Leaving for Cleveland

We'll be leaving for Cleveland around noon tomorrow. The service for my aunt will be Monday morning at 10:00.

We're still getting snow. It's been a record snowfall for us this winter, but still we haven't been as hard hit during this storm as people farther east.

We could have another two weeks of this, but I would think by the middle of March, we should see some milder weather, and that will be very much welcomed by everyone in these parts, I'm sure.

Two days after my last post my aunt died in San Diego. The day of my last post was her birthday; she was 89. I had spoken with her on the phone on the 15th to wish her a happy birthday.

She used to read my blog, so it's been rather sad for me to come here and look at it knowing she'll never read it again.

She's being laid to rest in Cleveland and we'll be attending her funeral there on Monday.

She was the last surviving member of my dad's family and the youngest member of the family. I'll miss her and already do. We always had so much to talk about, and her mind was as good the last time I talked with her as it ever was.

We were certainly in for it. We lost our power for two days after the date of the last post, and it's been snowing off and on ever since. Snow is piled all around us. We got another onslaught of about 5 inches yesterday. This has been an unusually snowy winter for these parts. Everyone is looking forward to spring more hopefully than usual.

Lotsa snow!

We're in for it. It started as rain this morning then turned to snow. Looks like we've gotten six to eight inches and will get more overnight and tomorrow.

Bella Tuscany

This cold pretty well laid me low for the past week, but I'm starting to get back to normal now.

One of the books I finished during that time was Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes. I'm pretty sure it was sent to me by my aunt several years ago when she also sent me Mayes' first book on Tuscany, Under the Tuscan Sun. I think I enjoyed this book even more than the first one.

In this book she writes about the time she and her husband spent in Italy when they took their sabbaticals together and thus were able to spend a far longer amount of time there than usual. While reading of their activities there -- day trips to see other towns, stopping by farms to pick up fresh ricotta, spending a few days in Sicily at Easter, etc. -- I thought how wonderful it would be if my husband and I could rent a place in Tuscany for six months or so, possibly even a year, if we're not too decrepit by the time he retires. But then I remembered we have a dog and a cat who are so young we'll surely be decrepit by the time they're no longer with us ... if we even live that long.

The struggle to eat healthy foods

I felt better today than I expected to feel. Maybe the Alka Seltzer, orange juice and chicken soup did some good.

Our daughter tries to keep us up to date on healthy foods. She was the first to tell us about the dangers of transfats which have now been removed from most of the foods sold, I believe. And now she's warning us about genetically modified foods and telling us we should watch out for corn or corn syrup in anything unless it's organic.

My husband eats instant Quaker grits for breakfast most mornings. I can find organic grits, but I can't find instant organic grits.

Above are a couple of items I picked up at the organic store in Pittsburgh when we were there a couple of weeks ago. We didn't have much time to look around that day, but I'd like to go back and buy more things to try.

Just as I feared

I woke up this morning with my husband's cold ... sore throat and chills. I don't know yet whether it's going to get worse. I'm taking Alka Seltzer Plus and hoping for the best.