Sunday - 345th

Who would have thought that a snowstorm in Texas would have us cracking a hole into the wall of the farmhouse! Yet that is exactly what we are now planning to do. All that talk of people running their gas ovens to keep warm lead us to further investigate the link between gas stoves and particles and gas emissions and boom! After a night of studying the literature, Ed decided that indeed, we should vent our gas stove. Through a soon to be knocked out hole in the farmhouse wall. [A suggestion to those of you who have a gas stove with a vent over it: use it when you're cooking a bunch. Or at least open the window. Unvented stoves wont kill you (unless you're leaking carbon monoxide, but that's a rarer event), but the air quality in your home will be, well, on the poor side for the duration of your cooking efforts.] You'd think that our construction team would have insisted on putting in a vent when we rebuilt the kitchen a few years back, but in fact, venting a stove is not required in Wisconsin (it is in California) and most people have no idea that nitrogen oxides are seeping into their work space when they turn on their gas stove. Funny how even at 67, I'm still learning really basic stuff about, well, everything.

We wake up to a gray day that will eventually bring with it yet another snow event. So, time to get cheerful and have a color filled breakfast in the front room!

Throughout the morning, we talk about how to proceed with the hole punching and vent installation. Ed, of course, wants to do it himself. Me, I'd hand it over to a construction team. Let's see if you can guess who will win this discussion!

And speaking of stoves and ovens, this really is a good day for baking. I am forever searching out recipes for desserts that appeal to both adults and kids, desserts that are not one big sugar high. Chocolate is often involved! Today, I go for cupcakes made with strawberry puree and topped with chocolate frosting. I'm thinking the puree will add a freshness, color and a fine taste...

 

... but of course, winter berries, imported from California or Florida, can be on the bland side. If it weren't for the pink-ish color, would we even know that two cups of berries went into the batter? Ah well. Yummy stuff nonetheless.

When I set out with dinner for the young family, it's snowing. A freezing icy wet kind of snow. And in backing out down the long driveway, the car skids right into a snowbank. I suppose it portends of the drive ahead of me. 

Ed spends a good chunk of time pushing me out of trouble  and I continue. The roads are awful. Slippery, and growing more slippery by the minute. I crawl to the young family's house thinking -- why are end of season snow events the worst? 

Happy moments!

And then the drive back. Slow, very very slow. But hey, I stay on the highway, even though it isn't always obvious where the highway lanes are.

Home again. Relieved, hungry, tired.  I glance at my Fitbit step tracker. Ed and I did not walk anywhere today yet I feel like I've run a marathon. Perhaps I have run a marathon of sorts. We all have. And we all can't wait to get to the finish line.