present itself before the media got involved.  I couldn't seem to process enough of the physics of it all to find my way clear.

These sorts of things generally come at the end of too much thinking.  If you use up all your brain power on other stuff, there are no reserves left over to deal with the little problems life sometimes throws your way.  OK.  My way.  I can't imagine that this happens to too many people or that, if it did, they would admit to it.

First of all, the clock in my living room is losing time rapidly.  Changing the batteries is not helping.  It was fifteen minutes behind the times this morning and required that I do all sorts of higher level math in order to figure out the optimal time to start my morning bagel a-toastin'.

Then there is the matter of my brakes which are not as well-padded as they are supposed to be.  I'm getting them fixed, but need to baby them lest they start to scrape against things best left unscraped.  Hence, I must carefully consider my braking habits and determine just how much I really want to stop in any given situation.  For example, a child dancing merrily along the center line is a good time to apply the brakes.  Seeing a sign for a shoe sale, while normally the kind of thing I'd stomp on the pedal for, does not really require braking.  

Especially since I need to save the shoe money to pay for the brake repairs...

The phone in my office rang incessantly.  Nonstop.  It didn't matter one little bit that I was trying to teach several classes to kids that weren't particularly interested in learning anything today.  They wanted to watch the snow fall.  They were more than happy to wander off towards the windows every time I had to go answer that stupid phone.  I'd let it go to voice mail, but is usually the office calling me or someone else who is within the building and they just call me back.  They know I'm not going anywhere.  

At the end of the school day, I tried to get some of the photocopying done.  I decided, in the interest of efficiency, to queue up multiple jobs.  This resulted in a paper jam the likes of which the office world has never seen.  I was able to sneak seven of the offending sheets out all by myself (which we are not allowed to do per order of the school secretary) before I had to go get some help.  Three staff people were trying to assist me, all to no avail.  One of them helpfully commented on how I looked like I was trying to birth a calf as I crouched on the floor with my arm up to my shoulder in that stupid machine.

That seemed as good a time as any to call it a day.  You really shouldn't try to get anything else done after you have been compared to a large animal vet in the teacher's room.  Not that this is an insult or anything.  We are fans of the LAV's.  It just isn't my own personal calling is all.

I decided to make a quick trip to the restroom before I left, thinking that it would be a good idea to take care of that bit of business before anything else silly could happen.  I was in a hurry and used the facilities available in my classroom and I couldn't help but be distracted by the thought of all the yucky boy-germs my students must have left in there...

 And that, Dear Readers is how I ended up getting my staff I.D. badge snared in my underpants.  Rather firmly, if you must know.  I didn't see it making the first pass around the elastic and then it was just too late.  That plastic card bearing my world-weary visage clamped firmly upon the fabric of my unmentionables and showed no sign of letting go.

I was utterly flummoxed.  

The path to underpants freedom was an easy one and probably could have been navigated by someone who hadn't just spent her last remaining brain cells tracking down paper that had been accordioned into the depths of a photocopier.  I was not that individual.  I sat there, at first befuddled and then becoming ever more panicked, trying to think of a solution to my dilemma.  What was to become of me?  Would I be stuck there until the morning?  Would I have to confess to the administration that my required identification badge was now to be visible only to my family physician?  Would I have to flag down the custodian during her nightly rounds and have her hoist me from my porcelain throne then use her cleaning cart to transport me to my vehicle now that I could not stand upright?

Fortunately, none of these courses of action were necessary.  I was able to release the plastic card from my underpinnings and proceed with my planned course of action.  I just needed to stop and think for a minute.  But, I gotta tellya...for a second there, I feared for the worst.  I always wanted to go down in history as an educator, but not as the one who was tangled up in her own underpants in the class bathroom.  That is not the sort of thing you want to see on a plaque in the trophy case...

That sort of signaled the end of the foolishness for the day.  The trip home was uneventful and I even managed to keep to my knitting schedule while I pedaled the little exercise bike this afternoon.  I swore that today would be the final day for working on that scarf I've been fiddling around with since September.  I finished off that last mile and cast off the scarf as I was doing so.  A little bit of a soak and a block and I'll have another holiday gift ready to go.

It's an excellent way to end the day.  I won't let it go to my head, though.  Tomorrow, I will use a different clock to judge my departure time, will brake as I see fit, and allow my staff to do the photocopying for me.

I will also remember to take off my I.D. badge before answering any calls of nature...

SA

Curd Your Enthusiasm

I just finished up a nice, healthy dinner featuring marinated, baked tofu.  Under the circumstances, that seems rather unfair in my opinion.  Insult to injury...

I was late to work this morning due to the fact that I have yet to process the reality of winter weather.  Winter weather means that snow falls sometimes (like it did yesterday) and that the temperatures will plummet (like they did today.)  This requires scraping ice from the windshield and that takes a little bit of time.  You need to allow for that, especially on a morning when you will find yourself rather close to your working destination but trapped behind some poor dude who's truck has broken down right in the middle of the road you must travel.

