what are you doing right now?

[swamp]

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

[empress of self-improvement]

Dec 24, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

Oof. Stay safe!

[andi9899]

Dec 24, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

Wow! How much snow did you get?

[Opti]

Dec 24, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

Stay safe. When is the weather supposed to get better up there? 

[Opti]

A little sad I am choosing to skip the Xmas Eve service with Xmas cookies afterward, but I do not want to deal with the ice in my parking lot after dark. And if my car flaked out not so sure I could manage to walk several miles home. 

So online service for me today. Hope everyone is safe as I think this year's weather is breaking records all over the US. 

[swamp]

Dec 24, 2022 15:59:23 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Dec 24, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

Wow! How much snow did you get?

Not that much. Just a few inches. It’s the wind.

[swamp]

Dec 24, 2022 16:13:49 GMT -5 Opti said:

Dec 24, 2022 15:53:36 GMT -5 swamp said:

So we’re still under a state of emergency. There’s a travel ban unless you’re an essential employee. Walmart and grocery stores closed. The state road I live on is shut down completely. No travel at all. 2 other state roads in the county closed. Several Multiple car pileups. Visibility is zero.

Stay safe. When is the weather supposed to get better up there? 

Tomorrow

[giramomma]

All the breakfast baking for the upcoming week is done.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Dec 24, 2022 16:20:34 GMT -5 swamp said:

Dec 24, 2022 15:59:23 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Wow! How much snow did you get?

Not that much. Just a few inches. It’s the wind.

That's how it was here.  We only got about 6 inches, but you don't need it to be snowing to have a blizzard.  It's died down some now, but a lot of the roads are still really bad because they pulled all the plows early last night.

[Deleted]

We made it through the night without power outages or frozen pipes. It's only supposed to be 25 tonight which sure beats 15-20. People are really ticked at ERCOT because they seriously underestimated the power demand and came very, very close to grid failure. One natural gas supplier in the Austin area was unable to supply its customers so they lost heat etc.

A neighbor tried to start his car today, again. He seems a little confused on how a car battery functions. Unlike water pipes that resume flow when the weather warms up, a dead car battery 3 days ago is still a dead car battery today

I hope everyone has a safe and comfortable weekend, regardless of how you spend it.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Well, it's time to put on about 5 layers and start working on the driveway after letting it be since Thursday.  I lucked out and the wind was just perfect from the west so my snow fence did it's job for a good chunk of my driveway. 

[daisylu]

About to curl my hair for Christmas with the ILs.

DS (21yo) came early to do some laundry. Haven't seen him in about 6 weeks. With his new facial hair and bone structure he totally looks like a young Rip from Yellowstone. I haven't watched Yellowstone, but I have watched clips. This feels weird.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Got the sweet potatoes done. One exploded in the oven. Put cleaning oven on resolutions list.

Ham is in. Gwen whipped cream we ended up with a rather large amount of Watergate salad. Dad is getting a ton of leftovers.

Abby is setting the table.

Presents all wrapped and under the tree. An unexpected benefit of Abby no longer believing in Santa. I'm sad it's ended but at the same time I don't need to be up till the butt Crack of dawn this year.

Now I can sit for a bit.

[susana1954]

I just got back from Bed, Bath, and Beyond after swearing I wasn't going shopping today.  I had put a "Spoiled Pet" picture frame ornament in my cart to wait for it to go on sale, and I should never have checked.  I got it for $3 instead of $8.  BBB is right besides Michael's and I have been wanting an artificial wreath to see if I can replicate the one I spend big bucks (mostly shipping!) on every year from Wreaths Across America.  I will still donate, but I'd like to stop buying one for the house.  That was on sale, too, at 70% off so $2.87 or something like that for a $7.99 wreath.  Oh, well, it might keep me away from the after-Christmas sales on Monday.

Our church service starts at 5, and I hope it is warm since my house has been cold all day.  My daughter's family comes at 6:30.  Then the madness is over except for Penny's presents tomorrow.  She hasn't been nearly as good as her Christmas bag suggests, but kids, furry or otherwise, never are.

Merry Christmas, all!

