A quick post this morning. When it rains, it pours; this morning Don heard a grinding sound coming from his brakes, so we have to take it in. It’s most likely the rotors. Tomorrow, I have to pay for new tires. And, in a couple of weeks, for a 30,000 mile check-up.

$$$$

I’m also dealing with some potential weather problems this week – a week in which I have to make it to Hartford, either Thursday or Friday, for a run-through. Tomorrow night we are supposed to get 3- 5 inches of snow which will turn to – you guessed it – ice  on Thursday morning. There’s no way I’ll get out of here for a run-through on Thursday. So we have to hope we can clear all the snow and ice out by Friday so I can get to Hartford then.

I briefly considered going there today, but I don’t want to drive there without my new tires on the car and that won’t happen until tomorrow.

And I have to have dental work done in the not-too-distant future.

Suddenly, I’m feeling overwhelmed.

I want to leave you with this quote from Transcription  by Kate Atkinson, which takes place (partly) in wartime London – I read it this morning and marked it to share with you:

“The future was coming nearer, one relentless goose step after the next. Juliet could still remember when Hitler had seemed like a harmless clown. No one was amused now. (“The clowns are the dangerous ones,” Perry said.)”

Sound familiar?

This isn’t the cheeriest post, is it? Ah well. Life happens.

Leanne, if you read this, I need your phone number for Barbara – she can’t ship from Canada to the United States without a phone number for customs. I sent you an email last week and haven’t heard from you.

Happy Tuesday.

I’ve been playing with paint:

This was taken just after I applied the polish and before I cleaned up the edges.

Every once in a while, I flirt with nail polish because I love the look of it. Only in winter, mind you, it’s not at all practical in the spring when I’m in full gardening mode. I saw this shade at the grocery store and bought it on a whim. I really like it, but I eventually encounter the same problem I always have: it chips. Unless one doesn’t have to do any work around the house, takes obsessive care of their finger and hand movements, and has it done professionally, it isn’t going to last that long.

I’m already planning to remove it all this morning and put on a fresh coat. And eventually, I’ll get sick of it and that will be it for a while. I do paint my toenails in the summer, but that’s always been the case.

For a couple of years about 11 years ago, I had someone apply acrylic nails to my nails and got them done every two weeks. I’ve never liked my nails, which grow exactly like my mom’s did – the sides of the nails angle outward instead of a straight vertical, making it impossible to grow my nails to any length. Plus they’re smallish. The acrylics became a pain in the tush and I started to worry that they were ruining my natural nails, so I stopped.

Does anyone out there wear nail polish? If I’m foolish enough to continue this for a while, do you have any tips for me as to the brand of polish and top coat you use?

Changing the subject, I started The Night Circus, but I’m so sleep deprived at the moment that I’m not reading it today. I’m barely into the story and when I’m sleep deprived my perceptions are off. This is not a mystery which flows easily for me, it’s a different genre that I have to read carefully. It would be too easy for me to give up on it. So I’ll look at a couple of magazines today, instead.

Don is off to NYC this morning for an audition.

Happy Friday.

Sorry for my absence yesterday, but, as you might have guessed, a full-fledged head cold made its presence known on Tuesday. I had been outside doing a bit of hacking at the ice that is everywhere. Shortly after I came in, my head felt like a bowling ball, and it became clear that the head cold that Don had been dealing with was now passed on to me. Thanks, Don!

I felt really crappy yesterday, so no post. I’m ensconced in my chair, blowing my nose endlessly, doing nothing more than looking at Instagram and the news. Yesterday was a somber and momentous day for our country. You know how I feel about that.

Happily, my sister had just sent us some essential oils (she recently took a class in them) and I have the ones for allergies, which she assures me I can use for a cold. Bless her. And I received my very own video made by Little Z this morning which gave instructions on how to use them. Just what the doctor ordered, my little nephew and his big smile and his quite precise instructions!

I took care of Don and now he’s taking care of me. It is absolutely freezing here – it’s only going to reach 22 degrees today. And we’re due for another damned ‘wintry mix’ on Monday. That means more ice and sleet. Don managed to hack his way out of here yesterday to run some errands. It’s just dreadful. And it isn’t even Winter yet. What a month it has been!

But it’s sunny, so there’s that.

My brain is too fuzzy to think of a title for this post.

Have I purchased any Christmas presents for Don yet? No.

Happy Thursday.