I barely had time to read my email before the kids started trickling in demanding that I teach them stuff.  I kind of wish I hadn't read it.  It was not great news in some respects.

The state of Maine is slashing budgets like a samurai behind on his To-Do List.  The Department of Education is one of the targets and the administrators in my school district have been frantically trying to come up with some kind of plan that doesn't involve laying off all the teaching staff and having the kids teach themselves.  They finally reached a decision and are taking it to the Teacher's Union.  

Essentially, they are planning to have all staff take two furlough days throughout the course of the year and have our paychecks reflect the days of lost pay during two upcoming months.  It could have been worse and I know that.  In fact, I support the administrator's decision on this one.  The idea is to spread the burden and try to keep anyone from feeling too much of the sting.  The superintendents of the schools will take three of these enforced vacations.

This, on top of all the other cuts they are making (and those are drastic, believe me) should keep us afloat with minimal lay-offs.  This is a good thing.  Also good will be the half-days where they simply usher us out the door and let us run free like the buffalo.  But I will surely miss those two days of monetary reward.  Most of us will probably spend the afternoons handed to us grading papers for free.  

Hence, we see the reason why I think that my having tofu for dinner tonight was kind of mean.  Especially since I did this to myself.

I struck a blow for teachers everywhere, though.  I blatantly knit during the kids group time with the school social worker today and didn't even try to make an excuse for not working on paperwork like I was supposed to.  I also only kept one of the five million kids who owed me lunch detention in the classroom and let the rest go eat lunch without having to look at me the whole time.  Then I knit some more.  It was kind of hard to eat my hearty lunch (an apple) while doing so, but I stayed the course.  They'll probably write one of those cool protest songs about me or something.  I'm like a Leader Among The Oppressed!

On a happier note, I am pleased to report that the Christmas tree remains upright and unsullied.  (Mostly...)  I had a few twinges of worry this morning as I watched the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty discover the ornaments on the lower branches.  He was tentatively batting at them as I was rushing out the door so I could be late for work.  However, upon my return to hearth and home, I found but one small bauble on the floor.  He just doesn't seem to have any real interest in a tree having sprouted in the corner.  

He'll periodically investigate it...

Then he moves on to more important matters such as cleansing between his toes.

I guess if you can't run through it like a Dollar Store Cat Cave, eat it or get chin-rubs from it, then it isn't all that interesting.  

I wonder how he'd feel about the leftover tofu.  We are belt-tightening and I hate to waste it...

SA

I DO Believe!!!

Yesterday's lack of cooperation between my printer and computer was just about the death of me.  Try as I might, I just couldn't seem to convince the two of them to let go of whatever their differences might be and work together to let me finish my work.  

To further compound the problem, the printer was soon to be blocked by what I'd hoped might be a Christmas tree.  I had plans for putting that bad boy up this weekend, but it seemed irresponsible to do so before I printed off all the things I had been putting off transforming into hard copies.  I feared for the whole holiday.  Would technology steal Christmas? 

Let's all take a minute to send warm, loving and not-at-all-creepy-because-they-are-coming-from-complete-strangers kinds of thoughts to commenter Sherry for reminding me that the simple solutions are the ones we so often overlook.  

Unplug the printer...let it reset itself.  I knew that.  I just didn't know that I knew it until I remembered that I did.  Which is sort of like not knowing it at all except for the part where you should have known better.  Thank you, Sherry!  Who knows when I would have remembered that I knew that before I forgot it?  You saved me days...and days...

  Other than the pain in my head from my having smacked my forehead whilst shouting out a resounding, "Doh!!!," things began to go much more smoothly after I performed that simple act.  That which needed to be rendered in ink was handily spat from the printer and Christmas was saved!!!  It's a Christmas Miracle!!!  I believe!!!!

Heck, I don't even mind having to explain that big forehead-smackin' bruise tomorrow morning at work...

With all that business out of the way, it was time to get that Christmas tree up!  I brushed off my hands, put on my best holiday face and took a nap. 

Then I worked on some holiday gift-knitting for a while and pretended that it is the kind of stuff I will actually get finished and that I won't really end up purchasing more things than I meant to.  

Then I had a snack and watched TV for a while.   Because that is just how we do things here.  Putting up the tree tends to be something of a fiasco most years so I put it off for as long as is possible.

Finally, I felt that I had engaged in enough of the Mental Preparation and just set to work on the thing.  It had to be done.  This is the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty's first Christmas here and we don't want him thinking that we lack spirit, do we?  Happily, the process was smooth this year and there was not a single snag along the way.  It was up and decorated in no time and nary a single light failed to twinkle.  Miracles abound here, I tellya!  Although, I have to admit to some concerns regarding the AGK being in a room with a large fake tree sporting dangling stuff all over it.  