[daisylu]

Went to curl my hair, and I'm pretty sure DH was smoking weed in bathroom. Pray for him.

[giramomma]

DS's flight got delayed officially.

I really hope he gets out tonight.

[daisylu]

Dec 24, 2022 17:18:48 GMT -5 giramomma said:

DS's flight got delayed officially.

I really hope he gets out tonight.

Fingers crossed!

[Deleted]

Wonderful service at DS and DDIL’s church. They always have intelligent sermons. From there I took the girls down the street to the hotel where we’ll spend the night. They love this one- it has the open atrium design Hyatt used. I’m poolside with them and they’re swimming like little fish. They’ve really improved over the last 18 months! Swim lessons last summer helped.

This hotel has a special place in my heart because I was staying here for an actuarial meeting when DS and I had a quiet discussion on an outside terrace and he told me he was going to propose to DDIL. :-)

[Deleted]

Happy Birthday, catsareme

[Deleted]

Good news! Temps are forecast to warm up next week so we can re-connect the hoses before New Year's Eve. And there's a 40% chance of rain on New Year's Eve, both of which mean a better chance that the off-the-chain fireworks won't catch our home on fire.

Nothing I can do about tonight and the fireworks have already started so it won't be a great night sleep-wise. I think we'll stay up late and watch something

[giramomma]

Ribs are in the oven.

I'll do the first half tonight, and then the second part tomorrow.

Still have to order DH's present. But, all the presents, otherwise are under the tree.

Santa is l-a-z-y and doesn't wrap anything.

Since it is Saturday night, we are doing the bathing routine tonight. I live such a glamorous life.

[NancysSummerSip]

Dinner is done and the dishwasher is running -- all this cooking and baking means a lot of dirty dishes. My two loaves of fresh bread are down to 1.5 loaves and now in the freezer, or I would just keep stuffing warm bread and gobs of butter in my piehole all night.

And speaking of dessert -- the apple galette is done and it smells really good. Thank goodness for frozen puff pastry.

I am doing biscuits and sausage gravy tomorrow after we take a walk. Dinner is shrimp and pasta. We need to starve in between those two meals.

[busymom]

We did go to church for a Christmas Eve service, but I'm relieved to be back home.  Driving is terrible.  Imagine skidding when your car is only going 16 mph?  The ice on the roads is really bad.

[countrygirl2]

Things thawed out today so we went to the store. DIL and I decided to make cookies. I don't get a chance to cook for son very often so I baked, she decorated the sugar cookies. I made double batches of sugar, peanut butter and chocolate chip. We are going to her sisters tomorrow afternoon for dinner so taking about half of them. They are having quite a few guests. I hope the dinner is early. Her sisters home is over an hour away, its a long drive. I bought her a pretty Christmas type decorated plant. We felt like we needed to take something. We did not know we were going there before going or we would have bought a gift for them. Son said it was kind of last mintue too.

We are opening gifts in the morning that should be fun. 

I also bought some round streak to make son a dish he really likes. I brown round steak dipped in flour, then add a cup of chopped celery, an oinion chopped, and add a cup of water. Simmer till tender then melt velvetta over it. Pretty good stuff.

One evening I want to go out for seafood if we get a chance.

Little guy still believes in Santa, he won't for long so we will enjoy it this year.

 

[chiver78]

feeling a bunch of something tonight. I've had a lot of things swirling around my head these past few weeks that I haven't really talked about except the occasional vent on here (thank y'all, BTW). that call with my sister yesterday is still sour to me, for a few reasons. and I'm also still thinking about some work calls from this week, and why the office politics bug me so much. and, some lingering Catholic guilt from how I was raised, in the flavor of why TF am I worried about any of this on Christmas eve, as if the world stops bc of some magical guy in the sky*. I'm just a lot cranky, thinking too much, and in major need of space to get out of my own head.

*no disrespect meant to those of you celebrating the holiday this weekend, please enjoy it and your families. 💗

[minnesotapaintlady]

Watching Scrooged with Carrot...I set a reminder on my phone to put the presents out after he's in bed. I've never forgotten, but have been close before.

Not really looking forward to a long drive tomorrow because I don't think the roads are very good yet.

