Ebony's Pearls

Ice December 2007
Originally uploaded by nodigio

It's sleeting, and has been for hours, with loud, rumbling thunder.

Tomorrow will likely be an Administrative Leave Day for non-essential personnel because it's still sleeting and is supposed to continue throughout the day.

I won't be included in that "non-essential personnel" - where I work is considered essential and all personnel are supposed to be present. Those who choose to not go to work will have to do so by using up their vacation time.

That means I'll have to get up at 4:30 a.m. in order to be at work at 7:00 a.m. and with all the other "essential personnel" on the roads, returning home will be even lengthier and riskier because they won't drive with care - they'll be in a hurry to get home, get to the stores, or whatever. They'll be convinced their need to get where they want to go supersedes everyone else's need to get to their places, too. And being this time of year, when the angry, pushy Christmas Spirit is in effect, it will be even worse.

I do not look forward to coming home tomorrow, although the trip to work won't be a problem - hardly anyone will be on the road that early.

So far, for Cookie Day, I've used up 50 pounds of flour, 6 pounds of Crisco, 8 pounds of butter, 1 dozen eggs, 1 box of dark chocolate cocoa powder, 2 bottles of almond extract and 3 bottles of vanilla extract, 10 pounds of vanilla sugar, 4 pounds of brown sugar, 4 pounds of powdered sugar, 5 pounds of dried fruits, 12 dried and ground chipotles, 5 ounces of cardamom, 3 ounces of cloves, 9 ounces of cinnamon, 5 ounces of nutmeg, 5 ounces of allspice, 3 ounces of star anise, 1 pound of honey, 1 ounce of basil, 1 ounce of thyme, 3 ounces of lavender, 1 ounce of white pepper, 1 ounce of rose powder, 5 ounces of orange water, and 10 pounds of pecans.

So, I just spent over an hour scraping ice off the car so I can go to work tomorrow. The chunks that broke off the windshield were more than an inch thick.

I am not looking forward to the trip to work tomorrow. It will be dark, and very early (I have to be at work before sunrise), and no way to clearly see potential hazards.

Poor Itzl will have to go out in this cold, too. I'm so glad I finished his fur-lined carrier and his hat and coat. I dug out his snow boots, too, and let him practice walking in them tonight so he could handle them tomorrow.

Life sucks when you're a service dog and have to go out in nasty weather like this. Other dogs get to bask by the heat of the fire or curl up in warm blankies.