He showed great interest in the fake branches while they were scattered about the floor, but soon wandered off to watch events progress from the comfort of his nappin' basket.  He hasn't bothered with the tree since.  I know that this means nothing and that, at any moment, he will suddenly be seized by the urge to swing alongside an irreplaceable crystal ornament.  

But, for the moment, the tree remains safe.  Just in case, I've left much of the bottom unlit and minimally decorated.  We should be OK even if he does get any smart ideas.  Frankly, I view this as yet another Christmas Miracle and fully expect a nice couple on a donkey to show up at my door asking to use the spare room for a couple of nights until they can get an appointment with their obstetrician.

Now I must be off.  In light of all this miracle-working, I suppose that there is some hope of my finishing up a few gifts in time for the holiday.  Even if I don't, I still get to sit here and enjoy the glow from my Christmas tree and that is a very good thing, indeed.  I'll even share it with you just in case you also happen to enjoy pictures of Christmas trees taken without the flash.

They're more glow-y that way and you can't see where I forgot to bend the branches back into place after storage...

SA

Girl Power

I did not put up the Christmas tree last night.  Nor have I done so today.  I blame technology.  The digital world has conspired against me and my green, plastic salute to the holiday.

I popped a new ink cartridge into the printer last night and prepared to get going on that print job that I need to do if I am going to finish up the first part of a rather large project.  It's one of those things that I have been putting off for a while now.  Since performing that rather simple act, the printer and the computer have decided to stop speaking to one another and nothing I do to try and mediate the conflict between them seems to help.  The printer acknowledges the presence of the computer.  The computer gives a nod in the direction of the printer.  But neither is willing to do more than admit that the other exists.  I hate them both.  They are standing in the way of Christmas.

The printer is going to be blocked by the Christmas tree once it is finally erected in all its false greenishness.  I was trying to be responsible by getting the printing done before losing access to the printer until the New Year.  Now, because of some USB-based war, I will have to either just put up the tree and forget about printing or live in my decidedly unfestive quarters until these two get over it.

I tried going to the website hosted by the mean people who crafted this demonic piece of equipment, but found no answers.  I was going to call tech. support but that kind of seemed like a bad idea today.  I am not in the best of moods after so many hours trying to negotiate this truce, after all.  Add to that the fact that I have spent much of the day watching the Kill Bill series of films and you have the potential for an "incident."  I tend to get rather fired up when I watch Uma kicking butt all over the globe and start seeing myself as more of a warrior than I really am.  

Trying to talk to some poor guy working the weekend in tech support (who may actually be in one of those locales highlighted in the films, now that I think of it...) is only going to lead to trouble.  I need to step away from this for a bit.  Get some perspective.  I don't actually own a sword.  Nor would I know what to do with it if I did possess one.  I should really get a handle on that little slice of reality before I deal with people...

The Big Fluffy Kitty, having had to fight a few of her own battles since last night, was pleased to see that a truce had been reached.  Her brother, the Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty, was rather giddy over the arrival of the weekend and celebrated by torturing her mercilessly.  In his defense, his intentions are noble.  He is a good-natured lad and really only wants a fellow reveler to help him party down.  The BFK, however, is not really all that interested in participating and I found myself having to intervene in order that she not hyperventilate from the hissing.

Note:  They usually observe a pretty much iron-clad truce and can even sleep in the bed together without arguing over space.  Don't get me wrong.  There is no real love here.  But they have learned to live with one another.  Sometimes, though, the AGK's emotions get the better of him and he makes some rather poor judgement calls regarding how best to approach his older sister.  For example, it is a very bad idea to hide in his cat cave, then leap out and bowl her off her feet.  Purring at her is only adding insult to injury at that point as well.

Apparently tuckered out from all this sibling rivalry, the AGK retired to the bedroom for much of the day.  This left the living room and all its wide open spaces free for the BFK.

She took advantage of the peace.  And the "good" napping spot.

Except for when she took a break to glare at me.  If you are reading anything in those eyes but, "I did not ask for a brother, you know...," then you don't speak Cattish very well.

Since I wasn't putting up a tree or breaking up sporadic bouts of sibling rivalry and couldn't print anything, I had to find a way to use my time.  I also needed to come up with an activity that that did not involve punching my way through walls or fighting off hordes of sword-wielding minions.  I figured I'd wrestle with a whole bunch of yarn on needles that are too small to accommodate it.  It's not quite the same as the cool stuff The Bride/Black Mamba/Beatrix Kiddo can do...

But I'll bet that she couldn't knit a mitten.  She probably wouldn't have time in between battles, but still...

Maybe the BFK and I should team up.  We could use our awesome Girl Power to intimidate the printer into better behavior so that we can start celebrating Christmas.  That'd be kinda cool...

SA