Ah, I'm basking in the (Nearly) seemingly tropical heat! It's FINALLY +4 degrees out and it feels like it's about 50! It's amazing how a prolonged period of incredibly cold weather puts you into a state of almost animalistic hibernation. Just about all any of us have wanted to do is sleep. Crawl under warm blankets and pull them over our heads and forget about the fact that all the water in the house is frozen, that we have to bathe out of buckets, or that we were literally burning almost an entire tree a day to keep the house above 50. It occurred to me during this period how much heating a house with firewood is like raising a child. They both demand constant attention, care and feeding, they both require careful nurturing to reach their best potential, and they both give you a warm, happy glow when they're doing what they are supposed to. I had a really cool comparison about when you know they're both going to be all right, about them busting into flame and beginning to burn on their own without any help from you, but honestly I forget what it is. Ah well, I think my brain is still defrosting.  I got my 'fortune cookie' on Facebook the other day. It read "Any rough times are behind you." Ah, I wish I could believe that was true! It would be nice if rough times were behind me, even for a while. I've had enough of them, I'm tired of them. Unfortunately, unless some miracle comes along and gives me a source of enough money to live, I fear that fortune is entirely incorrect. I have approximately 20 days to come up with a miracle solution that will allow me to keep my house. So far the sky hasn't exactly opened up and showered me with ideas, although who knows. I'm trying to stay positive and look for opportunities. I've heard many people over the years say, usually to a complaining child, "Life is what you make of it." And that's true, to a certain extent. Of course there is always the disclaimer of "And sometimes life sucks eggs, no matter what you try to do." Maybe my egg sucking time is coming to an end for a while, we can only hope! Anyway, to my loyal reader out there, sorry I haven't posted in a few days, like I said, hibernation. I've managed to get my school work done, although not nearly as well as I would have liked to, and managed to keep everyone sort of fed, although I actually want to start cooking again. A steady diet of ramen and sandwiches gets pretty boring after a while. But..The house is thawing, it's wonderfully overcast, it's above zero out and I'm not beat yet, We'll keep going until we can't go anymore..and who knows, maybe 'Any rough times are behind me'...