Wow, here it is almost the end of another year! Christmas is just around the corner and I have not finished my shopping or even started on Christmas cards yet! It seems too cold to go out shopping. Our temps right now is 8º. Thank heaven there is no wind. I am cold in the house even though it is nice in here. It will be nicer when Bumpa gets home from work and gets a fire going. I love our fireplace.........it adds a certain ambiance to the Christmas spirit along with the extra warmth. The tree is up and the lights are on but I still need to decorate it. I will probably finish it this weekend if my back feels better and this cold that is trying to catch me doesn't! Seems as if I've been fighting it off for a week now......I sure wish it would just go away. Bumpa is having problems with his sinuses too. I'm sure it must be Michigan winters. It's warm outside with temps almost 50 and then turns much colder and gets windy and snowy. Old Man Winter just can't make up his mind. All in all, it hasn't been a bad winter so far. We haven't had a lot of snow which is much more pleasant for driving. And one of the nice things about being retired is not having to get out every day and drive if the weather is nasty. This last blast of arctic air is supposed to stick around until the middle of next week and then it is supposed to be normal temps for this time of year. We are expecting some lake effect snow tomorrow night and it is always hard to predict exactly how much we will get then. We got about 2 inches yesterday afternoon and last night and today we got just a dusting of light snow. But the dusting today is beautiful. When the light shines on it, it looks like a hundred diamonds sparkling! Let's hope the next snowfall looks the same.