Aw crap, here it comes...BRRRRRRR!!!!!

Fall to look like winter in Northeast this weekend

By PAT EATON-ROBB - Associated Press | AP – 4 hrs ago

HEBRON, Conn. (AP) — Dan Patrylak recently moved from Arizona back to New England and was looking forward to seeing snow on the ground again, happily picking up two new ice scrapers for his car at the start of his weekend.

Sections of the Northeast were bracing for an October snowfall Saturday as a storm moving up the East Coast was expected to combine with a cold air mass and dump anywhere from a dusting of snow to about 10 inches throughout the area.

"In Phoenix, it's 113 all summer long," the 79-year-old Patrylak, of Glastonbury, said Friday. "So, it just depends on where you are and what the weather is and you learn to accept that. Whatever it is, I'm going to be ready for it."

October snowfall records could be broken in parts of southern New England, especially at higher elevations, National Weather Servicemeteorologist Bill Simpson said. The October record for southern New England is 7.5 inches in Worcester in 1979.

Likely to see the most snow will be the Massachusetts Berkshires, the Litchfield Hills in northwestern Connecticut, southwestern New Hampshire and the southern Green Mountains. In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned residents that they could lose power due to the anticipated wet, heavy snow.

The storm could bring more than 6 inches of snow to parts of Maine beginning Saturday night. Parts of southern Vermont could receive more than a foot of wet snow Saturday into Sunday.

Communities inland will get hit hardest by the storm. Relatively warm water temperatures along the Atlantic seaboard could keep the snowfall totals much lower along the coast and in cities such as Boston, Simpson said. Temperatures should return to the mid-50s by midweek.

In Pennsylvania, 6 to 10 inches could fall at higher elevations, including the Laurel Highlands in the southwestern part of the state and the Pocono Mountains in the northeast. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh could see a coating.

"This is very, very unusual," said John LaCorte, a National Weather Service meteorologist in State College, Pa. "It has all the look and feel of a classic midwinter nor'easter. It's going to be very dangerous."

LaCorte said the last major widespread snowstorm to hit Pennsylvania this early was in 1972.

In New England, the first measurable snow usually falls in early December, and normal highs for late October are in the mid-50s.

"This is just wrong," said Dee Lund of East Hampton, who was at a Glastonbury garage getting four new tires for her car before a weekend road trip to New Hampshire.

Lund said that after last winter's record snowfall, which left a 12-foot snow bank outside her house, she'd been hoping for a reprieve.

But not everyone was lamenting the unofficial arrival of winter.

Steve Hoffman had expected to sell a lot of fall fertilizer this weekend at his hardware store in Hebron. Instead, he spent Friday moving bags of ice melting pellets.

"We're stocked up and we've already sold a few shovels," Hoffman said. "We actually had one guy come in and buy a roof rake."

Simpson cautioned that the early snowfall is not an indication of what the winter might bring.

"This doesn't mean our winter is going to be terrible," he said. "You can't get any correlation from a two-day event."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ummmmm....well, Stephen, as you know, I am from Michigan.  Now, I am not a meteorologist, but we Michigan people are born with some kind of weird weather-intuition, we can tell just by watching things in nature what the weather is gonna be from day to day---(oh, look at all the seagulls overhead...must be a big storm comin' in over the Lake)---which is cool because the weather in Michigan changes frequently every day---so, I am telling you, based on my intuition and experience, WE ARE IN FOR A VERY LONG, NASTY WINTER.  People on the East Coast must like to be optimists.  I, however, am a REALIST. This winter is gonna suck.

Well, anyway, to prove my point:

This is our driveway with retaining wall and the new chrysanthemums that I just planted 3 weeks ago...BURIED under an inch of snow!!  We don't even own a snow blower yet!!

And here is our backyard with the barn...sooooo....it's not even HALLOWEEN yet people!! I can't tell you how many years in my childhood I had to wear a huge heavy winter coat over my costume when I went trick-or-treating because the snow was a foot deep.  So, while this is not QUITE a foot of snow YET, mark my words, it will be sooner than anyone might think.

