Baby it's cold outside.

Sure, it's only a bit under 30 degrees, but the wind is unbelievable.  It's straight out of the North at 15-25 mph, and it sounds so cold and lonely.  Wind always sounds lonely to me.  Anyway, it's 30 degrees colder than it was when we woke up this morning.  I moved the patio furniture off the deck for winter, and I did so in a T-shirt.  Now, even a coat isn't enough.

We went to Mom's so that Kevin could fix my car, yet again.  The floor board rusted out enough that the bolts that hold my seat down in the front broke loose.  I had a rocking chair for a seat for 3 days.  Today, with Dad's help and a little angle iron, my seat is secure again.  Thanks, Dad and Kevin.

Monica spent the night with a friend, and another friend showed up later.  Somehow, Monica got locked out when she stepped outside to cool off.  Somehow, they didn't hear her knocking.  She walked home at 3:30 this morning.  She was so upset at them.  Their side of the story is a bit different, and there's no telling exactly what happened.

All I know is that she woke me up, knocking on the door, after walking 4 blocks home at 3:30 in the morning.  She'll not be going back to that particular friend's house for a LONG time, if ever.  I tell my girls to surround themselves only with people who make them feel good about who they are.  You can't feel good about yourself when you're the odd-man-out.

I'll spend the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up on laundry, and then catch the finale of Survivor.  Thank goodness my other shows are reruns tonight.  Maybe we'll make some taco fixin's for dinner.  That'll warm a person up, right?

Tomorrow morning, the girls want to go to Mom's and catch the bus.  With a wind chill of -9 predicted by daybreak, I think that's a good idea.  The problem is that this is the final push at work.  This is the week that determines it all.  I would need to drop them off by 5:30 or 5:45.  That's pretty dang early.  I guess, if they shower tonight, I could have them pack clothes and stuff for school this evening, climb into a warmed-up car in the morning, and go back to bed when they get there.

Yeah, that may work.  *sigh*  I hate waking them up every day, but 1 1/2 hours early really sucks.  Head's up, Mom.