Getting ready for an ice storm

I have a pretty low key weekend planned. This morning I am going off to the Mistletoe Market (holiday market associated with the Chesterton European Market that takes place in the summer). My main reason for going is to stock up on a few local food items. After that I'll take care of a few odds and ends that might be necessary if the warnings about ice and wind leading to power outages comes to pass (e.g., fill up the car with fuel, pick up a few things that don't require cooking) . I also see India food in my near future.

After lunch I will come home to take care of more such things (strategically scatter candles about, put a couple of extra blankets in an easy to reach place,fill the bird feeders to the top). After that it will be time to curl up with something warm to drink and football while grading exams. GO SOONERS! How bad the weather gets will depend on the timing of when transitions of sleet/snow/freezing rain happen and how windy it gets.

After razzle mentioned it, I signed up for emusic.com as my birthday/Yule present to myself. I spent some time downloading holiday music yesterday. If the power goes out, I'll pour myself a glass of wine (I picked up another bottle of the honey wine that we had when radven and serolynne were visiting), listen to holiday music on my Zen, and address holiday cards by candle light. Hmm, that actually sounds like fun even if the power doesn't go out. I should also start a pot of soup; thankfully I have a gas stove so cooking should be possible even without power.

My bouncy mood continues this morning so there is no telling what else will be talked in the mix but if the power stays on I suspect it will include decorating for the season. One of the things that has me chipper is a conversation with the Dean that took place yesterday. He is going to work setting up a formal mentoring program for me next year that would help move me toward a possible future in academic administration and might even involve a course release. More important than that program is that he heard me when I mentioned an interest in this path and he has come to the conclusion that I have the potential to be good at it. Validation is a wonderful thing.

My mood was also helped by the fact that I received my first holiday card yesterday, thanks trillsie.

At the feeder this morning are the usual suspects from the past couple of weeks: white-breasted nuthatch, red-breasted nuthatches, downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, pine siskins, chickadees, juncos, gold finches, house sparrows. No blue jays or cardinals yet but I have only been up for a little bit.

In short, this is a happy hobbit weekend (with lights or without). I am mostly staying in and puttering happily about in my own little nest.

(no subject)

Looks like it may be lights out soon. The power is starting to flicker off and on and there are a few more hours before the switch from freezing rain to rain. Of course this is happening just as the football game I care about starts. Still I am grateful to be safely inside this evening.