Speaking of Halloween....Pete and I have a Batman and Robin costume....(I will be putting mine on later, and taking photos, of course, to share with you)....BUT....yesterday I decided to just wear black, and I had this pumpkin faced apron, and visor, and my mom bought me these horribly tacky LIGHT UP pumpkin earrings...(oh yes, she did).  They are hideous.

So, being the DORK that I am, I decided since I HAD to go to the evil societal nemesis that is known as WAL-MART, (I really really hate that store), I might as well DRESS LIKE A DORK, and hey, who knows, maybe MY face will end up on the "People of Walmart" web site!! hehehehe  I'll be famous.  LOL  I will NOT, however, show even a tiny SLIVER of my butt crack, like 90% of most Wal-Mart shoppers seem to like doing for some insane reason.  

Anyhoo...this is what I looked like...(complete with DORKY FACED CRAZY SMILE and TONGUE).  I can't believe I'm sending this to you.  Sheesh. You just cringed, didn't you?! DAMMIT MAN, I really and truly CAN be a sexy beast, you know.  Asamatta ofact, I could show you some photos of myself that would curl your toes.  But, for now, you are allowed to think of me as a dork.  (Yeah, I know, that opinion will probably never change, no matter WHAT photos I may have...)  Do ya like my purse?!  "Boo to YOU!"  (It also lights up).  You may even notice on the refrigerator to my right, in the center, is a Journey ECLIPSE bottle opener. They gave us a gift bag at the concert, for being a VIP ticket holder.  Neato-nifty-keen.

    

BUT.....YOU have had YOUR share of dorky moments too!!  I mean, what's up with that old yellow LEOPARD SPOTTED SHIRT?! hehehehe  Or, wearing a tuxedo jacket with NO SHIRT and SUSPENDERS?! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?!  I daresay, even THIS is hilarious----if you were to put your STREET TALK hat on a photo of RAFAEL the artist, well....you'd get a strangely FAMILIAR but equally as DORKY photo of YOU....

So NYAHHHH on your gnarly butt.  (Uncanny likeness, isn't it)?!  What a hoot!!  So don't be judgin' my book by my cover darlin'.

Okay, moving on.

I have been awake since 3:30 a.m., when my bladder decided it was full and my dog had to go outside.  Then, I felt hungry, and checked my blood sugar, which has been going quite low lately...might be time to re-evaluate my medications.  It was 75 the other night, and it's been as low as 51 before.  That's not good.  Anything 100 or slightly over is fine, but anything lower than 100 is NOT.  After checking that, I ate a piece of deli turkey and a string cheese.  Then I was pretty much wide awake, and began working on decorating my office area. 

So, I just had a spot-o-tea (Jasmine, my favorite), and 1 piece of peanut butter toast, and some low-sugar Quaker Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal. Mmmmmm.  Carb-o-licious!! Dammit, I am a carb-aholic.  IF I could just SKIP the carbs, I'd lose a lot of weight.  That's harder to do than it sounds though.  I know you're probably a vegetarian, but I am a carnivore, unfortunately, PLUS the handicap of being from Michigan---so I cannot avoid meat-n-potatoes---that's the way Midwestern people eat, you know.  Ah well, I've lost weight before, and I will do it again.  I am determined to wear a bikini before I get too old to feel like a goddess in it.

Anyway, I wanted to write before Pete wakes up and hogs the computer...we have both been somberly discussing the worsening of his mother, Florence.  She is 90 years old, she has bipolar AND Alzheimers, and lately she has been declining at a very fast rate.  I mean, we actually NOTICE the decline, which is very hard to do when you're in the first few stages of it.  But when you're in the LAST stages of Alzheimers, it goes faster, and is more noticeable.  We are not even sure she'll live until Christmas.  Pete says she may not make it to Thanksgiving.  He said she seems to be "giving up." She is really having a tough time of it lately.  

