Winter has arrived!

Winter has settled in here. Low temperatures were 5 degrees Fahrenheit last night. Yes, that really is a single digit. Normally, we don't have these low temps until January. I hope this is not a precursor of things to come.

Gary has the snow blower up and running. We had about 4 inches of snow on Wednesday and he successfully got most of the driveway done before something got sucked up into the blower and clogged it. Yesterday he tried again and one of the belts slipped off. While it is physically difficult for him to heave and shove this tractor-beast around, I do think he enjoys getting it to work.

The big discovery doing this job was that the legs of his pants get wet from the snow. Another was that his monster, eskimo coat that we bought last winter is too heavy for him to work in. He has found a good pair of pants and a jacket online at Cabela's, but they are $100 each. I suggested that we drive up there tonight and check out the material before we order. We may even luck out and they would have the set in his size in the store. I need to get another pair of polypropylene glove liners anyway. I love the ones that I have, but they are getting very worn. I like them as they do their primary function well (keeping my hands warm) and the bonus is that I still have some tactile sensation while wearing them. They make excellent driving gloves.

Today is the last time Fabian's will be coming to Milwaukee until late spring. I am going to go over there at lunch and get several pounds of shrimp to put in the freezer. They are a Galveston company who drives up here every five or 6 weeks to sell shrimp, crab meat, and oysters. There is nothing like shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. Yum.

We got all the Christmas cards in the mail yesterday. Now we move on to get packages wrapped and in the mail. I got two parcels done last night. I need to get two more done tonight. That will leave the remaining two for tomorrow. I am not sure when I am going to get to decorate.

Decorating may be an interesting adventure this year with the new cat. I do hope she is not like my friend Ellen's cat who loves to climb up in the artificial tree and sleep!