Oh the weather outside is frightful...

The last week has been very interesting here in western NY state. Let me see if I can give you the short version...

*Furnace quit, no heat for hours but hubby fixed it.
*Heavy rain, flooded yard, water in basement, no hot water for shower because water put out pilot light on water heater -brrrrr...., hubby fixed it
*Rain turned to snow and lots of it. We had several inches but some places had 2-3 ft!
*Basketball season just started for our youngest son, a senior in high school. We've had games every other day, all away on very snowy roads. I guess we got that bad tire replaced just in time for the winter weather.
*House phone quit working due to bad weather and phone company didn't fix it for days. Bad signal makes it hard to use cell phone. We can go outside in the snow and cold to make calls or try it inside in the kitchen, standing on one foot, with the phone pressed against the window pane, the wind blowing from the north, at sun set, on Tuesdays in months with a "q". Sometimes we get lucky.
*Visit to aunt for two days while uncle is away. She has chemo treatments for breast cancer and wanted company. I was more than happy to do it and wish I could do more. It was a fun visit and was great to have her all to myself. She happens to live 2 hours away near Buffalo and if you've ever heard any weather report in your whole life you know that Buffalo tends to get a bit of snow. (2-3 feet in less than 48 hours) I was able to travel with minimal problems and (mostly) clear roads.
*12 days until Christmas and I have a total of 4 gifts. Four. FOUR. And 2 of them are only stocking stuffers. And my oldest has a birthday on the 22nd. Every time I ask my kids what they want they tell me they don't know. I'm glad they aren't greedy and ask for anything and everything but it would be helpful if they asked for something. After all, I'm pretty sure that Christmas Day is on December 25th every, single year. They knew it was coming. They knew I was going to ask for a list. But, since we go through this time after time I'm not worried. It always gets done.
*Picked out a beautiful tree for a great price. My son helped bring it home, now hubby has to put it up. It sits on the porch, lonely and naked. I do the decorating. ALL of it. But I like the decorating and I love the lights. It's the undecorating that really stinks.
*Read a book and started another. Started several reviews but didn't finish any - yet.

So that was last week. I have lots to do this week and a lot of it is the same stuff as last week. I have lots of blog stuff to work on and lots of good books to read so hopefully I'll get to that. There's more decorations to put up too. I love the lights. Most of the outdoor stuff is done fortunately because this week is supposed to be cold. Single digits cold. Brrr... The first snow was very beautiful though and I did take some photos to share here.

In all of the craziness that comes with the holidays I hope you take time to enjoy your blessings. Even in the hardest times I know I am truly blessed. I have a wonderful family and friends, a roof over my head and junk food in my cupboards. I'm very lucky and very grateful. And I'm happy to have "met" all of you in the blog world too. Enjoy December!