Just Chilling Out

We're finally emerging from a bitter cold spell that sent temperatures well below zero last week. I never thought I would consider daytime highs in the teens to be a relief from the cold, but there you have it. Today it reached nearly freezing. Break out the Hawaiian shirts!

Of course, with the wave of warmer weather came a wave of snow. So coping with cold and snow has taken up a good deal of our time in the last couple of weeks. Hardly a day has gone by this week that I haven't been out shoveling.

But we still manage to do other things. Karen has some vacation time and she's spending a day of it doing a fun craft project with some fo the children at the Children's Center. I'm appearing in another play, and preparing to direct one this summer.

And while I can't honestly say I'm looking forward to it, I am expecting to be back at NPC within a month, and that will relieve a lot of the financial pressure we've been under and give us a boost toward finishing our house.

Meanwhile I've started a sideline business, which hasn't made any money but has gotten some positive response. I call myself "The Web Handyman," and I'm planning to apply my experience with Web programming and interactive design to earn a little money while helping some of our local business owners make the most of their Web sites. And I will be able to do that while I work at NPC, and perhaps have it established as an income source when the next layoffs come, probably at the end of the summer.

Thomas got his first taste of the joys of driving on icy roads on Sunday when he was trying to get home from work. A racoon ran across the road, he hit the brakes, and found himself backwards in a snow bank. He wasn't hurt, and the car came out all right, but I had to come help him dig it out (with the assistance of some passersby) and give the car a good push so he could get it out.

Of course it was something that could have happened to anyone—I've found myself sideways on the road a few times—and I'm very glad that it all turned out okay.