Back to Normal?

Life is back to normal - or what passes for normal around here! A typical Christmas break Monday is in store. I am enjoying my first cup of coffee, just after 8 am. When I'm through with blogging and reading emails, I'll eat a light breakfast, and then start in on some long overdue housework. My plan today is to declutter the living room, and dust and vacuum in there. We're hosting a casual party on New Year's Eve, so some spit and polish could be useful there. I may also do the same in the dining room today. Tomorrow I'll get the shopping done and tackle the bathroom. I will head in early afternoon westward over to the nearest shopping city in this southwest corner of the state, and use a Borders gift certificate, collect a repaired piece of jewelry from the jewelers, and find some grosgrain ribbon to face the button bands of the sweater I'm finishing. Then I'll meet my DH at home and we'll go to our 5 pm water aerobics class. Somewhere today I'll have to drop off my library books at the library too since they're due today.

There is still so much cleanup to accomplish from the ice storm. Our yard is littered with the remains of trees, as our roadsides. The warm weather and rain the last couple of days has removed quite a bit of the 2 ft of snow we received last weekend so the debris is being uncovered. What a mess! It's hard to believe that we lost power for so long. It's a good wake up call for us all. What always shines through is that despite all the apparent evidence to the contrary, people are kind, thoughtful, and generous. Neighbors really do look out for each other, and people share their resources with others who need them when push comes to shove.