COLD AND SNOWY EVERY WHERE

Is everyone cold enough ? Had enough snow? Dreading making up snow days in June? ME TOO. What a winter we are having this year. I realize you all are used to the snow and just keep on going through it. But we have more on the ground today than we usually get all winter. One bright spot is that all the snow makes the world look bright! Even with the gloomy gray sky. The trees and fence rows, bushes and buildings look like Martha Stewart sprayed us with her fluffy white frosting. We are bracing for a cold front to come through this afternoon dropping the temps into single digits. No chance of melting this week. 
I was putting the final touches on a quilt for Courtney when I broke my machine. Poor old $98 Sears model has been with me since 1969. I sold my portable dish washer to buy it. Crazy, I know, but at the time, I wanted to sew more than I hated doing dishes. I guess I'll go to Steve's sister and borrow one of her machines. She quilts a lot and has her things set up in a small room off her restaurant in Paoli. The daughter-in-law runs the restaurant now, so she is free to sew and sew. She's planning to open a small fabric shop there, too. That will be great for those of us who don't shop much and tend to order fabric online. Like me. 
I'd love a new machine with all the bells and whistles, but I'd have to give up my vacations on the coasts if I spent that much. So I'll think of a Plan B. We are trading our Gulf Shore visit to Cape San Blas Florida. It is less developed and has beautiful turquoise water. My buddies and I got a new beach front house for Spring Break and the family house is one row back from beach front with a pool. We have to have a pool for the kiddos. Provides so much entertainment for all of them. There is no house between ours and the water, the view is open and you can hear the surf from my bedroom, so I'm happy. We are booked for 2 weeks this year, hoping the boys will come down for a few days. Stephen King isn't interested, but the sons are working on him. After 2 hours in a restaurant with Caleb on Sunday, he isn't sure he can handle that much togetherness. The 3 little ones can be noisy, but they are usually pretty tired by bedtime. I love our time together each summer. Being away from home makes it all the more special, no interruptions or distractions, just time to enjoy each other. We have so many rituals now that even Gavin and Caleb talk about what we "have to do". Crabbing at dark, watching the stars at night, counting dolphins and pelicans and reading the messages on the seaplanes flying by the beach. Every morning they sneak into my room for stories of when their dads were little boys. They can't quite believe those big guys were as small as them and love to taunt their dads with, "we know about the time you...". The girls love it too, but in another way; they all enjoy the water and the beach and the food and a few shopping trips. The massages and manicures and hair beading from the local Spa are something they relish. I guess it is a fantasy we all love living in. Until G-ma retires, hehehehe.
Gee, I just realized I'm still in French Lick, it is still cold and Spring Break is 40 days from now. The power of visualization is good, but not enough to actually transport me away. Darn it, I should have been a witch not a counselor.
Last week was so difficult, girls. We had a pregnancy, 2 cutters, an ED kid with a knife, mean girls on a vicious tear, teachers about to revolt and this old woman trying to cope with it all. I failed, my spirit was weak and defeated. I let it all get to me. On the outside, I managed, but inside I was a mess. When will we get strong enough to do this work without all the garbage left inside?  I hope for one more year to attempt to learn how, after that I may retire. If funding cuts come I may not have that. I'll have to find a new career, one that is all about joy and celebrations. Maybe???
See you all in a couple of weeks. Talk to me, Ladies. Love, Hedy