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Jean is still in the throws of this nasty flu, though she is on the way back. I am mostly recovered though five weeks after the first onset of symptoms I am still trying to clear the last of the cough and still needing more rest than normal.
This weekend we mostly vegged out at home. We went to Furr's Cafeteria for Saturday lunch and I went to a union stewards meeting Saturday night and spent some of the weekend building a website for the union local.
I was just glancing over my entries and realized that I am still coughing from a cold that I caught last year. It has been this persistent tickle deep at the back of my throat which is agravated when I speak. Given that I talk on the phone for a living, that has been somewhat problematic, but lots of cough drops and lemonade, combined with frequent use of the mute button has gotten me through.
Jean is just now coming back from the worst of it. She has had a rough time. Bless her heart, yesterday she said, "I've decided I wasn't sympathetic enough with you when you were sick." This stuff is nasty.
The weather wise men tell us that it was a warm middle layer which spared us the worst of the snow storm, causing the moisture to fall as rain. Still we got about 4 inches today so the kids got some snow to play in. In fact I got to exchange a few rounds of snowballs with my nephews. With luck the worst has passed on and will be thawed by Monday.
When we were in Phoenix, Emma favored us each with a dance. This is her dance with Jean.
That pink blob over Oklahoma, New Mexico and the Texas panhandle is a winter storm warning. That purple eye poised over the southwestern panhandle and moving over Lubbock is a heavy snow warning. The weather wisemen tell us that we could get up to 18 inches of snow. All the school systems are either closed or closing early. The store shelves have been depleted in anticipation as everyone braces for the snow's arrival. The forecast is 100% chance of snow but right now it's just cold and sprinkling. Children are praying for the accuracy of the wisemens predictions.
We rolled in last night about 10, very pleased with ourselves. We completed the 750 mile run from Phoenix to Lubbock in just over 14 hours, with a leisurely dinner at Ruby Tuesdays in Las Cruces.
We had scheduled to leave Saturday morning, but the Lubbock forecast had the ice storm into town Friday night. We picked up the rental car Friday evening and drove out of town through icy mist and snow flurries. By the New Mexico line we were in the clear, and spent the night in Roswell. We called back to Lubbock Saturday morning and Matt said the city was blanketed under 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice with more on the way.
We visited the Roswell UFO Center
and headed west, stopping at White Sands.
We got into Tucson Saturday evening and left mid morning, arriving in Phoenix about noon.
We spent Sunday afternoon visiting with granddaughter Maryse & her husband Robert, great granddaughter Emma, and Robert's family. They are nice people. We took Robert and Maryse to dinner. Robert had to go to work so we called it an early evening.
We were up early and on the road after breakfast and a latte. Kirk split the driving. We were concerned about Texas road conditions but Matt said the sun had burned the ice off the roadways and we drove straight in without incident.
I have posted more photos at Flickr (see link on post below).
Though I'm not having an opportunity to post as I might, I have posted trip photos to Flickr.
We are on the road this weekend and I am away from my system so I am not posting regularly until next Tuesday.
It was all over the tech press today that Yahoo had acquired MyBlogLog. I hadn't heard of it so I popped in and joined. I'll be following up on it. You'll know I've bought in if you see a faceroll on the left.
It is so interesting to me what a process it is to regain our equilibrium after we have been knocked for a loop by some trauma or another. My most recent was this severe cold/flu which sidelined me for a week but the recovery process has been similar from surgery or car accidents and even from emotional trauma of sufficient intensity. We take for granted what a complexly choreographed dance we dance as we move through our lives and just how much energy it takes to dance it. Over these past few days as I have climbed back up toward full functionality I have experienced an enormous sense of gratitude for the capacity and energy I normally have to weave my way so casually through my days and nights and for the tremendous help and cooperation I am favored with by those around me. Thank you. Thank you.
We rang in 2007 in homebody fashion last night. We watched it arrive EST in Time Square on CNN and then actually toasted and kissed in the new year in an hour later with Dick Clark. Ten minutes later, we were in bed. I'm not sure if its the number of new years I've seen or just this particular year that I wasn't that excited about.