Well, my niece Caitlin finally convinced me to get one of them Facebook pages. I held out for the longest time, but eventually I buckled under to her persistent pestering. It’s up and running and you know what? Weird as it is, I kind of like it. (I’m drawing the line at twitter, though. I told her, “The only one I want twittering me is Charlie.”)

What a winter, huh? First, there was all that snow: roof’s caving in, ice damns in the gutters wreaking all sorts of havoc. Now, we got this freezing rain (at least that’s what it’s doing at the moment). I can handle snow just fine, but ice? That’s another matter. I find myself driving like a little old lady: hands gripping the wheel at two and ten o’clock, sitting forward on my seat, body all tense, going fifteen miles an hour all the way to work. It’s exhausting! Thank goodness they do a good job sanding the parking lot at the A&P.

Menopause? I’m pleased to report that me and my friends Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot and Shirley (a.k.a. The Women Who Run With the Moose) have pretty much cooled off at this point. We’ve ridden that roller coaster and have gotten off the ride, or at the very least, figured out a way to smooth the track.

Last week, I just needed to get out of Dodge. Our double-wide can feel mighty close by the middle of February, if you know what I mean? The tip off? I find myself thinking, Why is Charlie breathing so loud? That’s when I know it’s time to pick up the phone, and organize a field trip. My sister Irene was feeling kind of antsy, too, so off we went to Bangor for a day of shopping.

Ah, Valentine’s Day: that’s a favorite of mine. As a cashier down to the A&P, I get to see firsthand all the nice stuff folks are buying their sweeties: cards, red roses, and them heart-shaped boxes of assorted chocolates. Love is in the air! Plus, I get to wear red, which looks good on me (it’s in my color wheel). And, of course, it’s a chance to give Charlie a mushy card in exchange for him taking me out to the Sky Lodge for dinner.

Poor Charlie! What a couple of weeks he’s had! Me, too, thinking it was all my fault.

See, he was eating some of Joan Levesque’s peanut brittle, which I bought at a bake sale down to the Community Center. He just loves that stuff. So much so, I got to dole it out to him piece by piece, or he’ll scarf up the whole bag in one sitting.

The other day I had the misfortune of seeing some photos taken at our New Years Day brunch at Celeste and Bud’s. Rita got a new digital camera for Christmas, and, while I’m happy for her, it was like spending the day with the paparazzi. Kirstie Alley, I feel your pain!

Boy, it sure has been cold here in Mahoosuc Mills! Well, it is winter, after all. But once the temperature starts dipping into the teens or single digits, it makes the whole idea of getting out of bed kind of, well, uninspiring. This from a morning person, too. (Well, most of the year, anyways.)

Charlie come home from work last Friday, and I could tell he was a little thrown off. Usually, I got dinner all set out for him.

“What’s up?” he says, staring at me with my coat on and ready to go.

“Don’t you remember? Caitlin’s art opening?”

“Oh, gees…” Clearly, he hadn’t.

“Come on, Charlie. It’ll be good for us.”

As many of you probably know, I work as a cashier down to the A&P. (Actually, it’s been “Super Food World” for at least five years now, but everyone ‘round here still calls it the A&P.) So anyways, I’ve been a cashier since before I graduated high school, and let me tell you, I’ve seen it all.