From the front lines:

• Anna is going strong with clean thermals and covered legs.
• Brandy is thrilled to have finished her pixie hat.*  Now she's really covered, pointy head to toe.
  
• Mike is thrilled to be able to laugh lots at Brandy in her pixie hat.  He's so carefree in his long underwear.
• Maggie is warm and busy, a good busy.

    Mine is Elf Green!


In Depth:

Winter observations from Brandy--

    "I think I've finally made it past the winter-feeling-slumpy-and-grumpy part.  Yesterday's snow and ice was so nice.  It was good to be at home for a little bit when it was light outside.  Aaaah, to watch the snow fall and be safe and warm.  I pray that everyone will have such luxuries.
    Coming to Wytheville, there was much more ice than snow, and the roads were clearer.  Power lines had icicles.  All the brambles were coated in shiny ice, which looked really mystical and fun with the sun shining through.  The ice didn't melt yesterday and it was beautiful in  the early morning today.
    The car doors have been frozen shut, which makes a person really feel wintry.  I'm gaining more confidence back about driving in the snow, as I've had lots of opportunities to practice.  I might even venture out on Saturday so that Mike and I could go sledding and eat vegetable soup at the Sugar Grove Diner.  Oh, that would be so nice!
    A sad bit about winter is that the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid has been active on our little hemlock by the road.  I don't know how long the trees last after the first infestation, but I did notice that some branches do look a little bare.  Frown.
    Winter is wonderful and today I will buy bulk cinnamon and wear my pixie hat.  And, I will not worry about Mommy Life as she plummets into the abyss of politics over motherhood and strokes her own ego.  I will work to help others feel good about themselves, like Martha who is great with child.  Tonight Mike and I will meet the Friends of Hungry Mother and have a free dinner with Jim and Carrie Sparks, who are like us, thirty years down the trail.

* Pixie hat pattern found here at Knitting Iris.  Obviously, this is not Brandy in the photo, unless she dyed her hair and quickly moved to Northwest Montana.

And we're back!

The Long Underwear Challenge was losing steam as temperatures climbed into the forties and the ground thawed.  But, winter was not far away!

Last night we had a bit of ice and wind.  This morning it began to snow really hard, pushing Mike and me to go back home and wait it out.  I took off half a day and we sat and listened to Joan Baez and I knitted my pixie hat as snow fell outside.  We also watched a Christmas Story (with Ralphie).  I wore my rainbow long undies and L.L. Bean slipper socks, a perfect morning.


Now I am back at work in Wytheville.  It is flurrying a little bit.  The trees are coated in ice here, but the roads are clearer than they were back home.

I got loads of cooking done last night.  Homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella (the only way we do it), cinnamon crunch granola and Davis family manicotti (this will be served in heaven).  I set up stations of production in the kitchen and got everything as ready as I could.  So there was the dry stuff for the granola by the stove.  There were the herbs for the manicotti by the microwave and the pizza toppings by the sink.  Of course, after Thanksgiving with its 12 dishes, I can handle anything.  The manicotti will be baked tonight while I go out to get fresh fruits (maybe even out-of-season ones).

I hope your warm and your leggies are covered!

I'm beginning to feel the LUC 2007 lose steam.  And I'm noticing that the mornings are brighter and there were even some birds singing.  Soon, I'll have my 5:00 AM wake call again.

Spring is  a month away.  And winter will be back tomorrow.

I've been feeling a little insecure lately.  Despite the fact the APEC seems to be really friendly to me and even wanted my speech for their newsletter.  My letter to the editor of my speech may even be published in the Bristol paper. 

Okay, a pep talk for myself.

The Friends of Mount Rogers is going reasonably well.  I was pretty calm and parlamentary at last night's meeting, despite having half of our members gone.  But ooooh, an audit and an accountant, that could be tricky.  The Forest Service has huge budget cuts in the horizon, if the budget is ever approved.  We will probably have 2 new employees, which could be pricey.  And in the mix, we all have personalities, some stronger than others.

Mike and I are keeping our visiting up.  Not like we're Jehovah's Witnesses, but we just like to check on people and see what's going on.  The end of this week is my great-grandmother's big 100th birthday.

I am a great cook.  It's true and I'm not ashamed.  Thanks to Tammy's Recipes, I've tried lots of new things and even been making my own granola.  But all that vigor for cooking can be a bit overwhelming.  Tonight I'm making pizza for dinner, stuffing manicotti for tomorrow and some time I need to make more granola.

And hey!  I get to use my GladRags this week.   No cringes from the peanut gallery.  It's not yucky and I'm not weird.

And some admissions.

Back during the summer, the heat was oppressive.  I don't have to remind you.  Going out for walks at lunch was difficult, but we did it.  Hikes were a little fewer and farther between.  There was all that yard work.  And now I have 40 bags of mulch down and some flab.  Thank you, summer.  It wouldn't be such a pain if my clothes would fit me better.  I'm trying to be active, but so is winter.  And I love winter, but where is the big snow?

I'm also really struggling to stay focused at work.  Blog, blog, blog.

But really, let's focus.

I have friends who love me, a Mike who loves me, a job that pays and insures me (worth more dead than alive, though) and apparently a sense of humor.  I have an abundant life.

From the front lines:

• Brandy and Mike are not wearing long underwear today as the promise of warmer weather made them delirious.  They were not disappointed.  Mike did a half-day on day 5.
  
