In a Fog

So, I'm reading/watching the news and reading other people's blogs and it seems most of Planet Earth is either already enjoying or preparing for a beautiful Christmas-y snowfall. (apologies if you have ice....or have had a car wreck or otherwise bad experience as a result of snow.) I am so jealous. Here in The Triangle, NC, we have had some kind of miserable soggy mess that hovers between a mist and a fog. This has been going on for days, and people are getting ill (in the southern way, meaning "cranky") and depressed. And today, our temps are in the upper 60s. Really, my Santa hat is itchy enough without bustin' a sweat!

And here's a dilemma that may be common to those of us with multiple dogs: On successive rainy days when the pups are cooped up, do you get tumbleweeds in every nook and cranny in the house? By 'tumbleweeds,' I mean clumps of dog hair, that just seems to fall off these creatures. We're vacuuming daily, even as we pray for clearing skies and the opportunity to leave the quadri-peds outdoors for even a half-day. (Note to the Pet Gestapo, we have a beautiful cedar-mulched fenced-in back yard with ample fresh water, shelter, and safe toys, regularly policed and kept clean, so our pups have quite a resort area when we put them out.)

The good news is that the misty fog actually seems to be lifting, albeit briefly. Maybe tomorrow, the pups can play outside! And the best news of all, this is my last day on the job 'til Jan. 6, 2009. I love my job; I love my co-workers, but I'll be glad to get away for awhile. D and I have not overly structured our time off this holiday. We've made random mention of playing golf with some friends; maybe cleaning out the attic, putting some junk, uh, I mean treasure, up on eBay. And we have a family trip scheduled for January 1....but 'til then, even tho' we're punctuating or down time with lots of vacuuming and cleaning, we'll be on our schedule & not someone else's!
Bring it on, and let the fog keep on lifting.