HAPPY FAMILY DAY!!!  Thought I should say that before I forget.  Okay, I know that many of my readers don’t have Family Day in their part of the world.  But we have it here.  And in many parts of this country.  Though not all.  Some have a different name for today.  But here it is Family Day.  So I can hardly say anything different.  So what does that have to do with my title?  Nothing.  But that’s not the point.  And, of course, by the time some of you read this it won’t even be Family Day.  So why even say it?  Because today is Family Day.  Be glad it’s not Valentine’s Day.  I think this is the first year I have not given my yearly rant about my most unfavorite day of the year.  Okay, I know that’s not really a word.  In most dictionaries.  But it is in my dictionary.  And what dictionary is that?  Steve’s Dictionary of Weird, Wild and Wacky Words, Whimsical Sayings and Wonderful Phrases.  Unfavorite is in the Wild section.  Just in case you were wondering.  Or not.  It is still winter.  And it is still cold.  Very cold.  We did get one milder day last week.  Then back to cold.  Very cold.  But it is still winter.  For a long time yet.  Seems like it has always been here.  Hard to even remember last summer.  Seems like such a long time ago.  And it is really.  Sigh.  Cold weather is a good time for drinking COFFEE!  No better way to start a cold winter’s day.  And also to end a cold winter’s day.  And all the hours in between.  Wheehee!!  Sigh.  But my favorite cold time beverage is on the way out.  Can you imagine that?  No more COFFEE?!  That is just unthinkable.  Except now.  My doctor asked if I drink a lot of COFFEE.  Define, ‘a lot’, I said.  More than one and a half cups, said my doctor.  That is definitely not a lot, said I.  My doctor said to make it none after finding out how much I drink.  Can you just imagine that?  None.  As in not one cup of COFFEE a day.  Nothing.  Zip.  My doctor must be joking.  But it’s no joke.  Especially to me.  This is serious.  My doctor asks, ‘do you mean you can’t quit?’  I can quit anytime, said I.  Then do it, says my doctor.  I’m no quitter, said I!  My doctor didn’t seem to get it.  Just sort of smiled with those rolling eyes kind of smiles.  Sigh.  How am I supposed to start my day without COFFEE.  Especially during the winter.  Which, by the way, fills half of our year in this part of the country.  With NO COFFEE!?!?!  IMPOSSIBLE!!!  Sigh.  Speaking of winter.  Muffin agrees with me.  It’s no fun.  For my newest readers, Muffin is my cat.  Right here,

enjoying herself in front of the door on a nice, warm summer’s day.  She much prefers this to now.  She definitely does not enjoy just sitting at a closed window and looking at snow.  She wants that door open.  And breathe that nice fresh air.  Which she cannot do right now.  She wants to.  Like today.  She wanted the door open.  It’s too cold, I said.  I had just come in and she stood at the door so I couldn’t close it.  I want it open, she said.  And she stood up to look out the window of the door.  NO, it’s too cold yet.  And it will be too cold for a long time yet, said I.  I won that particular argument.  Sort of.  I do go through a lot of bandages.  However, it’s starting a bit early this year.  Sigh.  CABIN FEVER is hitting both of us.  HARD.  If you have never had Cabin Fever then you have never lived in the north.  Or something.  Sigh.  Speaking of something.  I often wonder how so many things can go wrong in such a short space of time.  I’m not talking big things.  Just little things.  Somewhat annoying things.  Such as, I drop my fan and it breaks.  I kick Muffin’s water dish and it goes flying across the room with water flying in numerous directions soaking everything in it’s path.  Not much water in a little cats water dish you say?  I had just bought her a new dish which holds 2 cups of water.  And when it flies across the room it multiplies to 10 cups of water.  How it does that I do not know.  But it must.  How else can so much get so wet with so little water?  Then I grab a new roll of toilet paper which jumps out of my hand and bounces on the edge of the sink  which naturally has water in it but I manage to catch it just in time before it lands in the sink but it then jumps out of my hand a second time and, and…this time too late and it is wet.  Then I just finish sweeping the floor and I empty the dust pan in the garbage, or should say I attempt to because as I step on the foot lever to open the garbage can it flips open fast and the catches the dust pan just slightly on the edge causing ALL of the contents to go flying in the air and back onto the floor.  At this point I pull my hair, do a little one-legged happy dance and laugh hysterically while spinning in a circle.  Sigh.  Poor Muffin.  She has to put up with a lot sometimes.  She just looks, shakes her little head and goes back to bed.  And dreams about summer.  I go back to bed too.  And dream about Hawaii.  Sigh.

