Northwoods Woman

Well, we’re still in the deep freeze up here in the Northwoods.

I was kinda hoping/praying that it would have let up by now, but no such luck.  I had a reader/friend/neighbor (Hi Mabel! ) email me, concerned if I was OK since I hadn’t written anything in weeks.  I assured her that I was fine, it was just difficult to compose a post when my brain was frozen.

It’s a winter like this that really tests a person’s metal, as well as sanity.  We are a tough lot up here, but going 3 months straight with sub-zero temperatures has started to get on some people’s nerves, mine included.

I sit huddled in front of my computer bundled up in layers of thermal underwear and heavy sweatshirts with a space heater cranked to the max blasting away at my tootsies, gazing out at a sun drenched day that would give the normal person the impression that it was even the least bit “comfortable” outside.

I, however, am not normal.  I can see the deception as plain as day and I’m not going to fall for it.  Mother Nature and Old Man Winter are cruel pranksters.

So instead of writing an open letter to each of them this year, condemning them for their warped sense of humor or unbalanced hormones, I’m just gonna give them a little suggestion.

I’d cross my fingers in hope if they weren’t frozen.

They say that bad things come in three’s, and I am an official believer in this.

When we came home from vacation, the one thing I was really looking forward to was a good cup of coffee.  Don’t get me wrong, the coffee at the hotels we stayed at was pretty good, and the Latte in Silver City made me swoon, but I was hankerin’ for my own personal java.

You can officially label me a coffee snob.

So when I got up our first morning back and sleepily glided towards the coffee maker expecting my morning ambrosia, I pulled back the carafe and found… nothing.  The pot was empty.

OK, I knew that I had filled the thing with water and grounds the night before, and just to be sure I checked under the hood of the machine.  Yep, all filled up.

Did I set the timer correctly?  Yep, no problems there.  Well, I’ll just turn it on and manually make a pot.

Push “ON” button and… nothing.

Crappers, must have had some power outages and surges while we were gone and they zapped the machine.  Two days later I threw on polar garb and headed to town to get a new machine, because making French Press coffee wasn’t cutting it.

Number One down, on to number two.

One oddity that did not escape my eyes upon our return was the dying remains of my Prayer Plant.  I know that I had made it a point to water all the plants in the house before we left, so I was dumbfounded when I came upon my once luscious leaves now sickly and dying.

So I threw some water in it and prayed to the Botany Gods that it would perk up.

Apparently those gods don’t like me so much because 24 hours later it was still a pathetic mess when it should have been bouncing back.  It took me 3 days to realize that although turning the thermostat down to 55 while we were gone was a smart idea, the flip side was not taking into account that the aged plant couldn’t handle such a low temperature for an extended period of time.

So out came the scissors and for the first time in the plant’s 15 years, it got a hair cut.  Actually, it was more like a buzz cut because 80 percent of the plant was toast.  It is currently in recovery in the livingroom where it can bask in some warmth from the fireplace.

Numero three decided to hit us today, in the midst of the worst arctic blast (or Polar Vortex according to the weather experts) to hit the area in who knows how long.

We heat our home primarily with a wood burning insert which has a fan to push the hot air into the house.  This morning that fan decided to take a crap, which means no warm air.  Sure, we have a furnace to keep us toasty while the repair man is trying to figure out the problem, but propane is expensive and I’m a cheapskate.

Good thing I don’t mind wearing lots of layers and looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man for a little while.

If a number four decides to rear it’s ugly head, I’m heading back to New Mexico

:::

On that note, here’s a little conversation that Rick & I had at one of the many rest stops in New Mexico.

Rick:  Honey, check out the sign.

Me:  “Notice Please Supervise Your… “

Rick:  Um, not that sign.

Me:  Oohhhhh… maybe I don’t need to use the restroom that bad.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve and a relaxing New Years Day!

The temperatures are still frigid in the Northwoods, but going through pictures of our New Mexico adventure helps me get through it a little bit easier.

Although our “base camp” was Albuquerque, we decided to venture south to Las Cruses on Christmas Eve day.  This was quite a long drive at over 200 miles, so we made plans to spend the night and do more exploring the next day.

As always, the scenery was nothing short of spectacular!

We ventured off the beaten path a few times and were never disappointed with what we found.

Who knew that there would be monuments in the middle of the desert?

This is why you take a chance on the unknown.

And it’s never a bad time for a little history lesson.

Each rest area we stopped at had information about the area from the past..

As well as points of interests like ghost towns and state parks.

Much better than Google.

And if we had had more time, I would have dragged Rick to each one of those places, but we had an appointment to keep.

Since Christmas Eve is also Nichole’s birthday, we had to get to our motel and prepare for a Skype call.  We also got to watch the munchkins open up their “big” Christmas present:  Kindles!  The smiles and joy that came from those kids was priceless!!

As much as we may complain about technology, being far away from our family on Christmas was a little easier with computer and cell phones to stay in touch with them.

Next up on “The Rooney’s Go To New Mexico“:  Christmas in the Mountains.

It was one trip that I won’t forget for a loooonngg time.