244 e-mails and 17*

I'm home! We got back from the airport about midnight, and Chloe woke me up for breakfast at 6:30. I've managed to clear out 244 e-mails (mostly junk) and would head back to bed for a while except that I have to leave in a little over an hour to get a mammogram. Woo hoo. I see a nap in my near future, though. I also see a sugar and olive oil scrub; my hands are like sandpaper, and I just found a splinter I must have gotten when we broke camp yesterday.

It was an interesting week. When I got to Florida it was 74*. That didn't last. Monday and Tuesday were in the low 60's. Tuesday night the bottom fell out and we got down to 17*. When I got up Wednesday morning there was frost, and our firewater bucket was frozen. I crunched over to the Portajohns and was not surprised to see frost on the outside, but I knew it would be ugly when I went in and found frost on the inside, too. The wood stove in the tent ran most of the week and firewood was getting to be an issue. Fortunately we didn't have to start busting up furniture, but when we packed out yesterday I was starting to wish we had. It was cold enough that we didn't get as much socializing in as we usually do, but I did manage to connect with most of my friends and saw a couple that don't usually go to that rendezvous. As the week went on, it warmed steadily, and it was 78* when we packed up yesterday. When I got home, it was 15*.

I did get a lot of shopping done, and I came home with money. The only thing I didn't actually buy Eric was footwear, although I did order a pair of custom-made mocassins for him which should get here next month. He has trouble with his feet, and I didn't want to buy shoes without him there to try them on. One of our friends is a trader and has promised to bring shoes Eric's size to the Southeastern this spring. It's actually a good thing I put off the shoes. My suitcases were pretty full.

I probably won't get around to posting pictures until late in the week. Alex and I are supposed to do a campus visit tomorrow (assuming the weather holds--it's supposed to snow), and I'm back to work Wednesday. It was great to get away, and I'll have more stories, but I'm looking forward to getting back into some semblance of a routine.