I hope you all enjoy your week and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

It is Monday.  And it is cold.  It is very cold.  But that’s the way this winter has been.  Very cold.  About normal for snow.  Which means we have had a fair bit.  Though not as much as I thought.  Probably isn’t more than 2 feet on the ground.  Snow, that is.  Sigh.  It’s been a very long winter.  Started too early.  It’s nearly 4 months now.  With about a month and a half to go.  Unless it is a late spring.  That would be bad.  Sigh.  Now this is what we need up here.  Warmth, and sunshine.  And a nice tropical look.  Sigh.  However, that is

not what we have.  We have snow.  And very cold.  But it can be fun to dream a bit.  Wheehee!  That’s okay, I’m fine.  Really.  Speaking of technology.  Well, I’m supposed to be anyway.  Though I would prefer to talk about a nice warm, tropical location.  Walking through a beautiful tropical landscape, with beautiful tropical plants and trees and flowers and birds, and, and…something like this trail in the pic below.  Sigh.  Wouldn’t

that be an enjoyable place to spend some time?  No, I have never been to Hawaii.  Except by looking at other’s photos.  But it is a place I would love to visit.  Impossible though it is.  But it still would be nice.  Now, before you distract me again, let’s get started with this technology thing.  I’m not really sure what the problem is actually.  But technology really does hate me.  Honest.  Just last week, for instance, I wanted to scan something onto my computer.  I tried.  Nothing happened.  Now, I have scanned from this printer before, and to this computer.  And it worked.  But not this time.  It just kept telling me that my printer did not have a scanner.  It does so, said I, and it worked before too.  Still would not work.  But an idea hit me.  I should know better.  My ideas don’t work all the time.  Okay, fine, my ideas usually don’t work.  Period. But anyway, I uninstall the printer and reinstall it.  It worked.  Amazing.  Then a couple days later I wanted to print something.  I hit print.  It started to print.  And print.  And print.  NO, NO!  I kept hitting cancel.  Nothing happened.  Just kept printing.  Finally turned the printer off.  HA!  That will teach you to give me a hard time, said I.  Turned the printer back on.  It started printing once again.  I hit cancel once again.  Nothing.  Finally I said, if you don’t stop printing I am going to unplug you!  Amazingly it stopped printing.  Should have tried that sooner.  Back to uninstall and reinstall.  Sigh.  Now it is working properly.  For how long, I do not know.  But it worked today.  Actually I was very close to taking that printer and throwing it out into all that cold snow outside.  Very close.  And then…oh, wait, it’s getting long again, guess I had better stop for now.  Muffin and I are making plans for the big holiday coming up next Monday.  Wheehee!  Family Day, that’s what holiday.  Actually, it’s a holiday that goes by different names depending on the province.  Kind of odd I must admit.  I think this Cabin Fever is really getting to me this year.  One of the worst winters for that terrible thing.  Speaking of terrible.  Something woke me up the other night around midnight.  Woke Muffin up too, and she was a bit scared, just staring at the door.  That can make a person just a bit nervous.  And there was a steady tapping sound.  Likely what woke me up.  The sound was coming from outside, on the deck.  Kind of like someone tapping on the window.  Naturally I had to get up and take a look.  Had to do it for poor Muffin, so she could go back to sleep.  There was nothing out there.  And there is nothing there that could make that kind of tapping sound.  Especially since there was no wind.  It was just clear and cold.  And it wasn’t the thumping, clumping, cracking sound that happens when it is that cold outside.  I know all of those sounds.  This was not that. Sigh.  Nothing like disrupting my sleep. Reminded me of my nightly visitor the first summer I lived here.  But it was -30 so I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be outside at midnight in that cold just for a prank.  Sigh.  Odd things happen to me.  Oh well, as I said, this is getting long so I better stop.  Again.  Enjoy your week and God bless!

Steve.  And Muffin.