February Half Over

Wow, here it is the 17th of February already. The month is going by quickly.  Seems the older I get the quicker the time goes by.
It's been a fairly decent month weather-wise. A few cold days, but mostly above normal temps, just like January.  I hope that means an early spring and not that winter is delayed.
The bad thing (in my opinion) thing about these warm temps is the flu seems to be worse this year. I think we need those cold temps to kill the germs. On the other hand different types of germs live in cold temps, so maybe it's a trade off.
So far this year, my husband and I have been blessed to escape the nasty bug. Not that the flu season is over by any means. There's still a long way to go.
It is nice, however to see the days becoming longer - I should say daylight, shouldn't I - the days are still only 24 hours long.  And it's really been nice to see a lot of sunshine this winter. Normally the days are dreary, sometimes to the point of having to keep the lights on all day.
Beginning March 8th, only a few weeks away, the time changes again and it'll be light even later. Can't say I mind. I just wish they'd leave it one way or other already.  I hate they keep changing it. Of course, if they leave it to daylight savings time, it's going to be dark in the morning longer. If they leave it the way it is, it'll be dark earlier in the evening during the summer months. I think I'd rather have it get dark earlier. It's bad enough it doesn't get light until almost 8 AM in the winter. I can't imagine it not getting light until almost 9.
I guess I don't have much to say about it. They've been talking about changing it for years and so far it hasn't happened. Probably never will.
Today is a bright sunny day, and I'm enjoying it. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 50 again. Last Friday, it barely made it to 17 for a high.  No wonder everyone is sick. Crazy roller coaster weather.
We'll take the good with the bad and suffer the frigid winters every so often or the snowier than normal winters. And yes, we'll enjoy the warmer than normal also. We have no choice.

Mother Nature Has a Sense of Humor

What else can it be with the weather warm one day and freezing cold the next. January was a bitter cold month. Not unusual to have sub zero temps for a few days in January. It is winter, after all. This year it started the last week in December with temps in the teens and went well into the first week in January.

Before we knew it, by the middle of January the temps were spring like – rising all the way to 55. Great time to take down the Christmas lights and I took advantage of it. Many people did.

February started out up and down, but mostly below average until the 9^th and then a warm front moved in. Not that I’m complaining mind. I don’t much like those frigid temperatures. Never did. Not that I care much for the high heat of summer either. It could stay in the mid to upper 70s all year long and I’d be happy.

This week has been fairly mild with temps working their way up to 60 yesterday (2/15).  Today, it’s going to be 33, below average for this time of year. Next week promises more warmth with highs in the mid 60s. Unfortunately, it’s going to rain.

Can’t have everything, after all it is winter in Ohio. We’re lucky to have the warm temps. I’m hoping for an early spring, but I’m not holding my breath. We often have our biggest snow storms in March. Heck, we’ve even had them the last week of April. Yep, Mother Nature’s sense of humor again.  I guess no one told her Spring is supposed to begin March 20^th.

Sometimes I wish I can go south for the winter, but then I think about it. I’m too family-oriented. I couldn’t be away from them for that long. I know they’d get along without me just fine, but… would I get along without them? Probably not. I like our get-togethers. Like having them close at hand in case I need them. I’ve been blessed they all live within 15/20 minutes the farthest and five minutes the closet. If I have an emergency, I know they’ll be here quickly. So call me a home-body.

Getting through winter hasn’t been too bad since we retired. If it gets bad, we just stay home. I’ve got a freezer stocked with meat as well as frozen (homemade) spaghetti sauce and chili. We certainly wouldn’t go hungry. I’m blessed to have my nephew plow our snow and they keep the streets pretty clean around here, so we’re really not snowbound – at least we haven’t been for a while.

So Mother Nature can keep her sense of humor. I’ll laugh right along with her. 

A Tease of Spring

Mother Nature loves to tease. Warmer temperatures the last couple of days gives us a taste of what's to come. With the brutal fridgid temperatures we've had this winter, they're a welcome change. Unfortunately, next week we return to the below average temps. 
But there's only one more week of February and March often brings warmer weather, more teasing and unfortunately, also more snow. But spring and summer inch closer as the days grow longer and we get more sunshine. 
I can't really complain, it is winter, after all, and in Ohio winter means cold and snow. Yet every year come February, everyone starts complaining and wishing for spring. I guess cabin fever sets in and isn't each season supposed to last 3 months? I know - it's only 3 months from the first day of winter to the first day of spring - but it seems much longer, at least this year. Seems like winter set in early November and we all know just because spring begins March 20th, it's not necessarily going to be warm from then on. Although every year we hope. 
I shouldn't wish the days away so quickly. Time passes much to fast as it is. The older you get, the quicker it passes. 

Well back to my work in progress - still no name. 

