I have a good excuse: I had to go alone to pick up my new cell phone and take advantage of the extremely good sale on Sunday and reserve a phone for my husband, BBP, at the good rate. He couldn't be there because he had promised a friend in DC a ride out to BWI, which is minutes from our house. That was okay except for the amount of snowing that was going on, but the friend misunderstood BBP's message and found her own way to the airport. I managed to get myself to the shopping center anyway, since I'm a Midwest girl and learned to drive on the stuff, and fortunately it wasn't too far from the hotel we were staying in. Oh--we were in a hotel for four nights, ever since our 22-year-old furnace died on Friday at about 6:00 pm. Well, it's a good thing I got the phone then because it was in all the confusion that I had lost my old phone, and this way I could have it de-activated without changing my number. When BBP and I met for supper, neither of us had had lunch, so it made us both grumpy that the salesman wouldn't cut off BBP's phone earlier just because I had been standing there saying to, because while BBP had been driving around his old cell phone had died a natural death after several years of service, but we were glad we had coordinated everything up until we hadn't had to miss our parish election and the announcement of our new Rector, although we'd had to cut out of the luncheon afterwards. Oh, so yesterday we checked out of the hotel, but once we got home we realized I really wouldn't do too well at staying in the cold house alone all night, even though the utility company had brought over some space heaters. Oh, I was alone because BBP had signed up to work at our church's Winter Shelter overnight on Tuesday night, so I arranged to stay with a friend instead and sent with BBP the warm hat I'd made to give to one of the homeless men--with great sympathy on my part, believe me. BBP had even more sympathy, since he's been spending every day since Monday in the cold house with the contractor who is here to finish our bathroom remodeling job that was started last May. I couldn't fill for him and let him go back to work in because the flu was too severe, having started Sunday night, but now poor hubby has it and I'm glad I'm able able to answer the contractor's questions and those of the utility company guys installing the new furnace and air conditioner even as I write.

Still smiling anyway (well, most of the time),
Jaye