Zero Degrees and Snow, Oh My Aching Joints

It is ZERO degrees today in central Ohio - with 5 inches of snow. The cold makes me ache. However, today I'm not quite so hateful toward this neck brace. Why? Because it keeps my neck warm.

I'll be guest blogging at Renee' Barn's new blog for the newly po' next week. Will post the link here. Renee' and I know what it's like to have extra money and to have none at all. She's made it her passion to help those who are now finding themselves among the "middle class" or below for the first time in their lives because their fortunes that were "on paper" have evaporated, their homes are worth less than they owe on them, and they're shopping at WalMart instead of on Rodeo Drive.

While I'm ignoring housework except for the kitchen and bathrooms, mostly because my Very Cool Dude neurosurgeon has forbade me to do most things, I've been working on my website and online store every day. Because it is ZERO degrees outside, I've chosen to lighten my load by thinking "SPRINGTIME!". Check it out: http://tinyurl.com/9tht3h

Hubby has sworn to get me out of the house tomorrow - even if it is to go to Walgreen's to pick up refills of my prescriptions. I'll be using my wheelchair to ensure that I don't fall on the ice and break the new construction in my spine.

Having been a "tummy" sleeper my whole life, with several grandchildren to prove this is hereditary, I'm now, at 56, having to learn to sleep on my back or sides. The neck brace pushing against my cheeks and jaw have caused me to bite both sides of my tongue. This makes eating anything hot very uncomfortable.

I'll be adding "Home Fragrance" to my online store today. Probably to help kill the smell of our only-use-as-a-last-resort-kerosene-heater that is plugging up my sinuses. Go to www.lindajhutchinson.com and select "Enter Gift Store" from the menu on the left to check my progress.

My very long-time friend Lee from God's country, USA, where I used to live and she still does, emailed today to ask me how I was doing. They, on the rainy side of Washington state have had more snow in the past couple of years than I can remember happening since my son was about 7. They don't like it much.

My photos of son standing in the hole we'd dug in the snow, next to a yardstick, were stolen by the heathen, hypocrite, thieving, scripture-spouting bastards who stole my beloved truck, and all of our furniture, toilets and underwear, from our former home in middle Tennessee. However, that photo did exist to prove we'd gotten 36 inches of snow in 24 hours in Longview, WA. We didn't like it much then either. Well, the kids liked not having school. We didn't like that much either.

Most of the time Lee forwards on the most incredible photography that her Canadian cousin can get his hands on. He takes a lot of the photos himself, but I'm sure others are copyrighted by persons unknown to me, so I don't post them anywhere. They do, however, make me yearn to get out my oil paints.

Now that my fingers could hold an artist brush again. Maybe. I'll have to try that before making a bolder statement. And take into consideration that I can't even get comfortable to read while in this abominable neck brace, while wearing trifocals.

I have no choice but to ignore the laundry, housework, dishes, etc., that need to be done. I will pay the bills today. Hubby will take care of the rest after he's put in a full day of work. He'll get it done with a smile left for me. He won't like it much, though.