My heart hurts, knowing that I will be attending her funeral at some point in the near future.  I have a hard time wrapping my head around that.  I mean, sure, everybody dies...but I've been taking care of this woman for nearly 3 years now...I've seen every inch of her body naked, (I give her baths), I've taken her to salons and restaurants, and doctor's appointments, I've laughed and joked with her, I've also wanted to strangle her sometimes (and she has had those feelings about me I'm sure), but I LOVE that lady, she's my mother-in-law, and she's part of ME now, ya know?  She's been the focus of my world for 3 years.  In fact, it's kinda like having a KID, sorta----and I have never had a kid in my whole life----so I was scared to DEATH to take on this responsibility.  I can't even keep a damned plant alive for very long.  I'm not a nurse maid.  I'm not medically inclined whatsoever.  I don't know much about 90 years olds, or bipolar, or Alzheimers either.  All I know is, I will miss her terribly when she's gone.  It breaks my heart.  

Her own daughter---grrrrrrr....don't get me started----was only 1.5 hours from us when we had to go to New Jersey to attend her best friend's funeral, but she didn't even bother attending it herself, nor did she come to see her own mother. GRRRR.  Her daughter-in-law was ready to give birth to twins, so she couldn't leave until the babies were born, and then after they were born, she couldn't leave because she had to help take care of them.  I guess that's the way of the world though. Out with the old, in with the new.

Poor Gladys...that woman had known Florence since they were in first grade, and they've been best friends all their lives. But Gladys was in a nursing home and fell last year and broke her hip.  She fell while carrying scissors...and also poked her eyeball right out of her head.  She went blind in one eye, then eventually lost  sight in the other eye too. Then she got that  congestive heart-failure problem. Then she had another fall, and had to go to assisted living, and a few weeks later, she just up and died. What a rough year that woman had.  And Florence was there for the funeral, but didn't even cry.  I don't know if she really understood. Hell, I didn't even KNOW Gladys, but I cried.  (I'm a sucker though, Hallmark commercials make me cry sometimes!!)

Ah well....so, in the near future, not only do I have to face the loss of Flo-Flo, but my mom's little Chiuaua dog, Radar (he has huge ears), also has heart disease and coughs horribly all the time, wheezes, and can't seem to breathe very well.  One of these days soon, he will turn blue, he'll keel over and his heart (which is enlarged), will just explode---and that will be that.  My mom is debating on putting him down, actually, but it breaks my heart to even think about doing that.  He's a good dog.  He is at least 10 years old, maybe 12.  I can't bear to think of the heart ache that my poor mom will go through when he's gone.  She's already battling depression as it is.  I'll miss "my little man" too.  I just bought him a cool leather biker jacket!! It even has a silver skull button!!  He's never worn it!! (That dog has more clothes than I do)!!

Then of course, in addition to worrying about Florence and Radar, I also worry about my mom dying---she is only 63, same age as you----BUT, she has been smoking since the age of 9, and she now has COPD.  She just started smoking again after several months of having quit because the doctor warned her to.  I can't make her stop smoking either.  She just won't stick with it for very long.  So she tends to get chronic bronchitis and pneumonia at least once every winter.  


There are currently 4 people, 2 dogs and 2 cats living in this house, and soon, we may lose 2 people, and a dog.  I'm going to be a mess.  


Promise me you'll still be my buddy if I fall apart, okay? (There's no IF...I fully expect to).

Anyway, on a happier note, I'm finally starting to feel tired.  Just in time for Pete to wake up. LOL........I've never had the greatest timing in life. SIGH.  Insomnia is annoying.

Ohhhh!!!  I was supposed to tell you about the dream journal I found the other day in a box.....hold on, lemme go get it....

Okay...here it is....considering that 1998 is when you stopped performing with Journey, (though I don't remember exactly what month), this dream seemed rather interesting to me when I had it...I thought you might like to read it.

"October 14, 1998....I dreamed that I saw Steve Perry on a stage, just fiddling around, not really singing or dancing but walking about, seeming to be lonely.  I asked him if he needed some company---but he just smiled sadly without answering.  He came down from the stage and just looked at me.  His eyes seemed sad and distant.  He was troubled.  I offered him a massage---he took his shirt off---GAWD what a sexy chest...so I gave him a massage and then I woke up.  I felt like I was really with him for a brief time...."

Ah well...I guess I'd better go snuggle with Pete for a bit, before the day begins.

Love you lots, Mr. Dorky hat...!!! hehehehee

---Rebecca