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Safe travels back to the Sunshine State Liz. It sounds like you had a busy, fun Christmas.

I did get the table surfaces back in order. It brings me such a nice feeling when the dining room table has nothing on it but the table runner and the centerpiece. I have to be vigilant to maintain that. DD and DH have never seen a clear surface that they don't set something down on. It's like moths to flames. I also started and finished the novel James. Highly recommend. I've never been a fan of Huckleberry Finn, but hearing this story from the enslaved man's side was fascinating.

Today is New York Times day! 2 Sunday papers! The Minneapolis Tribune is still a decent paper, but nothing like the times. DH and DD are going to see Nosferatu. I am not much into horror, or graphic violence, so I declined. I'm sure they'll love it. Then the Vikings play at 3:30pm.

Weather in Minnesota can be a paradox. Overcast days tend to be warmer, because the clouds act like a blanket and hold some of the warmth in. It feels like winter is increasingly overcast, along with being warmer in the past few years. Fall is also longer, and spring never comes, we've had some doozy April snowstorms which used to be rare, then suddenly, summer heat. Bright sunny days in the winter usually means very cold. In December and January the angle of the sun makes it weak, and any heat escapes to outer space rapidly. The first mild, sunny day in March brings everyone outside. That's when all our neighbors met DD. She was born in December. You hardly see your neighbors in winter, because you just go in and out of your garage with the electric garage door opener. Sometimes you wave if someone is at their mailbox. When we took DD for a walk in her stroller on the first warmish day of her up until then, short life, neighbors came out of their houses to greet us. It was really sweet.

Just think - in a year, staying up late might not matter so much as there are a lot of days to spread chores over. So one night of less sleep or late sleep-in the following morning doesn't matter so much.

Is Minnesota typically overcast in the winter? That would depress me - Massachusetts may be cold and sometimes rainy/snowy but also usually has a fair amount of sunny days in winter (though the sun is low in the sky). Then of course there is Florida where we mostly just complain when it is under 70 (but is usually sunny) LOL.

215.9 - Up 1.5 overnight. It's all good though. Great workout, dinner out, and peanut M&Ms at the movies. We saw Nosferatu beause it was one we could get tickets to and Ron REALLY wanted to go to the movies. We went to a later showing and I am paying the price for it today! UGH.... We weren't back home until 12:30 AM. I didn't manage to get into bed until 2:00 as dogs needed time to run about and pee before re-settling into normal late night behavior. 8:00 AM came way too quickly.

I ran off with Blitz to the vet for his collection and then straight on to a 2 hour handling class for Bug. Both dogs (and I) are happy to be home. I am fading quickly, but there is still much to be done!

Sounds like we are all having some nice moments this holiday week. Things are perhaps not scintillating, but very peaceful here. Except that my Mom seems to have contracted norovirus. My nephew's family had a round of it last week, and in retrospect, maybe should have skipped the Christmas visit. But who can say for sure. No one in our house has fallen sick, so looks like we dodged that bullet.

We did go see A Complete Unknown and enjoyed it a lot. This film and Conclave are 2 of the more satisfying movies I've seen lately. In the interest of not busting through the high end of my weight range, I had some cottage cheese and pineapple before we left, thereby greatly limiting the amount of popcorn consumed. That, and putting the cookies back in the freezer instead of on the kitchen table, helped my weight move into the middle of my range. Feels good.

No big plans today. I am going to clear the dining room table and living room coffee table of Christmas remnants like gifts and special dishes that need to be put away. I have some pants that need to be hemmed, might get to that. But what I am most hoping to make time for is to read a book, perhaps in one sitting today. What a luxury. I have several books sitting in the read pile, but I may start with a Christmas gift: James. It is the Huck Finn story told from the point of view of the enslaved man Jim.

Today is mild (high 30s) and sunny. The snow is melted. This is only the 3rd sunny day this month. It will cloud over tomorrow and be mild (for Minnesota) for the next week. It is so dreary these overcast days. The sun hardly makes it over the horizon, even at noon it can look like dawn instead of high noon. Time to start planning our short February get away and hold tight to the knowledge that I will be free to leave these dark days next winter whenever I want.