Happy 2010!

There will be no cute little poem at the beginning of this blog entry as I am not feeling very "poetery". I know that's not a word, but what the heck! It is the rottenest, meanest month of the whole year. Is there anybody out there that can find one good thing to say about the month of January? Unless you are sitting on a warm beach somewhere sippping a tall, cool drink, sitting in your swimsuit, cocked back in a comfortable chair, with that big yellow, warm orb shining down on you from the sky, probably not! At least not here in Illinois! Do you remember the descriptive blog I wrote about the fall? How much I love it, the warm days, cool nights, crunching of leaves? Well, I take it all back because of what comes after..yes, I think I truly do hate winter in Illinois. Yes, the first time it snows I kind of think it's pretty, the first time I have to go out to shovel snow, not so much. I only like snows that do not require shoveling, snow boots or involve my spending ten minutes bundling my dog up in his coat and booties to get him to do his "dogie" business outside and did I mention that always involves at least devoting fifteen minutes to walking around? Now this dog of mine is the biggest sissy dog in the world. He is a Pomeranian with a long, full, thick coat of fur and he isn't one of those little foo-foo, tiny Pomeranian's, he weighs twenty pounds, so I don't understand why he should be bothered by a little rain or snow, but when it rains, oh my, trying to get him out in the yard is like pulling a donkey that doesn't want to move through the yard. He straightens his front legs and digs in like he is a donkey! This dog definitely has a mind of his own. Now, here's the funny part, if it's a fresh snow, he loves to run out and frolic in it, but if it's been there a day or two and has gotten colder, forget it, he wants nothing to do with it. Also, he insists on climbing on top of the highest snow pile he can find to do his business. I love it when cars drive by and here I am standing by a huge snow pile with this dog up on top perched..well, I think I would probably laugh if I was driving by and saw that sight! These booties we have for him have gotten kinda rough looking and worn-out, as we have had them for five years and cannot find any like them, anywhere, they are felt-like and he tolerates them very well. We guard these booties with our lives. I always tell the husband, when you take him out at night in them, take a flashlight with you, because Mikko has been know to throw a bootie off in the yard while your walking him. One time, hubby came back in without one bootie, he was met at the door by me, "where is that other bootie? He said, "I don't know, he must have lost it out in the yard". I handed him a flashlight and said, "Don't come back without it!" "What if I can't find it?" I repeated in my sternest voice, "Don't come back without it!" I think he might have given me that look, you know the look that men give you when they can't quite understand what you are saying? But, out he went without another word with his little flashlight and back inside some fifteen minutes later with the little black bootie! Now this might seem ridiculous to some of you, but when it gets this cold out and a person takes one of these dogs outside and their little paws just aren't toughened up to this cold weather, you have to put these booties on, or the dog just stands out in the yard, lifting their feet up and looking at you like, "Are you nuts?" "Do you expect me to actually do something out here, now, in this cold, with my little paws freezing?" Well, enough of the dog adventures, now for my adventures since the start of this glorious year. On Monday after New Years week-end I went out in the garage to get in my mini-van to go to work. Said mini-van hadn't been out of the garage all week-end and it was very cold that morning, so I didn't think much of it when I started the vehicle up and it seemed very sluggish, when I tried to back out of the garage, but I talked nice to her and said, "come on, you can do it, you'll warm up in a bit". She still moved very slowly getting out of the driveway and then I started down the street and thought, something isn't right, what's going on, why is this thing so bumpy and slow? Then it dawned on me, you got a flat tire, you ninny! So I turned it around, very slowly and drove at inch-worm speed back to my garage, got out to inspect the van and the right-front passengers side tire was actually flat and now, off the rim! Oh, man, this is not good! Now I know all you men are going to say, "doesn't she look at her tires before she takes off?" No, I don't and I really don't think most other people do either. Maybe if I am taking a big trip, I actually look at the tires, but not just on a short trip across town. Well, the van had to take a big ride on the back of a big tow truck and then to the tire shop to get fixed. That was also the day that I had to go to the doctors as I have been a lot under the weather, sick would be the correct word since Wednesday before New Years Eve. I have had the worst ear ache and head full of ... well, use your imagination. My head feels like I went out the night before and had the best time of my life, of course, I have had no fun of that sort at all. I am on my second round of medicine and still cannot hear out of my left ear, I am always saying, "I can't hear you to everybody right now." No, this year isn't getting off to a very good start, but what the heck, I am going to get it all out of the way in January, because as soon as it's over, all the good stuff will start. I keep telling myself that, anyway. I hope the weather does improve somewhat, as this has been kind of bad, so far anyway. Hey, that lawn mower sitting outside in my shed is starting to look pretty good about right now, the darn thing just better start come April, if it knows whats good for it!