There is a general panic about the snowstorm

50 million Americans are waiting for the storm of the century or some such nonsense. Sitting here in the Cumberland County Library like there isn't a scary storm going on. Tonight I volunteered to sit with the homeless people. Am enjoying this volunteer assignment less each time I do it. But I do really like the pastor in charge so I think I will make every crazy effort to go even though it is going to be quite messy and possibly dangerous. A commitment is a commitment, in my book. I only have to drive a few blocks.

Testament (book), Vickie Gendreau. I read this book in French and I am not sure I understood much about it. It seemed to be about a group of friends, some of whom die. Each section is preceded by a name or the name of a file. It was all very young and hip and hard for me to comprehend. Lots of English words were thrown in and the short sentences were helpful.

My friend is going nuts taking care of his parents in their waning years. He even called them "fucking morons" on Facebook today. THAT was a bit extreme. They are losing it and are not really aware of how bad they are doing. May get together with him later because he needs SOMETHING a bit distracting to do on his birthday.

Temperature guages gone wild

Which is crazier?...the weather or the temperature gauges? A vast difference between our various measurements of the actual temperature. Phones, cars, TV give inconsistent temps....is it 2 below? or 6 degrees or 18? My car registered 18 when I left Bridgeton and 28 when I got to Greenwich. That is only a 20 minute drive. Also dealing with 6 or so inches of snow. Feel like the little kid in A Christmas story, all bundled up and having trouble walking. I am all bundled up and walking on ice and carrying many parcels. Sigh. Am getting slower and slower.

There have been many armed home invasions in my town. Must get better about locking my front door. I forgot to do it the other night and it snowed on my doorstep. Starting to lock also the door at the TOP of the stairs to further deter the robbers. My only consolation is that whoever breaks into my home will think it has already been ransacked! A home on the 100 block of Hampton Street was invaded one night. People were sitting on their porch at 10 minutes after midnight. Three women came down the street and started talking to them. They moved from the porch into the house and then three men joined them with handguns and robbed them. One of the six suspects was described as being four months pregnant and wearing a blue zip up jacket and braids. All I can say is there must have been drugs involved.

Finished a book by a "local" author. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The Fifty-first state is a novel written by Lisa Borders. Someone loaned me her "uncorrected proof" copy. The milieu is Millville and Bivalve. The author made up locations, such as a town called Floyd. I found this rather off-putting, although we do have a town called Norma nearby. Lisa lives in Boston and this is her second novel. The book begins with a car accident. Hallie Corson returns from New York to help her long-estranged brother after their parents die in the car crash on Route 55. Themes involve research of frog abnormalities, old boyfriends, teenage angst, city versus country life, and family histories.

A little bit ADD

Went on a walk this AM with the mayor of Bridgeton and a bunch of other people I didn't know.  The annual health walk is a part of the "Let's move" campaign.  We signed a big poster which will be sent with our picture to Michelle Obama.  Our county of Cumberland comes in LAST in the entire state in terms of health statistics.  So the mayor had T-shirts made up that said, "From WORST to FIRST".  It was a beautiful day but I got hot and didn't have a hat or sunglasses.  Then I came in LAST.  Even though it was not a race, it was somewhat demoralizing.  And I was waiting for it to just be OVER.  I know I am slow and have no stamina, but really.  I DO work out but I realize I do a lot of different things during my one hour at the gym.  Doing ONE THING for 40 minutes is almost more than I can take physically OR psychologically (thus, the ADD worry).  Then I think, well, I can go ONLINE for hours.  But while online, I am jumping around from thing to thing.  Even when I read for an hour, I am reading a lot of different things, current newspaper, old newspaper, Nook, current book, overdue book, old magazine, current newspaper, open the mail, do the crossword puzzle and the sudoku, then read a current magazine.

Still have to come to the library for my entertainment.  This AM I had a snoring man to my left and to my right, a young black girl and an older white woman were attempting to order a magazine online (it did not work).  They were ordering a magazine called XXL which seems to be about rappers (?) and they were buying if for a GIFT for someone incarcerated in our local prison. 

So, I told a friend that I was losing weight without really trying.  That is not really true.  I AM trying, I just don't feel like I am being successful.  The exercising is going a lot better than previously, but the eating! About the only thing I have accomplished is to lessen the amount of snacking that I am doing.  If I DO snack, I try to eat something that is only 100 calories.  Nighttime is still the worst, though.

We had some wacky storms on Thursday.  Two storms, one in the morning and one in  the evening, each had about 10 minutes of really bad stuff.  Luckily, I wasn't on THIS street in Rosenhayn, New Jersey, during those minutes.....

Foiled again

Weather tomorrow getting in the way of my plans.  5 of us had planned to go up to Grounds for sculpture.  Do you know how hard it is to get 5 people to agree on a date and a plan? 

I am so close to finishing so many books.  Reading is my favorite activity (probably because it involves SITTING).  Still slogging through several books about Paris, and the book I found in the Newark airport and the book written by Jill McCorkle, who attended my college (Hollins), and the new David Sedaris book, and L'etranger in French, and a children's book about Monet in French.  And there are MORE...

Made a vow to get better about gifts.  Changed one of my money envelopes to be earmarked for such, since I never have extra spending money and thus am never prepared for birthdays, weddings, etc.
Everyone else is so generous and I am just BEHIND and lacking in inspiration.  I hate to shop and I hate to spend money, but I love cool gifts.  Had an urge to go back to Paris and SHOP which is dumb because it was so overpriced over there. 

