It's Been Just One of Those Days....

I had my last appointment with my brain doctor this morning so I didn't get much sleep last night. I
kept having weird dreams and waking up. It was exhausting really. I also knew it was supposed to be freezing temperatures (after being 80 degrees 2 days ago). So, in my dreams I kept thinking the doctor's office would call and cancel for today and I could stay in bed and sleep. You know. Since I couldn't sleep from worrying about going, meaning I'd just have to make an appointment for another time and go again. Then I'd go through the whole sleepless/dreaming routine again. It doesn't make any sense to a sane person, does it? I didn't think so.

So, I dragged myself out of bed, got ready (dressing warmly and felt like the little brother in "A Christmas Story"), even put on makeup so the doctor would know how nuts I really am and left for my appointment. The car door was so frozen I could barely get it open since I forgot to warm it up, which I figured gave me ample opportunity to run back inside and call the doctor's office to make sure I was still expected. Yes, I did. And no, they had not cancelled today. Trying to act like I already knew it I told them I'd be a few minutes late instead. I was. However, since I was his *miracle patient* who had cheated death, they forgave me and laughed at my jokes about all the other crazy drivers I'd seen. I was out of there in less than 25 minutes and told I wouldn't need to be seen again until next December. Apparently, he thinks I'm good to go. Little does he know what permeates the dark tracks of my mind. It's a jungle in there.



Since I was all dressed up and trussed like a turkey I decided to go shopping even though I didn't need to buy anything, which is when I love to shop best. Aimless impulse shopping. And I was thoroughly aimless and abandoned. I spent a shameless amount on several Christmas ornaments I didn't need but since the place was so empty it felt like I was giving to charity. But not really.



Next, I stopped at my favorite *Mom and Pop* nursery for 3 large Poinsettias and almost swallowed my tongue at the price. But, they are always nice to me and never fail to carry things to the car for me, which should be worth something, right? Besides, it oddly made me happy.



My last stop was the grocery store where I merrily ran around throwing things into my mini shopping cart until I saw the long lines at the *regular* (in other words more than 10 items) lanes. I retreated to an aisle that seemed deserted and dumped the unnecessary 4 items onto a nearby shelf, thereby qualifying me for the fast-moving (10 items or less) lanes. Unfortunately, I somehow removed my chicken salad sandwich in that sneaky fiasco but didn't find out until I returned home. No lunch. It's obviously rotting on some shelf in the children's toy aisle, waiting to be discovered by some hungry child.



Anyway, once I arrived home and unloaded my loot, I was in a euphoric trance as I rearranged my Christmas tree to make room for my new unneeded ornaments. I remained in that trance for the rest of the afternoon as I fussed around the tree and primped my lovely Poinsettias. I'm now convinced our tree is worthy of some kind of award, like maybe the OCD Award or the Over-Decorators Award or something.



Soooo.... Tell me what you think. Have I finally gone around the bend? So much for the brain doctor. What does he know anyway? I'm all for embracing our mental incapacities to the best of our abilities!

Mother Nature's Tree Trimming Service... It's Free!

Yes, we're experiencing an Ice Storm unlike anything I've ever seen in this neck of the woods, with Mother Nature hard at work being a total bi-atch.





Until today, I haven't left the house for 3 days but just as I was was starting to show signs of cabin fever, we decided to drive around a few blocks in our hood, just to see the damage. The roads aren't quite so slick as they were early this morning.

                             

We lost a big limb off one of our scraggly fruitless mulberry trees in the front yard and the oleanders look close to dead in the back yard. I guess 3 years of severe wildfires, drought and water rationing wasn't enough so the Old Girl came back to ravage us again. However, we are still alive so it can't be all that bad, right?

We also lost our water well this last summer, which is really just as well since the water had a big hand in all that we lost in the yard, including the grass. It turns out that the water had something like 10 times the sodium it should have had, thus taking out shrubs, lawn and trees, one by one.

After the water well went dry, we had to wait for 6 weeks before the city could get the sprinkler system on city water. They had to dig a trench across our street, stopping all traffic for 2 whole days. I was able to experience two days of a jack hammer, which was way fun. The house has always been on city water but not the sprinkler/bubbler system for the yard. Not a very fun experience but it was certainly more fun than this ice storm.

At this point we're just thankful for no typical high winds, or we'd be in fear for our lives. The last picture was the worst we saw within our 3 block radius. It was a huge red oak tree which just seemed to have come apart and fell over against the front of their house and into the street. Oddly, it didn't seem to have damaged the house, as far as we could tell.

Others suffered quite a lot of damage and all oleanders seem to look the same as ours. Everyone seems to have suffered one kind of damage or another. The ice is thick and quite heavy.

There is no way of knowing what the total damage will be when this nasty handiwork of The Ice Queen is done. It's not the desired way to receive water here, and it still doesn't take us off water rationing, by any means.

Strangely enough, the WIDIOTS (weather idiots) refused to tell us it would be an ice storm, insisting even today that we were getting snow. Ummm, no. Didn't happen. It's been an ice storm since Friday yet no one called it that even once. They're going to have to own up to it in retrospect, if they have the guts... But, probably not.

Since writing this, it has been in the mid to upper 70's, with today topping out at 80 degrees. It doesn't really make me feel *Christmas Cheer* like cold weather does. But not to worry... We're getting freezing temperatures in a couple of days. This weather is giving me whiplash!