Yet another rainy day...

This has been the coldest and rainiest (is that a word?) January in all the years we've been down here. We are both so tired of wearing heavy coats and jackets. As is everyone else, because no one seems to be going outside unless they really have to. Hardly anyone is walking, and the local traffic seems to be lighter. Although, my friend A is most likely still playing tennis every blessed chance she gets. Honestly... one of these days they will find her frozen on the courts.

Young Miss C and her mom stopped by last night, after C's after-school Color Guard practice. They were going to stop here this afternoon, but C insisted that she see me on my birthday, not after my birthday. She bounced into the front door bearing two wrapped packages, telling me to open the larger one first.

They gave me a whipped cream maker... a sort of thermos-sized gadget that you pour fresh heavy cream into. Then you attach a little metal canister to it (ten of those refills were in the smaller package) and after a few shakes, you have real whipped cream. C's mom got one of those for Christmas, and I had a feeling I would be treated to one pretty soon, being that C's dad wasn't impressed with the can of Redi-Whip that we had here for Thanksgiving. He was amazed that we didn't make "real whipped cream," being that we had freshly baked homemade pies. Well, he was right, of course, but honestly, after all the cooking and baking we did for Thanksgiving, real whipped cream was just the last thing on my mind.

So now we have this gadget to make real whipped cream whenever anyone wants some, as long as there is heavy cream in the fridge. Being that Miss C loves hot chocolate with whipped cream on top, I have a feeling that both of the whipped cream makers will be getting a lot of use.

Especially if this totally stupid weather doesn't start clearing up. The cats are already past their limit and have cabin fever, and now Gracie is starting to feel the squeeze with this weather. I opened the back door for her to run out into the backyard for a few minutes this morning (while it wasn't raining) and within thirty seconds, she had taken care of everything she had to do out there, ran back inside, and curled up on her blanket and went to sleep. Which is unusual for that dog because she likes a long walk in the morning. But not on rainy mornings, I guess, and most especially when those rainy mornings seem to have to end in sight.

The weatherman keeps saying "at least it isn't snowing like up north..." He'd better quit that or someone is going to use him for target practice at the upcoming Rodeo.

We continue to get RSVPs coming in. This afternoon, our friend D called to tell us that she'll be here for the Valentine party. She's bringing her copy of a nursing magazine that she gets-- D is a nurse at one of the downtown hospitals. In this month's issue of the magazine, they have pictures and a listing of the Top 20 Nurses in the Houston area. D was happily surprised to see a photo of our friend S in there... who is also a nurse downtown, and also happens to be part of our Charades group. D was so proud to see that photo, and read the articles about S..... she told me she'll bring the magazine to the Charades party so everyone else can see it.

Personally, I think D should also have been given an award of some kind... she was part of a group of doctors and nurses who recently went to South America to take part in the "Smile" program.... the medical teams donate their time to surgically fix cleft palettes of children in South American countries. This isn't the first year that she's given her time to do that, either. D says it is most rewarding, and I would have to imagine that it would be.