Crap, Just Crap, I Tell Ya!

Oh kids, that is exactly what I feel like. And I can't get hold of the doctor's office. I think today is their half-day, but I didn't get out of bed until after noon. Yes, I know, totally contradicting what I had planned. Gimme a break. The laryngitis has morphed into something else, and it has royally kicked my ass.

New Year's Day we had big excitement here on the prairie. There is nothing like greeting all your neighbors in the bright sunshine of the late morning on a holiday, except maybe greeting them by pounding on their doors to let them know there is a massive grass fire coming our way! It was a windy, windy day -- not the type of day to be burning trash or playing with fireworks (both of which have been mentioned as probable causes). We had six fire departments, half of which had to leave during fighting this fire to go put out an even larger one within the district. They evacuated all the houses from the burning residence just up to our street and on both sides of our main road, and believe me, we waited with bated breath. They did evacuate our end on the other side of the main road, and if it had caught any more houses, they probably would have taken us out, too. We all had things ready to throw in the cars so we could leave. It's amazing what my children decided they couldn't live without. Fortunately, no one was injured even though one house, one car, a few sheds and 20 or so acres burned. This was one of those times I'm glad T-man and I no longer do the VFD thing, although he's talking about doing it again. Kudos to the units who made it out here. I was impressed. And for those of you who are familiar with our place, 20 acres would be equal to all the houses and their respective land on our street. Incredible. Of course, breathing all the smoke didn't help me at all.

Have I ever admitted to you that I am a geek? A nerd? Both geek and nerd? Yes, it's true. I made passable grades without trying. It blows my mind to think what might have happened had I truly applied myself. So along the lines of nerdy geekdom, I have a link for you. It is to the Lake Superior State University's annual list of words of phrases that should be banished. It takes a minute to load. I love it. It had one of T-man's favorite peeves and a couple of my own. And no, I was not an English major, but I did major in French with a very close minor in Spanish, and a smattering of Italian, a few words in Latin, German and Japanese. Yes, I admit it. During college I was a practicing polyglot, not to mention aspiring linguist and novelist. Those were the days, my friend.

Now, for the rest of my day, I'm going to do what I can to ease the unending throb between and behind my eyes, clear my stuffy nose and ease my nasty cough. How many hot showers can a body safely take in one day? But wait, T-man was fixing the hot tub yesterday. Hmmm . . .

Happy trails!