Gone with the wind

Alternately titled: When is it going to stop?

I have said it before - life on the prairie is well, breezy. We down here liken it to a slow moving hurricane sans the water. Today we are enjoying 40 mph winds, with gusts up to 50 mph.

I can handle rain, I can handle snow, I can even handle cold. But I cannot handle wind. Especially when it is combined with any of the above. Today it came with cold. Mind blowing, bone chilling, skin numbing cold. On a non windy day, it may feel more like an average November day. But today it feels like the pits of hell in January. So cold that all day I have not been able to warm up. So cold that my cuticles are splitting when I type because my hands are so dry.

The kind of cold that makes me think of restaurants that serve really hot food, rather than restaurants where I like the kind of food that is mostly cold.

The kind of cold that makes me wish I liked turtle necks and wool pants. The kind of cold that makes me think that it WAS God's plan to make me fat so I didn't freeze even more!

And its only just begun (do you hear that diddy playing in the back of your mind? I do - now I have to think of another song or I will never sleep because I only remember the chorus...).

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A friend of our is in Canada hunting for a week. He asked us to dog (or in Axel's case moose) sit for him. For the next 6 days we will be a household with two kids, two cats and two dogs (or one short leg and one moose). Can you say "Calgon take me away?"

At night and when we are gone, Daschel - our one year old Corgi - is in a pen - a gated off hallway that is approximately 6' x 8'. Tonight he has been in his pen a little more than usual because he felt the need to make his territory known if you catch my drift. Axel - our friends ten year old black lab - is now also penned off by our back door. They are on two different levels of the house - but they are acting like they are right next to each other - being all territorial. We let them play together for a little while, but Dash is literally a third of Axel's size. At one time Dash got cornered behind Axel who was very excited to see the kids - tail a waggin and all. Poor Dash took a snout lashing over and over and over. Poor little guy. He tries so hard to be the bigger dog, but sadly, there aren't too many his junior!

So pray my friends that the boys will settle down so mama can get some sleep!