Ice is for Tea!!

The weather has been very much in the news the last few days. Icy road conditions are my greatest fear since I have a 1 hour commute each way every day. It has been very icy since Monday afternoon.

I came to work on Monday morning prepared to spend the night since ice was moving in and I didn't want to deal with it the next morning when I had to be here at 8 A.M. to teach a class. They shut down the campus at 3 P.M. and canceled classes for the next day (Tuesday)...and I was stuck here.

Fortunately, I have a big office and a comfortable(?) couch, access to food, kitchen and rest room. Conditions didn't improve enough so they canceled classes for Wednesday as well. I'm still here. However, I do have cable TV, Internet and the whole building to myself. Not bad...and don't forget the comfortable(?) couch!

Well, it's Wednesday afternoon and the sun is shining and some of the roads are melting even though the temp is still in the 20's. I know I could stay with my son a few miles away but icy streets are worse than icey roads. I'm safe from crazy drivers here in my office. I could go home but the roads are going to freeze again when the sun goes down and it is dark at 5:30 in the morning when I leave for work...so I'm staying here again on that comfortable(?) couch.

Mark my words, though! after class tomorrow and as soon as the roads have melted again I AM GOING HOME! I intend to work from home on Friday.

Ice does not belong on roads...only in Tea!

It was Daddy's Birthday!

My father's birthday was on the 23rd of this month! It's hard to believe that he has been gone for 9 years already! He would have been 89. I think about him every day. I came across an article recently that I wrote when I was at his funeral in Sandersville, GA. If you are interested, you can read it here. Papa was a very special man and he always wanted to leave his children a legacy. I think he meant a monetary legacy but instead he left us so much more than that. We are all very proud of the "Old Time Preacher Man" and always enjoyed laughing at his stories (and quite often at him!) Everyday, I smile or actually laugh out loud at some memory that pops up in my mind. Papa left us with a legacy of loving the Lord and a longing to meet him on the "Hallelujah Side". I hope I can leave some of that behind for my children, too.

Nitrous Oxide, Anyone?

I've never had much (or any) experience with "drugs" and "trips" or anything like that. I've never really been interested in going down that road. However, I do insist on Nitrous Oxide whenever I have to have anything painful done on my teeth...I am very much a wimp when it comes to pain and the voluntary inflictions thereof.

So, today I had my first root canal done and they were considerate enough of my emotional state to put the mask on my face when I first entered the "room"! After a while they asked if I was feeling the effects and I replied that I wasn't sure so they turned it up. It wasn't long before I really was at the maximum and really was feeling the effects...and it was great! Everytime I started becoming a little too concerned in my mind, I made sure to take serveral deep breaths and the concern just "went away"!!

I remember thinking a bunch of thoughts, at least I thought they were a bunch of thoughts, and thinking that I need to remember this when it is over. Like, how it felt after several really deep breaths...very much like being on a merry-go-round when you are hanging on with all your strength and the world is going round faster and faster and there are little colorful globes floating around in the air! Or like, trying to keep track of what was actually going on and at the same time asking myself if I really wanted to do that. Or wondering, did that hurt? Or what was that?

Then suddenly, it's over and the dentist is asking if my head is clear yet, and I realize that it actually is...at least as much as usual.

Anyway, it was great not really being there for the whole ordeal. I recommend it to anyone.

Just Getting Started

Well, you have to start somewhere! It seems like I'm always a little late getting started but I guess the important thing is to start. It just takes me a little longer than I'd like.

I got a late start on finishing my degrees...all after 55 years! It seems like my career is just starting and it should probably be winding down by now. Life is just speeding up for me! I love it!

More later.