8 inches, and still coming down

Of course its all over the news, but we're at the tail-end of our first big snow storm of the year. The ice last week was nothing (for us anyway). Tuesday evening we got a couple of inches of snow, though. I was in PA at Olympus America all week and Carmen left early Wednesday AM for MT (we have a dog-sitter now!). Translation: nobody shoveled our driveway! When I got home Thursday night, our entire property was one big skating rink. The snow had half-melted, then froze. The driveway...all 150 feet of it...had 1" thick ice on it. With a 10AM appointment, and an ETA of another storm at 1PM...I had a stressful Friday morning and afternoon trying to clear all the ice off the driveway before the storm hit. I finished around 3:30 just as the snow was starting to build up.

Lesson of the day: Never let the snow melt on the driveway!!

My new snow blower was completely inactive against the ice, so I resorted to salt and a square shovel, yard-type. It actually worked quite well. Shortly I will christen my snow blower for real, and then head out to the mall to do my Christmas shopping!

27 days and counting...

Baby G is almost ready!  Yesterday I had a growth scan, and they estimated the baby's weight to be approx. 7lbs 4oz!!!  If I go to my due date it could gain up to 2 more lbs- yikes!  That makes me scared for the delivery, but people say it's good to have a nice big baby, that they are healthier, eat more, sleep longer, etc.  

This week at work they had a surprise shower for me, which was really nice.  Today we have a prenatal visit with our pediatrician.  Construction continues on our hall closet, it should be done this weekend.  Then we will will be all ready.

We are looking forward to relaxing during the holidays.  Scott's family will come down and it will be fun to see the kids.

painting again

Just after I finished painting my living roo m and hall green and orange a couple of months ago, I now have to return it to "neutral" in order to not offend potential buyers! So I have been taping and painting, up and down the ladder, bending over to the baseboard and I am exhausted tonight. Once I get the taping done it should be easier. I may paint Doug and Carmen's favorite color in their new house - the swatch looks like it would go really well. Can you imagine that doug? I will get a sample and try it before I commit.

So I'm off to rest my body and read.

Oh, I like the idea of freecycle, but I have so much stuff... I took a carload to goodwill today, and my friends came over and claimed some of my stuff I no longer want. It seems like more trouble to post and answer calls.

Really good news though - my new company is paying my moving expenses so I guess that means I don't have to pack! So my getting rid of stuff is mainly necessitated by probably having a smaller place with much less storage space than this big house. It feels really good to unload this stuff!

Walmart?

Before my arguably liberal family starts jumping on the Walmart bandwagon, perhaps we should read some of the reasons why a large number of educated Americans boycott Walmart.

http://walmartwatch.com/

I believe that they are partly responsible for a lot of the problems that we are experiencing in this country. Less than 50% of their employees are covered by their healthcare plan. They are the single largest customer of Chineses made goods, putting Americans out of work.

My biggest problem with them is that they censor the content of CDs, magazines and books. As the worlds largest retailer of media, if Walmart tells you to change your cover art, or your content because they conflict with Walmart's Southern Baptist culture...that's a big problem in my opinion.

http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3_2.html

As for me, I can spend a little extra money...and buy somewhere else.

Xmas??

I don't feel very Xmasy this year. When I go out to the stores, it feels wierd, cause there is hardly anyone shopping....makes me think I shouldn't be there...I should be home, not spending my money, saving it just in case....but there sure are some great sales going on.
Ron and I have become intimate with Walmart since we have been buying things there for the house in Pioneer. I keep thinking that I should buy stock in Walmart. It is always packed...I never stepped foot in it until this year...look what I have missed....people (especially in Jackson, where Walmart is THE only store) who look like they just came out of the woods , scruffy beards, beat up clothes, missing teeth, with a slime trail following them as they wander aimlessly about, some of them yelling for their fellow Walmart visitors, and/or screaming at their children who look like orphans....precariously perched on the side of the shopping carts...(dont they know that the little ones can fall and hurt themselves badly?) .... are these people horrified by what could happen in their world due to the stock market and the world economic crisis... They aren't home saving their money...they are at the world's greatest importer of Chinese made items...who knows maybe things will change and USA will start making "things" again and in the future we will have the oppportunity to buy them at the last remaining retail chain, Walmart...guess I should buy some stock!
Mary

Ice. Ice. Baby.

As you probably will see on the news this morning, we're having a bit of an ice storm here in Massachusetts. Power has been off since about midnight. No heat, no lights. Luckily, it's not that cold...only about 33. Also, luckily, our local Starbucks has power!

We have about 3 downed branches this size in our yard. It's pretty impressive how much ice fell off of them. When we drove to Starbucks, we had to take several detours because entire streets are blocked by downed trees.

When we walked out to this branch, I told Carmen that we should make margaritas! (you know...with all the ice.)

We were supposed to get about 2 inches of rain last night. Since our yard is a big soupy mess, that sounds about right. It's supposed to stop raining around noon, then warm up a little...but then get down in the teens tonight. Good thing tomorrow is Saturday!

art website finally

Hi all,

So update...I have three of my gilcee prints in a retail store in Sutter Creek (near Pioneer) and will be putting another 5 or 6 in this week with more to follow!

I found someone in Jackson (near Pioneer) to produce the gilcees for me and have one more store in Pioneer wanting to sell my art, and another store (saddlery shop) near Stockton interested. My work might also be exhibited in the Restaurant at the Jackson Rancheria (Indian gambling joint). So I have finally worked on my website which is www.FineArtStudioOnline.com/MaryPauer

and have some more work to do on it.

So how did this all happen?? Don't know but it sure has been easy. I have one piece that I would like to show in Studio Seven in Pleasanton, which is a pretty nice art gallery. I am a bit nervous about sending it off (jpeg via the internet of course) but the worst that can happen is she says No!

On another note, I go to Dr. Larson at UCSF (neurosurgeon) on Wednesday this week to speak again about the Deep Brain Stimulation. Am so uncomfortable, actually in alot of pain sometimes, so it is time to get this done.

If you haven't heard, Chris starts BMW program tomorrow....hoorah! Seven months of full time school so he wont be working part time any longer. Instead of the 280 lbs of books the course usually requires, he will be getting a new lap top from BMW with the books downloaded on it! Lots of homework each nite...but he should be graduating with a job at a dealership!

Kaitlyn is fine, her social life is flourishing. Still not interested in getting drivers permit!

Ron is taking the month of December off starting on Tuesday. Linda is coming on the 25th for a few days and we will take her to see the house.

Got to run!

Love you!

Mary

Giving things away- Freecycle

Have you heard of "freecyle.org"? It is a website that directs you to a local yahoo group that is specific for the area that you live in. They have one for Tempe. People put all sorts of things that they want to give away and therefore keep things out of the landfills.

The other day I offered a pile of 20 or so gift boxes ( you know the ones I keep collecting every year, even though whenever I buy a gift it always comes with a gift box). I posted it on the group and later that afternoon some lady picked them up from my front porch! Awesome! Steve had a pants/press valet that we have moved around the country five times that was a periodic annoyance to me whenever I looked at it. I put it on freecycle and within an hour , I had 12 emails from people who wanted it. ( I started to doubt myself for wanting to get rid of it because it was desired by so many people!)

Anyway it is very easy because you don't have to gather up a big load to take to a drop off spot. If you are inspired to get rid of something, just put it on freecycle and it will be gone.

Good luck on your job interviewing Mom, and keep us posted.

Love,
Anne