Looks like winter's finally here

I can't complain. We had the mildest January in recent memory (which isn't saying a lot, as the recent memory is the first to go as we age, I think), so having a couple day of Xtreme cold and a few potential inches of snow is, um, normal. Right now we have about an inch, and according to the radar we're looking at another three or four hours of light snow.

I feel so bad for the daffodils. They usually have to withstand a very cold night or two later in the season and they pop right back. I hope mine will, but I'm not holding my breath. They just sprouted too early.

Denise, I'm a total novice when it comes to Excel, and your tip on how to select a section of a spreadsheet is nothing short of genius! Thanks so much. I should probably read a tutorial or take a class to get the full benefit of the program, but I truly don't use it very often.

(I bought it for a part-time job that fell through. =( But I'm happy to have it to work on the garden center's website. I'll link to it when it's ready for prime-time.)

Took this picture of our
BRAND-NEW coffeemaker
last year on Feb. 13.

The grind part of our grind-and-brew coffeemaker bit the dust this morning. From what I can gather after reading online troubleshooting forums, this is pretty common after a couple years of use. It's a 12-cup Cuisinart model that was on sale at Sam's for about $50, so I'm not too disappointed. I pulled the backup Krups grinder out of the cupboard and we're good to go.

My husband drinks a lot of coffee. His coffee consumption is actually rather legendary in his extended family; one cousin says she and her mother have had entire conversations about how much coffee he drinks. We routinely brew three pots of coffee every day, and sometimes four.

I mix a bag of regular and a bag of decaffeinated beans together to reduce the total caffeine intake, but still. That's a helluva lot of coffee. (I drink three or four cups in the morning and then I'm done.) That the grinder quit so relatively soon after purchasing the unit (in two days we will have had it for a year) shouldn't be a big surprise, considering that most people make coffee once a day.

Don't they?

We have a backup coffeemaker, as well, because obviously when someone needs three pots of coffee a day, you have to be prepared. We're like Boy Scouts that way. Heh.

Fortunately we're like Boy Scouts as far as being prepared for bad weather goes, as well. Because it doesn't look like we're going to be leaving the house today. Plenty of eggs, milk, meat and vegetables. And I should probably go put another pot of coffee on.