IThough the weather looked fine earlier this morning, after reading the forecast I decided to stay home. Now, as I look out my home office window and see the trees swaying and snowflakes swirling in the air, I’m congratulating myself for heeding the winter storm warning. With my cell phone, computer and satellite Internet access, I can get my work done and don’t have to worry about driving in poor visibility on bad roads.

I’m far from being a "techie," but I have to say I do appreciate modern technology. I’ve been thinking today about how grateful I am for the great strides made during the past decade and half. The Internet, e-mail and cell phones have made working at home a breeze.

Back in the mid-90s when I was working at home for a farm publication based in Bismarck, I had to FAX them my stories, then someone at the magazine had to scan them in. Meanwhile, I had to mail them the film of the photos I sent and, depending on the Postal Service, it could be several days before they arrived at their destination. Now, I write the story, paste it into an e-mail and it’s there in seconds. If I need to send a photo with it, I can attach a j-peg to the file.

Cell phones are another definite plus when it comes to working at home. Before, I had to have another phone number for work. The kicker was that only the number itself and the ring were different than my home phone. Because it would have cost thousands of dollars to install a second phone line in my home, my work phone and home phone were on the same line. The advantage to the set-up was that, because the rings were different, I knew whether I should answer the phone as a work call or a home call. Now, I can just use my cell phone for work ,which is especially great when it comes to making long distances calls. Instead of having to keep track of the calls and fill out expense reports, I can take advantage of the hundreds of unused minutes on my cell phone plan.

Another advantage to working at home is that there are few interruptions. It’s just me, the three dogs and the two cats. so conversations are one-sided and kept short — "Rosebud, quit barking. Minnie, get back in the kitchen. Maggie, off the counter." I know I would miss the hustle, bustle and chatter of the office if I worked at home regularly, but it’s sure a great option on days like this.

I admit I am weary of winter. I want to be able to go outside without a heavy coat, exchange my big boots for tennis shoes and put my hats, mittens and long underwear in storage. The reality is, though, that we are bracing for yet another winter storm. I just hope that the forecast is right and that the heavy snows and wind don’t materialize until after I get home from work.

I can handle driving in most weather conditions, but poor visibility rattles me. I’m not worried about going in the ditch because I don’t try to break any speed records. However, I do worry about one of the vehicles that goes sailing past me sliding into me or causing snowfog so someone else hits me.

Complaining about the weather won’t change anything, however, and I’m sure everyone is as tired of it as I am, so I’ll stop my rant.  Instead, I’ll focus my attention on spring. Soon the grass will be green, the garden will be ready to plant and winter will be just a distant memory.

Here at the Herald things are pretty hectic in the newsroom with all of the flood coverage going on, so I offered to help out. I wrote a story yesterday for the daily Herald and will cover a couple of meetings this morning and afternoon. I’m also doing an interview for Faces and Places, our special feature section, so it’s a fairly busy day.

I thrive on being busy, though, and would much rather have it that way than not have enough to do. However, I am sorry to be covering another, flood and my heart goes out to people in Fargo and other areas who are fighting to save their homes.

The weather is making me weary. Things are fine at our house except for some pretty icy, snow-covered roads. I’m afraid it will get worse before it gets better, though. I’m not looking forward to the coming weeks when it starts melting.

As someone at work said, while you don’t want to wish your life away, it would be nice to have the calendar fast-forward to May 1 and be done with the nasty weather. Since that’s not an option, the best thing to do is take it a day at a time. That philosophy has gotten me through some rough spots with my daughter, Ellen’s leukemia, and really is the way we should live life all of the time. Every once in awhile I guess I just need a reminder.

I’ve lived here a long time and dealt with a lot of bad weather, but I have to say I’m getting tired of this. Between, the water, the snow, the ice and the wind, getting to work this past winter and spring has been a challenge. I’m looking forward to being able to just hop in the car and drive without worrying if I’m going to get stuck or go in the ditch.

I didn’t make it into work yesterday. Between, the snowing, the blowing and the ice I didn’t want to chance driving. I was, however, through the wonders of technology, able to work.

