Posted 7:47 PM by brad
I said it`s been cold, well, this morning I came home on my first break and water was spraying all over the side of the house. One of my outside lines had frozen and made a little hole. Of course, no one was home and it had been running for a while as there was about an inch of water in the basement. I knew I should have shut the outside water off sooner but I thought I was safe until my next day off. I was able to shut it off and everything is okay. It`s funny though, as later on my delivery, I came across another place that had the same thing happen. I heard the water spraying and knocked on the door to let them know that there was a problem.
There may be a bit of snow tomorrow. Predictions are for rain/snow with the possibility of up to 2 inches of the white stuff. I knew it was coming because the boss gave us our new boots yesterday. Last year I made it through the winter without even putting on boots. I only wore shoe rubbers. This winter will probably be a doozy.

Posted 6:02 PM by brad
COLD COLD COLD That`s what we are putting up with. Time to dig out the long john`s I reckon.
Jean and I went away for the week-end. The New England Foster/Adoptive Family Association met in Burlington,Vt at the Sheraton Conference Center. We were fortunate to be able to attend. Friday was an all day presentation by Dave Ziegler. He is the founder and director of Scar-Jasper Mountain. It`s a treatment facility in Oregon that takes in the most difficult children in the world. After everyone else has tried working with these kids, he takes the impossible cases. Amazingly, he makes it work. He shared some of his techniques with us and it truly opened some eyes. He has great success doing what he does. You can check out his work at
SCAR-jaspermtn.org.
Friday evening was Casino night. A company here in Vermont sets up Black Jack,Poker,Craps,Roullette and a money wheel. We provide the volunteers and any money made is donated to charity. That`s the only way gambling is allowed in Vermont. Unless you count the State Lottery. Anyway, people can come to casino night and play for cash. Lots of people look forward to these events(usually about once a month). They have a dedicated following. I dealt poker for an hour and a half. We get 50cents from each player per game and then they play against each other. All I do is deal the cards. One lady the other night went home with about $400 less than what she came with. We cleared about $1400 to be split among the states that helped out. A good time.
Saturday was devoted to several informational sessions that you could attend. A variety of things were offered. Everything from how to deal with difficuly kids to how to keep your sanity while doing so. I actually learned alot. Saturday evening was the banquet. A great meal. I had roast beef and Jean had turkey.
Sunday was breakfast and then home. A wonderful educational weekend.
Went back to work today and about froze my butt off. It was cold. Hope it warms up a little for the rest of the week. We`ll see.