• Grandad (of Brandy and Mike) reports that he's spent about half of his life in long underwear and the excitement of a challenge was left on the farm in Missouri.
• Craig (uncle of Brandy) does not wear thermal anything and prefers to stay busy hauling firewood and tweaking his weather station.  He also relayed a story of some cowpolks being "sewn in" to their long underwear, seems kind of inhibitive.

In Depth:

Nope, sorry.  Feeling shallow today.

Alas.

From the front lines:

• Anna is procrastinating, but at least she'll be warmer than her vegetables as she wastes* hours not doing her taxes.
• Rebecca reports that she simply does not wear long underwear in the balmy land of Southwest Virginia.  I guess her "Icelandic" roots have taught her what real cold is.
• Wait, haven't heard from anyone else.  Oh well, that what happens when I'm not "working" and am out LIVING.  Must work on work-to-life connection.

In depth:

Mike and Brandy return from wintry outing to Boone and Blowing Rock with new highly scientific conclusions--
   
    "There are a least three different methods of coping with winter and we present them here:

1. The completely underdressed and severely shivering--You've seen them.  The subjects wear short sleeves or very tiny coats and go around muttering, "I hate winter!"  A little waffle knit thermal goodness could soothe their anger.
   
2. The completely overdressed and looking menopausal after having gone inside--This is very obviously where we fit, though there are more extreme manifestations.  Mike and I about baked ourselves inside Dee's Yarn Nook.  We were sitting in Angelica's (slow, but yummy vegetarian place) and watched a woman put on a down vest followed by a down jacket!  Even I'm not that cold.
   
3. The completely stylishly dressed and wearing dead critters--We observed these subjects mostly in Blowing Rock.  I'm sure Rebecca could testify that there is also a high concentration in Highlands, NC.  Tiny boots, black leggings or flare-jeans, and lots of furry bits around the torso.  We need not get started on the modern world of fur.  It's fine for when you've actually eaten what was actually wearing what you are now wearing."

    And one shocking new conclusion from EarthFare (the Healthy Supermarket) in Boone--The little sea critters they sell are not wild caught!   Well, not all the fish are farm raised; but really, I can get wild caught shrimp at Food City in MARION.  You'd think they could do a bit better in the filter-feeding crustacean department.  They do sell free-range beefs, lambs, porks and chickens.  Still, Mike and I will suffer ourselves to have our special meal of organic yogurt, blood oranges, bananas and farm-raised lobster cakes**.

*See wetkneefarmfor her definition of time wasted.  If only I had so much motivation.
**We are not such big fancy eaters all the time.  I present "Fifty ways to eat Turkey Chili" as evidence.

News from the front lines:

• Mike and Brandy are hardening to the cold and excitedly looking forward to an organic day walking in Boone tomorrow.
• Maggie has declared independence from thermals in anticipation of bum fluctuations.  She still has her favorite fleecy pants, after all.
• Mark is freezing his bum off.  Did anyone tell him there's nothing quite like a man in long underwear?
• Adrianne is sailing through winter in her modest nun panties, benevolently donated to her by the newly liberated Maggie.

Anna, how's your supply holding out?

In depth:

Exposed!

In a shocking LUC development it has been discovered that Brandy possesses a set of insulating under bits from WAL*MART!  A peek in her drawers help to reveal the shocking truth.
Let's go to the most recent wire--
       "I swear I don't know what happened!  I mean it got cold and I needed something and I let my guard down!  I was going to tell you in the interview, I just plum forgot.  They're all blue and lacy and thin so they'll work under pants and even other long underwear.  I'm not ashamed, I tell you!  Sometimes a person's got to do what's necessary to stop shivering.  They're sold out now, if you're wondering."

Speak out:

Tell us at the LUC about your favorite pair of long undies or what you out there with bare legs under your pants do to survive!

News from the front lines:

• Anna is in the lead with approximately 8 consecutive days in the thermals.
• Maggie has requested reinforcements and is currently unable to participate.  She is with us in spirit if not spandex.
• Brandy, on the other hand, has found her undies to be growing and drifting in a downward fashion.
• Mike reports all is well on his front, and back sides.
• Reports on the status of Mark and Adrianne would be welcomed.

In depth:

Brandy speaks about her personal long underwear collection in an exclusive narcissistic interview.
   
    "My long underwear affinity began when I was in the band in high school.  I played the piccolo, you know.  I even mastered playing it with mittens on, kitten mittens.  Back to the thermals--my great-grandmother who will be 100 in 8 days gave me a pair she had to wear under my uniform.  They are cream with a thin variegated stripe of rainbow running throughout.  By far my favorites.
    After awhile I acquired a snowflake pair at the local Tractor Supply.  They were stricken with the mysterious growing crotch hole last year and have since been retired.
    I have two pairs of high falootin' long underwears.  My dad got them for me because he was tired of seeing me cold on hikes.  One pair is fleecy and very warm and the other is wool and kind of tight.  They are both black.  Maybe the wool pair will be stricken with the same illness as the rainbow.
    I love my long underwears and find they make skirts in winter a delight.  I'm trying out excessive enthusiasm and humor to get me through the blustery days, so please excuse my preoccupation with the words delight and stricken.  Anyway, skirts are better for me because my legs don't feel all confined like they do in pants.  Just a tip!"