Notes in Passing

We've had over two feet of snow fall at our house in the past week; most of it still on the ground.  The second round of snow was much heavier than the first.  We do have a path to the driveway and from the driveway to the street but we have not felt up to leaving the house for the past three days.  The car is ice covered anyway. 

The last news report claimed that over 100,000 people lost power in this area due to the heavy snow on the trees.  We had our lights flicker just briefly but they never went out completely.  In every other storm where power was lost in the city (the 1970's, the 1980's, and the early 2000's) we lost power every time.  The last time we were down for nine days so we were very grateful to be missed in this storm. 

Yesterday I walked the boys in the street and Luie was able to navigate well enough to do his business; Gussie had a much harder time of it.  I'm resigning myself to paper towel pick up in the living room and then heavily deodorizing the carpet. I didn't bother to walk them today.  Hubby has been putting them on their leashes and letting them go as far as they're able, while he stands patiently watching from the front door.  They are coping pretty well but all of us desperately want to have an outing soon. 

The new Masie Dobbs novel and the new Alex Delaware mystery were delivered to my Kindle / Fire.  I've had my fill of TV but Hubby is still locked into his 1960's - 1980's TV reruns.  Yuck.

I did watch and enjoy the Academy Awards on Sunday night.  Hubby relinquished the TV while he played computer games.  He tried to watch for an hour of red carpet reports but that was all he could take.  Though the show was panned by many critics, I enjoyed it very much -- more than usual.  I thought the musical numbers were really good and especially enjoyed the Les Miz tribute.  Why everyone thinks Russell Crowe is so awful is beyond my ken.  I think he sings very well;  he's no Alfie Boe -- but Hugh Jackson is no Alfie Boe either.

Periodically I get some kind of strange allergic reaction to .. . well, I don't know what it is.  The result is that my lips swell to enormous proportions and burn like crazy, then crack and bleed and peel.  The first time it happened I could actually see my lips by just looking downward.  That time I ended up in the emergency room.  The second time I simply walked into my doctor's office and they shot me full of  an antihistamine.  Now I just take an over the counter allergy med and wait awhile and eventually the lips resume normal size.  It think it's a reaction to the Celebrex and some of my other meds so I lay off the pain meds for a while and things work out without paying for a doctor's visit.  I do look pretty funny for a day or so, though.  On Tuesday the lips started to swell and it took six doses of Bennedril before I finally began to look like myself again.  Now I'm struggling to cope with the bleeding, peeling areas just above and below my lip line. 

Hubby got a scare when his heart rate zoomed up from his normal 65 to 95 but on calling the cardiologist we found out that his rate has been set to go between 60 and 95 and he need not worry.  Wish we'd been told that earlier.  We did do the first reading of his pacemaker and sent it off by phone line to the doctor's office.  We have to do this every three - six months.

Hubby made a macaroni / hamburger casserole at the start of the second huge winter storm.  That has lasted us through most of the evening meals but today I had to concoct a tuna salad which Hubby ate completely in one sitting.  I think we're going to have to actually do a store run this weekend.

That's pretty much all the news from the Heartland.  There was a lot of snow. There still is a lot of snow.  There will be a heaping lot of snow until the weather warms up.