[cooper88]

@chiver78hugs.

[stillmovingforward]

Dec 24, 2022 19:57:54 GMT -5 countrygirl2 said:

Things thawed out today so we went to the store. DIL and I decided to make cookies. I don't get a chance to cook for son very often so I baked, she decorated the sugar cookies. I made double batches of sugar, peanut butter and chocolate chip. We are going to her sisters tomorrow afternoon for dinner so taking about half of them. They are having quite a few guests. I hope the dinner is early. Her sisters home is over an hour away, its a long drive. I bought her a pretty Christmas type decorated plant. We felt like we needed to take something. We did not know we were going there before going or we would have bought a gift for them. Son said it was kind of last mintue too.

We are opening gifts in the morning that should be fun. 

I also bought some round streak to make son a dish he really likes. I brown round steak dipped in flour, then add a cup of chopped celery, an oinion chopped, and add a cup of water. Simmer till tender then melt velvetta over it. Pretty good stuff.

One evening I want to go out for seafood if we get a chance.

Little guy still believes in Santa, he won't for long so we will enjoy it this year.

 

Please make time to go to the Westport Winery Sea Glass Grill while you are down there. Seafood delight!

[Pink Cashmere]

I have been irritable off and on this afternoon and evening.

I started cleaning the house this afternoon while Mister, his Dad and Kiddo were gone. Not even 15 minutes after I finished cleaning the kitchen and breakfast nook, they came home and started piling shit on the table in the breakfast nook. The table I’d just cleared and cleaned. Uhhhhh….. NO.

I got irritated that I even had to tell them to get that crap off the table, it was obvious I’d cleaned it, since it was a cluttered, dirty mess when they left, and when they came back the only thing on it was the plant that lives there, and the table was nice and shiny.

So I put myself in timeout until I got my attitude together and went back to cleaning. I’d gathered all the crap scattered in the den and put the box with Mister’s Dad’s stuff in it in the bedroom he’s using. When they got home I asked him AGAIN to clean the bedroom. You can only see the floor on a path from the door to the bed. It’s covered with clothes and the comforters and blankets he drags back and forth through the house, then dumps on the floor in the bedroom. He has drawers and a closet to put his clean clothes away, and I gave him a hamper for his dirty clothes. Mister has been telling him since he got here that he needs to keep the bedroom decent. It’s still a mess, as I type. 

Idk what all Mister was saying to his Dad, but when I came down the hall and they were in the bedroom his Dad is using, I overheard “…She doesn’t do well with chaos and stuff all over everywhere…”

Then I was cleaning the carpet in our bedroom and the living room and when I got to the living room, there was dog shit under my desk. That pissed me off.

Then I went to the dirty water from the carpet cleaner in the guest bathroom off the laundry room, and there’s yellow stuff all over the toilet, I assume pee. That pissed me off because I’m tired of cleaning that bathroom. I turned around and went and dumped the water in our bathroom. I try to keep the guest bathroom clean, ya know, in case we have guests. I’m about to tell Mister Imma ban his Dad from using that one. I did tell Mister he had to clean the toilet this time because I’m tired of constantly doing it when it’s not me making the mess. 

I’m not trying to be a bitch, I just wanted to have a clean house on Christmas. Well, really most days, but I really don’t think it’s too much to ask on a holiday when we might have company. Well, screw company, I want it clean for me.

[empress of self-improvement]

Dec 24, 2022 20:27:39 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

feeling a bunch of something tonight. I've had a lot of things swirling around my head these past few weeks that I haven't really talked about except the occasional vent on here (thank y'all, BTW). that call with my sister yesterday is still sour to me, for a few reasons. and I'm also still thinking about some work calls from this week, and why the office politics bug me so much. and, some lingering Catholic guilt from how I was raised, in the flavor of why TF am I worried about any of this on Christmas eve, as if the world stops bc of some magical guy in the sky*. I'm just a lot cranky, thinking too much, and in major need of space to get out of my own head.

*no disrespect meant to those of you celebrating the holiday this weekend, please enjoy it and your families. 💗

I feel you all over this. If you think you want to come up for a while, feel free. Holiday doesn't do anything for me. Dogs can come too.