We have invisible freezing rain/sleet here. What I mean by invisible is that it is barely there. If you stand under a tree that still has leaves, you hear it hit the leaves but none of it makes it down to the ground or to you. I was wearing a black jacket and never found a bit of sleet on it, for example. Leslie, Probably the smartest decision but...a whole year? Next year's Christmas party better be twice as nice then. Carol, We've been in a similar doughnut hole all day too. Tim and Chris keep looking at the radar in Dallas and thinking something is falling here, but it isn't falling or, if it is falling, it isn't reaching the ground. That happened last time....what little stuff fell mostly evaporated before reaching the ground. Mia, It never fails...when I say 'nothing is falling here' then stuff immediately begins to fall. It is like it is a curse to say that nothing is falling. Dorothy, I wondered what y'all were getting because The Weather Channel keeps talking about what is falling in Fort Smith so I wondered if it was on your side of the Ar-OK state line too. All day long I have felt like a sitting duck....just sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting. If it is going to fall, y'all, (and obviously it is falling already in many places), I just wish it would go ahead and fall, freeze up our roads, knock out our power lines, make a big mess and just get it over with. I've already cooked, cleaned and done laundry so I am running out of things to do to stay busy indoors. It is too chilly to be outdoors, except we did prune back more of the red oak by the power line this morning. I feel better about it now because we cut it back pretty far. I want some snow like Leslie is getting. I want big, pretty snowflakes. Instead, I'm expecting icky old freezing rain. I am hearing a little thunder occasionally. Maybe we'll get thundersnow! Dawn

Restaurants prep all manner of vegetables ahead of time for cooking, salads, sautes, just about everything. The trick is simply to make sure everything is clean and dry before slicing and sealed tightly before refrigerating. Lettuces should be cut or torn, soaked for 15 to 29 minutes in cold water and then spun vigorously so that they are quite dry when put into the fridge. It helps also to put a paper towel in the bottom of the container to absorb any liquid you missed. If you haven't a salad spinner...use my emergency method. Put the lettuces in a clean, lint free pillowcase, and then go outside and spin the bag in circles as fast as you can. The centrifugal force will dry the lettuces and your neighbors will think you are quite odd. Onions don't collect bacteria any more than any other vegetable, though I have heard that old wive's tale before. In fact, onions have been used for generations as a poultice because of their anti-microbial properties.

Sheesh, why so sensitive? Anything past about 40 is old. Face it, 100 years ago or a little more, a lot of people didn't live past that age. Depending on the place, you're a "senior" in their eyes at different ages and AARP starts harassing you big time at about 50. 50, 55, 60, 62, 65 are all ages that different places qualify as "senior". If you qualify for a "senior discount" then you're a senior. I'm not bothered by it. I know I'm old and I don't care. Give me my fogey funds and get outta my way you young whippersnappers, playing your funny music and strange clothes. I have a rocking chair and I use it.

102 here (central TX) today, expected to be the same temp through Monday, then it "cools down" to 97 for a few days. Vile temps, I hate TX summers. Lucille, I also wonder what Abbott means by "shutting down". Going by his previous decisions, probably "those who want to shut down can, those who don't, don't have to. And let's open the schools, regardless." Judging by reader response to various articles about TX "leadership" in several state newspapers, there maybe a blue tsunami in November.