Sticking My Head Up

Above is the Groundhog Day decoration created by a neighbour. Eerily life-like. First time I drove past, I thought it was a real critter! The head is poking up from a huge snow bank left by the town plow. The vast expanse of white behind it is our little lake.

Groundhog Day itself was cloudy with flurries, so in the early morning my pair of ground-dogs did not see their shadows. Later the sun emerged.

This week I'm a busy groundhog...no time even to look for my shadow!

Yesterday we had more snow, and I was driving round in it all day, but only a couple of inches in total accumulation. Chairs & Vice Chairs meeting in the morning, then back to the Lodge to compose my daily 1000 words and catch up on some diocesan work and feed the girls an early supper. Then back to the city for a diocesan committee meeting, followed by a Mexican dinner with the Chap and our Rector before a diocesan convocation meeting.

It was a Church and State day for me, just not in that order! All my meetings were in sight of one another: Legislative Office Building, State House, Diocesan House, and the big church where we met last night. Not counting mandolin lesson, my Concord activities all occur in within the boundaries of a biggish square that includes North Main, North State, Capitol, Green, Park, and Centre Streets (yes, that's how it's spelt!)

In the late afternoon and early evening the streets round the State House were ringed with tv satellite trucks because of our Governor's announcement of his much-speculated-upon appointee of a new U.S. Senator to replace our former Senator, now President Obama's Commerce Secretary designee. If you've watched or listened to the national news in the past week, you might have heard something about this. I have no comment, apart from saying I'm glad it's all over and equally glad that the political spotlight has again shifted from New Hampshire.

Oh, I will add that the Chap considered phoning the Gov and suggesting that yours truly might fill the vacancy, as a placeholder till 2010. Before he got round to it, the deal was done and so was the press conference.

Today the House was in session. A short calendar of bills, which as usual took longer than usual--we adjourned at 1:00 p.m. Attended a legislative luncheon and program. Completely forgot the Chap was in the LOB monitoring bills this afternoon, and didn't go looking for him.

Headed home to play catch-up on article writing, follow-up emails from yesterday's meetings, work on the cookbook, field or return telephone calls related to some pending bills in my committee, review stuff to prepare for tomorrow's public hearings and executive sessions in committee (I'm chairing in the morning, an opportunity to work on my gavel technique).

Tonight I shall compose my 1000 words. The Chap has Planning Board so it's just the girls and me and the laptop.

I've made or exceeded my writing goal every day since making it, so it seems to be an ingrained habit now. Actual discernible daily progress...such a wonderful thing!