Check out Amazon for my latest books and don't forget It's Only Make Believe is on sale for 99 cents for a limited time. 

Dog Days of Summer

The dog days of summer are the hottest, most sultry days of summer, usually from early July to the beginning of September.   Why are they called the Dog Days of Summer?  According to Wikiedia -The Dog Days originally were the days when Sirius rose just before or at the same time as sunrise (heliacal rising), which is no longer true, owing to precession of the equinoxes. The Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather.

 In Ancient Rome, the Dog Days extended from July 24 through August 24 (or, alternatively July 23-August 23).

According to The Book of Common Prayer (1552), the "Dog Daies" begin on July 6 and end on August 17.

The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11, coinciding with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. These are the days of the year when rainfall is at its lowest levels.

That is certainly holding true this year.  It's been horribly hot and humid. I'd sure like to give my airconditioners a rest. Not to mention, I don't even want to see my electric bill.  It rained for a bit and now it feels like a sauna.

Hang in there, winter is coming and we'll be complaining about that. Give me spring all year round.

More Snow

Here it is almost the end of March and we have more snow. It doesn't really surprise me, after all, it is still March and although it's officially Spring on the calendar, it's really still winter. In fact April often brings snow. We've had big snowstorms the last weekend in April several times. I'm not really complaining and fortunately, we only got a light covering, but after all that beautiful warm sixty degree days to go back to the thirties, well I don't mind telling you, it feels a whole lot colder. Fortunately, it's going to get warmer tomorrow and by the end of the week, it's supposed to be back in the sixties. I'll take that.  At least the sun is shining today.
I'm still hard at work on my WIP. Hopefully, I'll have it finished before long. For some reason, this is a slow mover. Some books just flow and in a matter of weeks, the rough draft is finished. Others, like this one, seem to take forever. Of course, the fact that I was blocked for a whole year on this one didn't help.  This was the first book I ever plotted out and outlined. I'll never do that again. A speaker at our chapter RWA meeting suggested trying it. Big mistake for me. I don't write that way. I've never written that way. They suggested writing a synopsis first, which I did. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to waver from that synopsis. It took a whole year to forget it and move on. I was then able to come up with new ideas and move on. So hopefully, this one will be finished soon. 
Happy Spring everyone.

Spring is in the air and so is romance

We have a slight warming trend promised for the weekend and I can't wait.  We just got a new puppy, a snorkie (yorkie/schitzu). He's adorable, but what a handful. He's so active. He absolutely exhausts me. I'd forgotten how it was to train a puppy.  Worse part is, my bichon isn't overly excited to have this newcomer. That surprised me becaue he's always been very social with other dogs and loves to play. Not so with this one. Whenever Oliver (that's what we finally named him  and that's another story in itself) is in the room, Toby (the bichon) goes in the bedroom or basement. I've never seen him react like that before.

As Spring approaches, I've invited my fellow authors to do a blog interview. It'll be fun to see what authors write, what they like and how they come up with thier ideas. I'm looking forward to it.

Six more weeks of winter according to the groundhog. Why that suprises anyone, I'll never know. I mean seriously, the first day of Spring isn't until March 20th. That's six weeks away. Besides that, in this part of the US, we seldom see spring until at least April - usually May and even sometimes May is cold. Granted, not as cold as now, but still not what I'd call warm. We often have 40 degree days.
I've discovered weather is a state of mind. If you don't mind it, it doesn't bother you. I guess as we age, other things are more important than the weather. Yes, I prefer warm temperatures, and I'd much rather be outside doing fun things, working in the yard, or even sitting out enjoying it. But then it'll turn hot, and I'll hibernate in the cool of the air-conditioned house (speaking of which, we're going to have to buy an airconditioner this year). I don't like hot weather any more than I do cold. At least cold you can dress appropriately. You can only undress so much in the heat. So , I'm not looking forward to the heat of summer any more than I like the cold of winte

Here it is the middle of January. Where does the time go? After weeks of snow, (almost a foot of accumulation in some places) we now have a warm front and I'm pretty sure by tomorrow, all of it will be melted. Especially since it's going up to 41 tomorrow with rain. Maybe it's because I'm older, but I don't mind the snow as much as I used to. Of course, I don't have to drive in it, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. I do worry about my kids having to drive in it. Especially my three sons who are truck drivers. Nothing worse than fighting traffic all day in bad weather.
I do have some good news, though. Not only am I going to be great grandma in June, I'm going to be a grandma again in August or September. My youngest son's wife is expecting their fourth child. And my oldest granddaughter is expecting her first child, a boy. And I'm going to be a great aunt and a great great aunt. Now that's getting scary all those greats. Makes me feel old.
We've started the edits for my next book. It's due out March 11th with Red Rose Publishing. I'm working on revising a couple of others that I wrote a long time ago. Bringing them more up to date and polishing them.