snow/viruses/etc.

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I last posted...but dates don't lie, do they? Since the Haiti blog...poor Haiti...all our medical supplies have gone to another mission effort...a Haitian doctor on his way to Haiti. We'll go when we can...probably in two or three months. Things aren't well in our Haitian parish and news is spotty, but we continue to pray and send money to international aid organizations...we do what we can.

Since my last writing...we have had visitors from the north...the Paters and RoseMary visited over MLK day as Karen didn't have to work that day. The Paters had had a bout of the stomach virus...first Isabel, then Karen, then Bela...the week before they traveled. We were instructed tp keep the tree up and we did Christmas again when they arrived. The Christmas tree up for a month is a little long for me, but we did it. I didn't mind the tree, but all the other Christmas decorations were getting on my nerves. Anyhow, we had a birthday party for Isabel and then Christmas for all. Naturally, everyone got more then they deserved...but it was fun. About the fourth day of their visit, I (who never get sick) got the stomach virus. Nothing to do but let it run its course. I was in bed for a whole day...well, between the bed and the bathroom as my insides were trying to escape my body. The second day of my virus...Al got it and he spent the day in bed. By about the fourth day....I was feeling some better but not completely over the nasties. On that day...RoseMary got it. She was also a sick puppy. Not a good way to spend a vacation....for anyone.

The visitors went home on Saturday and made it in the usual 12 hours. I was almost 90 percent better by the sixth day of the crud, but it's been a week and a half for Al and he is still feeling Not so good. He's not suffering the intestional stuff, but has no energy. I always worry about him. He has not got a good immune system and it always takes him a long time to bounce back when he gets anything.

Then this weekend...Friday till today (and probably longer) Nashville got an expected snow. We got about 4 inches and ice under and over the snow. The road crews have been trying to clear the main roads, but all the subdivisions are still locked into their ice. I predict there won't be any school for at least 2 more days. Al is feeling like a prisoner, but I told him I was in good shape...I had ocupational therapy and a good book as well as the good old television.

Sunday...this day...we still haven't gotten our newspaper and it may never come...We missed mass two Saturdays in a row...first for the virus and then for the icy roads. We decided the "discretion is the better part of valor" and know we'll make up for it at another time. For church people...missing church 2 weeks in a row....I know the world won't come to an end over this, but it surely feels strange.

I guess this is it for this time..ta ta.

Haiti, etc.

Poor Haiti. Lots of aftershocks after the earth quake of yesterday. Ten people from our church were scheduled to go to Haiti on a medical mission on this coming Saturday. I'm sure they won't be going. Pictures coming out of Port-a-Prince don't look good. Haiti--the poorest country in the western hemisphere....corrupt governments...over populated...no work. I'm sure we'll get a report soon on what's happening to our sister parish. I'm not sure where it is located geographically in relationship to the capital, but Haiti isn't a large country and we have always been told by our folks that getting there from Port-a-Prince is a long and difficult drive.
It has always surprised me that the Dominican Republic a country which shares the island with Haiti has such a different economy. I believe it must have something to do with their governmental structure.

The days ahead for the Haitian people will not be easy ones. We must remember them in our prayers and send them any aid we can.

On to other topics...my art class started yesterday. I only had four students but I know that I'll be getting some more. I'm chalking it up to the weather...another freezing day in Nashville. The only trouble with students not starting together is that you are playing catch-up for the rest of the session. Trying to keep everyone together is difficult when they don't all start together. Ah, well...I won't be giving grades so everything there will come together.

I got my compost container all together and I'm ready to start composting. I'm trying to decide where to put it. I don't think I want it under the deck...so I'll probably put it in the back of the yard. The book says put it near the garden but I don't think I want it that close. I don't want to have another "thing" for the yard guys to work around.

The Paters and RoseMary are due to come in sometime on Friday. They are driving. It's a long hard drive to middle Tennessee no matter where you come from so they will be tired and cranky when they get here. Since we will be doing Christmas with them when they come the tree is still up. I did put away many of my nativities...just left a couple out. Trying to baby proof what Isabel can reach. I don't know how long they are staying, but we are glad for the visit. It's nice to see all our far away children and grandchildren even for a little while.

Sorry to read that flag football had to be postponed due to chilly weather. The weather situation is very strange. The first 12 days of January 2010 have been the coldest here since the 1940s..I think that's what the weather people have been saying. However, we are due a break in the cold weather this weekend. Temps predicted in the high 40s...Now that's more like it.

Got to go. Till next time.

Oh, NO...Snow!!!!

This second day of 2010 we discovered upon looking out our windows that a few flakes of the cold fluffy stuff was falling...so we immediately went into our middle Tennessee madness mode. "Well, we'll have to go to Kroger and stock up on milk and bread." Also...remember when I worked for the state and on a perfectly good day someone in the office said we'll have to close up early because it's snowing in Clarksville" or my personal favorite..."there's a blizzard out there."

Ah, yes, we are crazy here in middle Tennessee...I can't speak to the snow in the highlands or storms in Memphis...but here in Nashville..one snowflake and we go nuts. I usually say if a flake falls in Memphis...we close schools in Nashville.

Well, today is Saturday and there is no school, but I predict that if we do get even a dusting of snow by midafternoon the entire town will be shut down.

The first snow in Nashville experienced by a transplant...anybody above the Mason-Dixon line...is something they long remember. Sort of like "what were you doing when Kennedy was shot or the world trade center fell.." we remember. Having spent years in western PA when snow was serious business, we get a little snooty in regard to the mania our neighbors show when there is anything more than a half inch on the ground. In fact less than that engenders some craziness.

So, in our superiority we say..."This is nothing. I remember when we had three feet of snow fall on Thanksgiving one year...yes, we didn't see the ground till April. Probably an exageration, but who is going to say it "ain't so?" We start to remember like our grandparents did...yes, Billy, we walked to school in two feet of snow (uphill--both ways).

Like I say, it's fun pretending.

So, for today or right now....it's a few flakes...not even as much as a snow globe shows...but who knows what the afternoon has in store for us. It's a prefect day to stay inside and read a book.

Till next time.....