The rain is heavy. I can hear it on the roof. Later it will turn to a snow rain mix but stay mostly rain until tonight. It is above freezing at 39˚. Tonight will go down to the 20’s.

Today is a sloth day. My dance card is empty. I didn’t even make a to-do list.

Yesterday morning when I opened the back door for the dogs, I noticed white paper all over the yard below the steps. I was going to take a picture but decided I wanted my coffee and paper first. Big mistake. When I went out later, the wind had blown all the papers to the extreme back of the yard where they ended up against the fence. I decided to do a yard pick-up. That’s when I found out Christmas was on one side of the yard, the side I saw, and Easter was on the other, the surprise side. Nala had brought out two packages of napkins, one had dogs with Santa hats and the other rabbits dressed in their Easter finery. I cleaned up all of Easter, pieces from a couple of torn boxes and other random trash on thatside of the yard. I decided to clean Christmas later. I didn’t. Big mistake.

I ordered a special dinner today, Thursday’s Winter Warm-Up, from my favorite store, Ring Brothers. It will be delivered this afternoon. The stuffed pork caught my attention.

When I was a kid, we ate a lot of ground beef. My favorite was always my mother’s meatloaf. She’d put ketchup on the top then wrap it in bacon. Other times she’d frost it with mashed potatoes then bake it a bit more in the oven. I remember the swirl of the potatoes and the tips nicely browned. Her American chop suey was the stuff of legend. Her fanciest dinner was ground beef stroganoff over noodles. I always thought it a bit exotic with its foreign name. The easiest suppers were in the summer when my father would grill hamburgers and cheeseburgers. I’d put my cheeseburger in a toasted roll with a dollop of ketchup or maybe some mayo. I think I sighed with my first bite.

Today is sunny. Today is also, at times, cloudy. The high will only be 34˚. The wind is strong and cold and the topmost branches of the pine trees in the backyard are swaying. The dogs don’t stay out long. When they come back inside, their ears are cold.

Nala naps behind me on the couch. She jumps up, settles in and snuggles. She feels warm on my back.

I found one of my sandals on the driveway just inside the fence. I really thought I had well hidden the pair. It is now obvious that Nala’s talents are far greater than I ever imagined. Nothing is safe.

For breakfast this morning the dogs and I shared coffee and a banana. They love both. The two of them, one on each side of me on the couch, watched as I drank my coffee. Their heads followed my cup from the table to my mouth. I felt guilty. I gave them a taste.

I need to do a bit of shopping today. I am down to only one can of cat food. That will never do.

When I was a kid, I was seldom sick. I do remember getting the measles and staying in my darkened bedroom with no lights and covered windows, precautions so I wouldn’t go blind. I stayed in bed, in the dark room, until the spots disappeared. That’s when I learned the meaning of utter boredom.

I bought three small succulents a few weeks back. I put them, still in their little pots, in an otherwise empty pot until I could plant them. Now I don’t have to. Yesterday I noticed a pile of dirt on the living room rug. I knew the culprit. I just didn’t know the source of the dirt until I found a little pot, an empty little pot. I also found only a few torn pieces of greenery when Henry was chewing on them. He has gone to the dark side.