I did make it in to Grand Forks today, but just barely. First I had to plow through about four miles of snow a foot deep with my Nissan Sentra and then drive on ice for 25 miles. If I had known how bad the gravel roads were I probably would have worked at home today, too. I was deceived because the first half mile, an east-west road, was clear. However, when I got about a quarter mile down the north-south road that leads to the highway, the snow was above the underside of the car. I drove in tracks made by a pick-up truck as fast as I dared. I was afraid if I drove slower I would get stuck. On the flip side, I also was worried that if I went too fast I would end up in the water-filled ditch.

Driving the 25 miles of highway on the ice was actually a relief because it was plowed. I just drove about 40 miles per hour and didn’t worry about all the cars that were passing me at much higher rates of speed. I didn’t want to add to the number of cars that were already in the ditch along U.S. Highway 2 so I figured slow and steady wins the race. 

It’s a relief to finally be at work. Hopefully, by the time I go home the roads will be cleared. At least my nerves will be calmed down by then.

Out in the country near Larimore, N.D., where I live, like everywhere else in the area, there is an overabundance of water. The ditches are full and many fields are lakes. So far, we don’t have water in the basement, but that likely will change when the ground thaws.

We live in a low-lying area where the water table is high and because the ground is saturated, it’s a good bet that within the next couple of weeks I’ll be wearing rubber boots when I’m washing clothes in the basement. I plan on buying another sump pump tonight on my way home so we will have two at the ready. I think that when we pump it out we’re probably only recycling it because the hoses aren’t that long, but at least it keeps the water level from damaging our washer and dryer which we have on blocks.

Our basement didn’t even have sump holes until a few years ago when we had a couple put in. In the previous 95 years before that there had never been water in the basement but the wet cycle we’re in changed that.

I’m not going to complain about a little inconveniece like pumping water out of the basement, though. In light of the flood fight that people in cities, such as Fargo, are in, my water problems are pretty insignificant.

Most of the time our housecats Smokey and Jessie are pretty easy to take care of. As long as they’re fed twice a day, get some affection (on their own terms, of course) and have a warm place to sleep they’re content. In fact, we usually don’t see much of them except at feeding time.

They have pretty good internal alarm clocks, so when they don’t show up at the feed dish at about 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., it’s unusual. That’s why I was a little concerned yesterday when Smokey, Ellen’s 10-month-old cat, didn’t appear by 5:30 p.m. By 6:30 p.m. I was getting worried and our family started searching the house, calling her name. We checked every room, the basement and the attic to no avail. Not only did we not see her, we didn’t hear any meowing.

Although, I didn’t really think Smokey would have slipped out of the house with one of us, Brian and I went outside and trudged through the rain calling Smokey’s name. I checked all of the open buildings, under the outdoor porch and in the barn, but didn’t find her.

We continued the search for another hour, going through the house several more times — I must have made five trips up to the attic  and down to the basement — shining the flashlight in every nook and cranny and then went outside again, but no Smokey. I told Ellen there was nothing more to do but say a prayer.

At about 7:30 p.m., I was putting away clothes  and opened Ellen’s dresser drawer to put in her socks and there was Smokey, sound  asleep. She yawned and blinked her eyes a couple of times, obviously unconcerned about being shut in the dark drawer. Apparently she had slept through our entire search which is why she didn’t meow when we were calling her. The irony is that Ellen had told Brian and  I earlier that she should check her dresser drawers and we had told her that there was no way Smokey could possibly fit in them, so she shouldn’t waste her time.

Next time I’ll know better and listen to my daughter. She has an intuition about animals that supersedes logic.

Today marks the beginning of several public appearances Ellen and Rosebud will make in the next few weeks. Their "tour" starts today when we take Rosebud to Larimore (N.D.) Elementary School so Ellens’ classmates and teachers can meet her. Ellen will show Rosebud first to the 4-6 graders, then the K-3 graders. I am going to be there, too, of course, and talk to the students about Ellen’s wish to meet the Air Buddies puppies and the Make-A-Wish program.

