The past few days have been very stormy. It rained heavily here, but snowed like crazy in the mountains. Several local ski resorts opened for the season, and I took Russell and Genny up to snow today and they went sledding for an hour and then we turned around came home and I promptly slid Genevieve into bed and she went out for the count. Russell thought it was fun and games until he filled his boots with snow because he refused to tie them up. Then he kind of wallowed and whined at the bottom of the hill and asked about going home. Genny was tired, as was Mommy, so it wasn't a hard choice.

Kittygirl did come home the next day, smelling of pine trees, where I think she nestled under the pretty little blue spruce at the neighbors. She was perfectly happy on Friday and Saturday to remain in her crate while the elements stormed and raged, I noticed, though, so I have a feeling she had a rough night of it.

I am a decoratin' fool, lately. I made curtains for our bedroom this weekend, and while I need to desperately do the drapes for the livingroom, I just can't bring myself to make a decision about how to construct them just yet. I did get the futon cover done, additionally, which makes me a sewing fool.

I'm still quilting and praying. My friend's baby isn't home yet. The poor babe is still struggling with her sugars. If you're a prayer or even if you're not, please put your requests of your higher power in for this baby. I got all the star points finished this weekend and I just have to finish trimming and pressing them and then I just have the nine patches to finish up with and then it's row sewing for me. It's been a lot of praying lately with each square or patch.

I noticed lately, particularly when I am quilting how sore my hands feel. I've had a hell of a time picking up pins to set my points just so, and then I started fiddling around with my hands and realized that the pain is in the actual joints of my hands. True to genetics, I have arthritis, just like my mom and grandmother do/did. I have been taking aspirin, which I honestly haven't taken since I was a child, but ibuprofen and tylenol don't address the pain adequately. If I remember to cover my hands with blankets and take aspirin at bedtime, I often wake up with hands that don't hurt. By day's end though, I find that the pain has returned as my workload has progressed for the day. I feel old and decrepid and useless lately. To some degree, I guess I am upset I can't be there to support my friend better, and then there's the dealing with pain thing which erodes my self confidence, too.

Lately, I know I'm old because:

• I have arthritis, which worsens with weather ( I can feel it in my bones)
  
• I find myself muttering the words: "damned kids" under my breath a lot
  
• Supermarket workers refer to me as "ma'm"
  
• I need a mammogram
  
• I am at the end of my childbearing years
  
• I crave life insurance
  
• I worry about my will
  
• I am turning 40 within the year
  
• the whole idea of trying to get into and out of a snow saucer made me cringe today
  

So I've moved from maid, to mother, and am rapidly working toward crone. I am dying to be 50, so I can get a bumper sticker that says, "they aren't hot flashes, they're power surges!" In the interim, I'm just in that awkward 'tween stage.