Thoughts on a Winter Night

Sprout wanted me to blog, so here I am, Sprout. This one's for you.
So, how many of you have ever had cold sores/fever blisters....whatever you want to call them. Well, I felt one coming on and immediately began treatment of it, since they tend to spread, get ugly and hurt my entire face. But, you see, when they begin, you really can't tell where they are. Two weeks ago I had one between my nose and my upper lip....very attractive.
This one appeared to be coming out on my lip. I woke up the next morning hoping that I had treated it in a timely enough fashion so that it would be unnoticeable. Alas, there it was......LARGER THAN LIFE. This humongous thing on my lower lip distorting my whole face.
Since I had to go to work, the dilemma becomes whether to put a bandage all over my lower face, try to cover it with many of the colors of lipstick (knowing that the lipstick would immediately have to be thrown away), or go au natural. I chose the latter.
Working in customer service with a distended lip with a huge blister on it can be disconcerting to customers. They don't want to appear obvious, but they are. The glance, then look again with horror in their eyes, then look away and don't make eye contact. They move on quickly, whispering among themselves, casting sidelong glances as the walk away.
For those that know me, I make up lies about what it is....the cat bit me, I was mugged coming from the parking lot, I fell on the ice and got stabbed by a fallen icicle. I am good at making up lies, as anyone who knows me can tell you.
I have been going to the gym also. Pretty, young girls with their perfect bodies, perfect tans and very white teeth stare in horror. I make some comment about this is what happens when you turn a certain age and go to tanning booths. They immediately look at their skin to see just how much time they should be spending in a tanning booth, then look at my lip, shaking their heads in fear and wonder.
My lip is better today, hardly noticeable, thank goodness. My face isn't as sore, so perhaps there will just be the one and they will go away.
Road trip plans are under way. We picked out the room at the cottage without too much fighting. Plane reservations have been made....I know, it's a ROAD trip, but this one also includes a SKY trip.
Monkeyboy had a hockey game last weekend and scored the only goal. Great job, Monkeyboy.
The weather has been good for sledding (DUH). Sprout had her first sled riding experience and seems to have enjoyed it. Bird and kids built an incredible track which was ruined by the warmer weather and a water leak that flooded their drive.
Winter is a wonderful thing, and I'm sure in July and August we will remember this winter differently. Thinking about those of you who might be getting the nor'easter going up the coast right now. Be safe, and stay warm. Better days are coming.....I hope!

Winter

I debated posting, but decided to talk about the snow anyway since I couldn't think of anything else about which to post.
In keeping with my goal of things to be grateful for, I have wine, electricity and food. We have had 22 1/2" of snow so far and we are getting more. Again, things to be grateful for....the shoveling is done for the moment.
I have realized that there are some things of which I have no control. Weather is one of those. Once I accept this, I can sit back and wait for spring. A large glass of wine helps in this endeavor.
There is something about weather that brings people together. Several years ago power in our neighborhood was off in the summer for two days. People emptied their freezers and had a street cookout. Steaks, chops, hamburgers, hot dogs...all cooked and shared. I wasn't invited. But I heard it was nice.
I have an annoyingly chatty friendly neighbor that lives across the street. I have to time my shovel time so that it does not coincide with her shovel time. She chats with the mailman daily, with the UPS man daily, with anyone walking up or down the street...and if she can catch someone trying to leave in their car, she has been known to flag them down. Frankly, I don't want to hear her constant whining tidbits of gossip and complaining. But then it takes all kinds of people to make a neighborhood.
We tend to look out for one another here. We notice if someone hasn't been home for several days without notice and we tend to share phone numbers, keypad numbers for the garage, wine and even food when necessary. I like my neighborhood and the thought of packing up and moving south puts me in a tailspin!
Spring will arrive. The flowers will pop through the earth, the hostas will again be green and the magnolia will blossom in all its splendor.
Ahhh, the winter of 2010. It will be one that will not easily be forgotten.
Stay warm and be safe.