This has been something of a strange weekend. It all started Friday when the rain we had in the morning mutated into a sleet/snow mixture and turned the roads into something out of a horror film - accidents abounded with cars sliding all over the place. My office had pretty much everyone leave early - especially those with longer commutes. Afternoon meetings were all rescheduled for Monday and I finally got out around 3:00 (most everyone else had left already).
My half-hour drive home took me roughly 2-1/2 hours making my average speed something like 10 mph. Cars on Route 1 moved at a snails pace while it was faster going on I-95, still the top speed was about 35 mph. In a way it was kind of funny and felt like I was watching the oncoming traffic in slow-motion.
I finally got home and had an amazingly difficult time getting into a parking spot - they hadn’t plowed the lot yet and everything was so icy that my poor front-wheel drive Corolla had to really work to pull in without sliding into another car.
Colleen was home having decided not to go into her office today (smart move). After I de-stressed a little from my drive, we decided to order pizza and watch a movie - “The Devil Wears Prada”. It’s a cute film, but I have to say that the primary reason to watch it is for Meryl Streep. I think she may just be my all-time favorite actress.
I also watched “Stranger Than Fiction” which was a real disappointment, or at least, it wasn’t at all what I was expecting from the previews I’d seen when it was in theatres. It’s got a great (and funny) premise, great cast (Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Will Ferrell) but the film was really less of a comedy and more serious than I anticipated. I probably would have liked it better initially if I hadn’t been expecting a comedy.
Yesterday (Saturday) wasn’t much to get excited about. Colleen and I made an attempt to shovel, but the packed snow and ice made it pretty much impossible to get anywhere. So after playing with Chena for a bit, I came in and set about doing some organizing and the primed the bannister for painting. I know, riveting stuff.
Last night I had a nightmare.
I dreamt that I took Chena outside and she was dogknapped. A few days later, it was discovered that she was tortured and killed along with another older dog. They caught the people that did it, and myself along with the owner of the other dog were going to be interviewed on the news about the whole ordeal. It was so awful I actually woke up in tears. I haven’t had a horrible dream like that in ages… When I did wake up, it took me a second to get oriented and then I immediately reached over to feel for Chena sleeping next to me. When I felt her soft fur and realized it was a dream, I can’t even tell you the feeling of utter relief and happiness I had! Hope I don’t have another one like that again…ever.
Right now Chena is laying on the floor by my feet chewing on something. Chewing is by far her favorite pastime. 
This will be another slow day, I think. I need to actually paint the bannister since it’s all primed and ready to go. I’ve decided to not attempt church because, although the roads are fine, my car is going to take some serious work to get dug out and I think it’s safer to wait until the sun has a chance to warm the concrete-like snow.
So now that I’ve put you all into a boredom-enduced coma with the details of my uneventful weekend, I’ll close with a Happy Birthday to Es and a belated Happy Sait Patrick’s to everyone else!
