Quite a Few "Winter's Days In"

Buried.

That's what my van looked like for all of last week. (The amount of snow covering it varied.)

After a spring snowstorm, where large, fluffy flakes the size of hamsters floated down for the entire weekend, I backed up to leave for Swim Club last Monday. After making several attempts at the driveway, I realized that it was pointless, then backed up far enough to get back into my parking spot into some unpacked snow. My tires quickly transformed the slick, wet hamsters under them to solid ice, leaving me stranded in my own yard for the rest of the week.

We missed getting a flag out in time for the county grader to clear the driveway out, so it was not until yesterday, when our friend B brought out his MAX and plowed us out, that I finally achieved freedom. I am looking forward to getting to town today, and Jason is looking forward to doing a lot less errands in town for me this week. (Thank goodness he has 4-wheel-drive on his little Ranger!)

As mildly frustrating as it was to be stuck at home, I did enjoy a week that was a bit more relaxing, and took advantage of it to finish a few things on the "to-do" list.

In fact, yesterday I decided that I just might be addicted to finishing things. Don't get me wrong--starting things is fun. But sometimes I wonder if the only reason I start things is so I can finish them, and have the satisfaction of crossing them off the list. And I don't just cross them off--I use a highlighter. It's a habit I picked up years ago when I worked at Rogers Video in Calgary. Finished things got highlighted. It really makes them stand out on the list--I tell ya, the sense of accomplishment increases exponentially when you see all that neon green, yellow, and pink smiling up at you from your list! :-)

So, here are a few things I accomplished last week:

• Year-end business reconciliation

• 2010 tax returns!!!! (Yippee! First time I've been on time with that in four years, at least! First time I've been early since beginning my business in 2005!)

• Various kitchen chores that I had been falling behind on

• Jason's Valentine's Day socks. Started at Christmas—still not enough time.

• Almost (read: 1 more hour of work) finished some little "Keyboard Mitties" for myself. My hands get really cold when I work at the piano or computer for a long time on cold winter days. Colleen cued me in to the benefits of fingerless mitts for inside in the winter. (I never could see the value in this climate, before.)

• Season 1 of Glee (a show for which my reviews are mixed), which Jason had bought me for Valentine's Day.

Jason's feet modelling brown broken-rib socks

How my first Susie’s Reading Mittens set turned out.

That's it, but not bad for a week, I'd say. I also took a little celebratory leisure time after finishing the taxes to start learning how to use Google Sites. The "learning site" I am developing is just a showcase of our home school activities for the year, but I am checking it out to see if the tool would be suitable for a few other purposes I have in mind. I'll keep you posted on that, most likely.

Sadly, I have accomplished very little with the musical this past week. Last Sunday, I finished some demo recording, and am about half-way through another revision of the script. For some reason, my energy levels this weekend were just extremely low, and my motivation matched. I am blaming a week stuck in the house (still recovering a little from being sick the week before) and the never-ending-freakin'-snow-and-overcastness outside! I am SO ready for spring!

Anyway, that was my week in a nutshell. Happy Monday, friends!