Go away Jack Frost!

What a horribly cold, cold day. My weather station says we made it up to 12° today. Can't wait for the forecasted 20's later this week. As I write the wind chill reading is 3.6°. Bleh! It was so cold I couldn't bring myself to go get groceries today. Not that the rest of the week is going to be much better. I just really don't do well with bitter cold with my asthma and didn't want to risk it with Patrick out of town in China as of this morning.

The girls (more Leah than Sarah) helped me decorate the sugar cookies after school. It took about 2-1/2 hours as interest was really waning in the last hour. But we got it done, so that's another check mark on my To Do List of holiday baking. I also have to make some cookies for Leah's holiday party at school. That will be on Wednesday's to do list. Tomorrow will be a couple of things possibly. I had thought doing a little each day this week would be a good thing, now I find I'm dreading what each day's tasks are. (Hello?? Is that bi-polar depression knocking at my door? Every little incidence of unmotivation worries me these days.)

Snow is forecast all day tomorrow with some sleet thrown in for good measure. Gas is getting low in my car so I'll definitely need to go out tomorrow and fill up and get groceries. I should stockpile for the coming week. I've got my list of food to make for Christmas Day so I can pick up some of those things as well.

Patrick left for China this morning for 7 days. I wasn't very happy about him leaving this time of year. as he will miss Christmas at my mom's, but it was either that or miss his own birthday. I picked the former. Lord, knows I have enough to keep me busy with the baking, the party, and still a few presents to wrap; but I always miss him so much. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I believe it!

I spent a good part of today working on my online gardening journal at Folia. I have 8 gardens left to enter old data going back to 2005 when we moved into this house. Once that monumental task is complete I will start entering all my 2008 gardening activities from my handwritten notes. After that huge task I still want to go through all of my 2008 pictures and add them to my web album and to the journal. And if I still have energy (and it's not Spring) by then, I need to enter all my purchases for 2009 I've made already.

Today I won 3 auctions for daylilies. I'm very excited about one of them....Femme de Joie. She's a really beauty. For now the amaryllis I have blooming are keeping my gardening appetite whetted. Here's a photo of 'Orange Sovereign' a huge, intense orange.