Next Monday Ellen and Rosebud will go to a Grand Forks elementary school to launch a fundraiser for leukemia. We will talk about Ellen’s illness and her wish to see the Budies. The following Friday, April3, they will be back in Larimore at the Elementary School Carnival, then the next day they will be at a Make-A-Wish fundraiser walk at the Alerus in Grand Forks.

Ellen is excited about showing Rosebud to people and I am grateful we have an opportunity to help organizations that help children like Ellen. Because Rosebud loves people, and especially, children, I know she’ll enjoy the appearances, too. It’s a win-win situation and we’re happy to be part of it.

It’s a good thing that I don’t have any attachment to the van I drive because country living and kids are not condusive to clean cars. The inside of ours, though, we periodically clean it out, is home to candy wrappers and chip bags, has a stained floor from spilled sports drinks and has bits of horse feed on the floor from being a transport vehicle for hauling bags home from the store.

Meanwhile, gravel roads are hard on the exterior of vehicles any time of the year, but particularly so when they are squishy from the spring thaw. Splashing through puddles of water and forging through deep mud results in a second coat of gray over the paint. Sometimes my vehicle gets so dirty it’s hard to tell what color it really is and when I finally do wash it, I’m surprised by how nice it looks when you can see that it’s maroon.

Most of the time driving a dirty van doesn’t bother me because it’s just one of those things that comes with living in the country. Once in awhile, though, I do get irrirtated because the mud rubs off on my dress clothes and I walk into work with black smudges on my pant legs or the arms of my jacket.

Sometimes I also get embarrassed when I get to work and end up parking next to a gleaming white car that looks like it just drove off of the showroom floor. When that happens I get out of my van quickly and walk away quickly, hoping no one sees that it belongs to me. One time , though, a co-worker who saw me chided me (and his car wasn’t pristine, either) so I figured it must be pretty bad and I had better go wash it. I did — then it rained that night and I ended up back at square one, but about $10 poorer.

After that I decided I would swallow my pride and leave my vehicle dirty until the roads dried. I’d rather take the ribbbing than pour my money down a carwash drain.

Although we live six miles from the nearest river (the Turtle), we deal with plenty of water in the spring. Our farm is fairly low-lying with a few dips here and there so we have a few miniature lakes in the farm yard. One of them is in the horse corral which poses a problem when it comes to feeding time.

If there’s still snow on the ground I just keep moving the hay further and further to the fringes of the corral until the snow melts. Sometimes by the time the last snow has melted, the water has died up in the middle. If it hasn’t I move the hay out into the pasture connected to the corral. I don’t like to do that for long, though, because the horses tear up the soft ground with their hooves and try to eat the grass.

If there’s nowhere else to turn, I put the jay inside their barn, which is open on one end to give them free access. The downside of putting food in the barn is that Zammie, my big black mare, is territorial and doesn’t like another horse near her when she eats. I try to respect that by spreading the piles of hay as far apart as possible so she doesn’t feel the need to take a chunk out of one of the horses’ backsides.

This muddy, mucky time of year on the farm is my least favorite, but I know that the thaw is a necessary evil to put up with so we can get to the green grass of spring.

Yesterday on our way to the doctor’s office Ellen was in her carseat coloring a picture and I was listening to music when a question came from the backseat, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Mom," she said, "four people at your work lost their jobs because of the economy," right? Yes, I told, her four people in my department and four other people in other areas of the Herald were laid off last week, for a total of eight.

"When the economy’s bad that means people don’t have enough money," Ellen said sadly. I told her that was pretty much the problem.

"Mom, will the economy be better by my birthda?," she asked.  No, I told her, that’s less than a month away (April 11) so it’s doubtful things will be better by then.

"Mom, I don’t want to you to buy me any birthday presents then, because they cost money and I don’t want you to spend it on me if the economy is still bad," Ellen said.  I told Ellen it’s OK to buy her birthday presents because they are special, but that we won’t spend money on things we don’t really need.

"OK, Mom," Ellen said, sounding relieved.

I was touched and pleased by my daughter’s offer because it shows she has empathy for others, something that we’ve tried to instill in all of our children. Perhaps living in this tougher economy will help us all be more empathetic toward others and develop better priorities.