Whew!

I've been wearing the $21 made-in-China down & feather jacket all week and have yet to contract avian flu. We are already in the top ten of both coldest and snowiest winter seasons ever recorded in the Chicago area. Wheee!!!

I have done nothing but eat carbohydrates. I wanted to exercise, but I can't get to the health club, the roads are so bad. Really can't take another three months of this.

When I was a kid, every September I would read my complete boxed set of Laura Ingalls Wilder novels. Although These Happy Golden Years was my favorite, The Long Winter made the most impact. Even then, I was extremely concerned about being trapped somewhere cold with no food. And would you have told Paleface anything if you were that Indian? Heck, no. Let 'em eat each other. I'd have been snug and warm visiting my distant cousins the Seminoles for the winter.