The ponds are freezing...

Denial.  That's what I have been in... about this whole winter thing.  Here in the northeast our winter has not officially started, but in my head, winter (which I define as the yucky part of the year I have to get through.)  starts when I can no longer kayak... so... this year, it started in late November.  But.. with the mild weather we have had, except for the two snow storms (Halloween & Thanksgiving) our temps have not been bad.  And yes, I am thankful for that . This week however, has been a bit chillier... and things are starting to change... on my way to work two of the houses I pass have ponds in front of them.  I had been enjoying those ponds, one especially, which often reflected the sun and some turkeys that often cross that property.  Yesterday I noticed that there was only one area of the pond that was reflecting... because the rest has grown cloudy with ice... a think layer, yes...but ice.  I try to remind myself of my goal this winter, so see the beauty in winter this year... but there was part of me that wanted to throw something through the ice to free the water below... hmph...

Change happens... ready or not.

Anyway...
In a recent email a friend of mine, a regular blog reader, pointed out that the high value I place on my family is quite high... he's right.  Family is very important to me.  But I am sure that comes as no surprise.  Last week I got to make a closer connection with one of my cousins ans his wife.  One of my cousins, Mike, and his wife, Heidi, stayed at my apartment last Wednesday.  Mike has been having back issues and had been scheduled for surgery on Thursday.  Mike and I are in the same generation in our family tree, but never really knew each other.  He is about ten years older than I am and growing up, I was the baby of the family.  My sister and I kind of hung out with each other at family events because there was enough of an age difference with our other cousins that our interests were different.  I suppose facebook has helped that a bit.  Heidi is on facebook and we have been friends on there for a while.  She is a sweetheart.  It has been nice to connect with her beyond our annual Thanksgiving gathering.  When she mentioned Mike's surgery was going to be down here (they live over 2 hours away)  I offered my apartment as a place for them to stay before the surgery and after if needed.  Part of me thought that they wouldn't accept my offer, but they did!  They got here Wednesday night and the three of us stayed up talking for quite a while.  It was really nice.  I took Thursday off from work... couldn't stand the idea of Heidi being in a waiting room, alone, all day, while Mike was in surgery.  Waiting rooms are just awful places and I have been fortunate that when I have had to be in one, I have not been alone.  We got up early, about 4:30 a.m., and had to be at the hospital by 6:00... I am glad to report that Mike's surgery went well.  They were able to head to their home the day after surgery and he continues to do well.
Then on Saturday I got together with Jacey, Dad's girlfriend's daughter... who introduced me to someone she knew as her step-sister.... which is much easier than saying Dad's girlfriend's daughter... which is hard to follow and also kind of says that Jacey and I don't have a relationship to each other... which we do.  I am not sure I am ready to call her my sister... but... I think it will come.  I am glad she is comfortable with that... I will be.  We got together to hang out, but also because I wanted to give her a key to my place.  She had a bad accident last winter, driving in bad weather, and she is very nervous to drive in the snow now.  She goes to college about 15 minutes from my house, but she lives about 40 minutes away (in good weather) with roommates who go to another college.  I don't want her to have to travel that far when she is so nervous.  So I gave her a key and hope she comes and goes as she wants... if she knows bad weather is a brewin' she could come the night before.  It would be fun for us to get more time together too.
I am looking forward to Christmas... spending it with Dad, Betty, and Jacey... and probably some of Betty'Jacey's family too.  I am not heading out to spend it with my sister and the boys this year... which feels weird... and I will miss seeing their excitement at the magic of the holiday...but think it makes sense for this year, at least, to head north.  I will spend a few days up there and hope to see some friends from high school while up there, including Todd.  I look forward to that.  Then I will come home and hopefully see friends here and also get some hours on the tolls.  (I worked last weekend, Saturday for 5 hours and then accepted an 8 hour shift for Sunday.... I am tired!)
I guess that's about it for now... I have been thinking about writing on here for a few days, had some ideas, but now that I am here I am drawing a blank!