Hallelujah, January deadlines are over!

We still have snow. At least it's not still falling . . . because today it's too cold.

This is not normal for our part of the world. It's -8°F, with wind chills of -25 to -30°F (that's -22°C and -31 to -34°C). I took weather like this in stride when I lived in the Midwest and New England. When I lived there, I had warmer clothes. Also, the local government owned more plows and knew where to put the white stuff once they'd cleared it out of the roads.

Considering how much beyond the norm this storm is, the city's been doing some very good things to make it less of a burden on residents—pretty much as fast as it can. Yesterday a remarkable thing occurred. Heavy equipment visited the end of our street (which is not a high-priority area) and scraped away the deepest ice. Cars have been getting stuck at neighborhood intersections for the past few days. They either bottom out on the high spots or their tires drop to the axles in the low spots, from which they are unable to power their way out. We've been grateful not to be driving small cars.

For the past week or so the trick to getting onto our street has been (1) approach from the north, (2) drive only along the far northern edge of the intersection, nearly on what would be the lawn of the house on the corner if you could see beneath the snow, and (3) strictly avoid the center of our street (high, narrow ridge of compacted ice) and the south edge (crater filled with at least six inches, possibly more like eight or ten inches, of black water). Now we can just drive in, being careful not to skid but otherwise no problems.

It's worse in Denver. I drove to the city last weekend and ended up traversing some residential streets. A number of areas are closed off completely. I didn't get a chance to look closely at the conditions across the barricades because I was working on keeping my car safe on the open streets (a high-clearance car with good traction, plus the ability to carry boxes of books to shipping terminals, or looms, spinning wheels, and other materials to wherever they're needed). Based on the challenges that I encountered, I guess those closed roads must be extremely hazardous.

I'm not normally glad to see February. It's a short month (the bills come in faster than usual), often gray, and the high point seems to be Groundhog Day. Today. It's sunny. Six more weeks?

So now I need to tally some January accomplishments.

• Sales and use tax forms and 1099s: DONE.
• Book distributor's catalog deadline: MET.
• Illustrations and cover progressing for the Fall 2007 Nomad Press title: HAPPENING. (I may have a cover to post here within a couple of weeks.)
• Deadline for revisions of the book that will be published in Fall 2007 by Free Spirit Publishing (I am one of three co-editors): MET.
• Freelance job requiring major contortions within a very short schedule: DONE. This one was so challenging that the two of us freelancers who worked on it went out after we sent the final files and got massages (for our aching shoulders and backs) and manicures, including nail polish (just because). (I'm not the nail-polish type. My nails are currently purple with sparkles. The manicurist says the sparkles are diamond dust. I think this is kinda weird, but seeing my nails on the keyboard reminds me that we did survive and complete the project. It was that intense.)
• Another freelance job requiring major contortions within a more humane schedule: almost done. The clients extended their timeline by two weeks and added more tasks to their/my list.
• Met with a publishing-savvy resource person who is helping me finish the transition to QuickBooks: YAY.
• Calculated and paid royalties: DONE.
• Began conceptual editing on another new Nomad Press title: IT'S GONNA BE COOL.
• Oh, and ordered the fourth print run of Donna Druchunas' new book, Arctic Lace, which we recently learned was given a super review in Library Journal in December AND is featured at length in the new issue of Wild Fibers. Lovely!
• Sweater and cat progress: details tomorrow, along with more about the Free Spirit book.

Meanwhile, don't miss Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's post about the mittens of Rovaniemi. WOW. Nifty.

Comments

[LynnH]

Wow, congrats on all that work, you definitely deserved a day of spoiling yourself. And major WooHoo on the Arctic Lace reviews and 4th printing. You must all be dancing to that news!

[Deborah Robson]

Thanks so much, Lynn! We're thrilled about Arctic Lace. And we love what it says about today's knitting community that so many people are so enthusiastic about it. Fellow travelers! ! !