The kitchen is still looking great and smells fabulous tonight since I made a pot of split pea soup. We have super cold (for Texas) temperatures again tonight. The house is full of dogs. The air outside is frigid, the wind is taking the chill down to the low teens.

I'm working my way through a stack of paperwork. I wrote a thank-you note to the manager of the service department at the Chevy dealer - after asking for a refund for work that I think was excessive on my pickup (the oil leak turned out to be a leaking oil filter, not all of the gaskets they replaced) they gave me a store credit. I was able to apply that credit toward purchasing a used car from the same establishment. I expected an argument, but they were very nice about it. I think I need to say thank you.

Taxes, job applications, and I'm going to be copy editing final drafts of articles for a new journal put out by professors on campus. The most tedious part, the last stage. I need to get another job, where I can be the writer again.

SRS