Friday it rained all day and Monday it rained all day.  One weather guy said tomorrow was the most worrisome day of the weather year so far.  The nice thing about Paris is that even though it rained frequently, it didn't rain a lot and it didn't rain for long.

Desperate for daylight

Seems like everything needs to be done in the daylight....exercise, stuff at home, errands. I am always rushing around trying to figure out what to do before it gets dark. Oh happy day, the librarian just gave me another hour on the computer. Don't know why I "insist" upon being so technologically deficient (like not having the Internet at home and having a lame phone).

America...the only country where we gather to be thankful for all that we have and then the next day go out and try to kill each other in order to get "deals" on more STUFF! I wouldn't be caught DEAD at Black Friday shopping. Of course, this is because I am a very "under control" (cheap) consumer and have no ideas for gifts for anyone else. Today is "Small business Saturday". I think I can get behind that and do have some plans for stopping by a few stores in Millville. No box stores for me today. Already spent my daily allowance on gas for a great price of $1.37 a gallon in Bridgeton.

Had a good day yesterday with family. And the weather was delightful and warm and gorgeous. We didn't actually WALK as much as stroll and hang out in Greenwich, admiring roof handiwork and boats and riverfront property. Then I spent some time at home, which I love to do when it is sunny. Next drove to Parvins State Park for a walk around the small lake. It should be about a twenty minute walk, which is my current goal for daily exercise ("BABY STEPS...") I hadn't been to Parvins since the derecho struck on June 30th (killing two young boys who were in a tent). The only people killed in New Jersey were there. Anyway, it was amazing the trees that were down, even now, four months later. The park was entirely closed for several months due to the extreme damage to the trees. It still looked pretty shockingly different. I took a bag to collect trash (my new idea for helping the world) but I only saw an occasional cigarette butt. About halfway around the pond, I looked in my bag and it was EMPTY. Then I decided to carry it more securely. I guess my trash blew right on out!

Some good news for a change

Pretty happy about the election results. One Democrat I voted for did not get in, but it is next to impossible to overcome Frank LoBiondo. I console myself with the memory that my FATHER liked to vote for him (a Republican) even though my father was an Independent with liberal leanings. And my father has been dead for 10 years, just to give you an idea about how long this guy has been our Congressman. It is just a good feeling when your family and large groups of your friends are on the same page politically. Happily, two Democrats got voted in to the local freeholder board. I think that means that two Republicans are off snd we are back to a Democratic majority. Believe me, it really does make a difference!

But that is the only good news. The weather is horrible, cold, raining, forecast of SNOW and excessive wind gusts. They are calling it a Nor'easter. My choir practice has already been cancelled and that was my big event for the day. Acquaintances have tales of ripping out and rebuilding their seashore homes, some can't even GET to their homes yet. Sad story of a man who died two weeks after his son died. Perhaps of a broken heart, who knows? It is hard enough to lose ONE member of your family, but two is really scary. This cold and dreary winter weather has me missing work or feeling like I do not have enough to do. At least work distracted me from the hideous weather.
It is going to be a LONG winter and I HATE it already.

Things I love:
- Someone asked me to be a volunteer yesterday
- Went shopping and discovered that Peebles has a club where you get 20% off every Tuesday if you are over 50
- Those new roofs they have over the McDonald's ordering lanes
- Flannel sheets
- Warm nightgowns
- Playlist.com when it is working correctly (like recently)

Things I hate:
- Winter
- Dark
- Cold
- Rain
- Sitting in a waiting room and being forced to watch some horrible interview show with everyday Americans discussing their husbands who slept with their sisters or other distasteful topics
- Donald Trump is an idiot

Things I miss

- I miss that phone number you used to be able to call to find out what the ACTUAL time is when you go to change the clocks
- my parents
- summer
- Seabreeze tavern
- the intersections formerly known as circles

Delaware Bay towns are decimated by Hurricane Sandy. We are kind of blessed around here with very little storm damage, Except for our little towns...Gandy's Beach, Fortescue, Money Island. It has been on my "bucket list" to spend the night at the Hotel Charlesworth in Fortescue. I may have missed my chance. I am sure that restaurant is just hanging on by a thread on a GOOD day and this is not a good day.
A friend with a house in Gandy's Beach was one of 13 people permitted to go back yesterday only for 2 hours to survey the damage. They have no roads, electric, decks, porches, bulkheads, fronts. Entire town blocked off and forbidden entry. Similar little town of Seabreeze already abandoned by order of the state of New Jersey. I fear the fate of our other towns is going to follow. Or the state will enact new laws which are impossible for the home owners to obey and thus, they will be forced to leave. New Jersey's "other shore" is a bit downtrodden and full of various runs of bugs, but we love it. The greenheads, the horseshoe crabs, the full moon, etc.

Out and about again today. I really need to stay home and pay my bills and call some people but, when you are retired, you always think there is tomorrow. But then tomorrow is all booked up.

I am somewhat worried about my Louisiana cousins. They always seem to be in the way of these big storms. Here I sit in GORGEOUS Southern New Jersey, and I am not even outside appreciated the great weather. I have an obsessive need to get on the computer for a few hours each day. In general I am obsessive, compulsive and perhaps ADD as well. I come to a four way stop, start thinking about something, and forget to proceed!