thunder and lightening....

wonderful, cozy, frightening....a cold front is moving through the Northeast, bringing some rain, and a few thunder storms. One crash of thunder sounded like it was right in the front yard....Charlotte Claire was sitting at the table playing "Chutes and Ladders", and she scrambled up, across the table, and flew into Kathryn's arms....her and Jon were huddled on my lap within seconds....then a few more loud ones, and it passed over. The kids were concerned that the power might go out, so I encouraged them to pick up a few things so we wouldn't trip (aren't I awful?).....and Sam got his wind-y (no batteries necessary) flashlight out.....but, the power didn't go out.

More colder weather is coming. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, it will be 20 degrees in the upper atmosphere (5,000 ft.), and the water temperature of Lake Ontario is in the 50's. Perfect conditions for lake effect snow. Now, we usually don't get much snow in October, but we have.....it could happen. Or, it could just be rainy with a few flurries mixed in......there are areas just miles from here that really get pounded with snow, like Oswego. It's right on the southeast corner of Lake Ontario, and the wind goes across the lake, and wham....also, the areas directly east of the lake get hammered with snow. We are south-east of the lake, south of Oswego, but we get out fair share....the thing is, Abigail commutes to college in Oswego. Even when they grow up, they are still mommy's kiddies....

I am going grocery shopping with Molly tomorrow. She cut the coupons today, and is going to try to save us some money. Mariel will be proud of her. Speaking of Mariel, I miss her SO much. She is our healthy eating conscience. One of our first dinners we had when she was gone, we had corn for a vegetable, in addition to mashed potatoes! She would not have allowed that....two starches...two many carbs.....her commitment to a healthy lifestyle has not totally changed us all, but it has rubbed off in a postive way. Molly and Margaret go running almost daily now. And Aaron does, too. And I go for my walks......

I know I am not a very good blogging friend. I don't always answer questions (sorry!), don't play tagging games, it just doesn't appeal to me...but I do read alot of blogs, and enjoy them. I have learned alot, and have been encouraged to some helpful things. I realize that I am not alone, there are many others out there with a lot on their plates, and some with very big issues to deal with. I do pray for my new "friends"....at first I felt funny about it, but then I heard a friend speaking about how God puts people on our hearts, and we need to be faithful there. And pray for people if we are compelled to. I thought praying for "virtual" people was kind of strange, but I have realized that you out there are as real as I am. We are all in this battle of life, and we need all the help we can get. Thanks for reading......and thanks for writing....