Cold and hearing "things"

So, after reviewing comments on my last posting, and after my sister informed me that she wrote some comments which I never received in my email, and thus I wasn't able to post them, I removed the comment "moderation". I hope that people may feel more free to leave their comments-I understand that it is annoying to post a comment only to be told that it has to be approved by the blog author. There ya go...dive right in there and comment!

To say that it's cold is an understatement. It is FRIGID. When I left for work this morning it was 4 degrees, with a 2 digit below zero windchill-I don't remember what exactly it was. I came home for lunch to take care of Lydia, as I left her on our enclosed porch. She has a heating pad (made especially for dogs, mind you) in a box that shelters her, but still, she is chilly by the time I get home. She's always glad to see me and likes coming in to get warm. When I got home this evening, she was shivering, but very energetic! When I went with her out to the backyard, she wanted to play, and I stayed out there with her about 5 minutes-that was all I could stand it. She has been staying inside at night, and is a good girl-she sleeps right by the bed and as far as I know, she stays right there.

Kids are at school 4 days this week, starting their Christmas vacation on Friday. I have to go on Friday-it's a "teacher work day" and I've got paperwork to catch up on, so that'll be nice to be able get some of that done. My work remains interesting and challenging. Last week a disturbed student fashioned a weapon out of a metal paperclip and launched it at her/his teacher, barely missing the teacher's eye. The student is being dealt with in a severe way-this incident is the newest in a long list of difficulties she/he has had. I am seeing another student privately to help with some issues, and it seems that every day is different, with different things to think about. (I just heard on the news that the windchill current is -1).

Our choir at church, combined with another church choir, presented a Christmas cantata (called "Hope Has Hands) at the other church last night. It sounded pretty good-sometimes the more voices, the better - both churches have small choirs, so this was nice. One of the things you deal with when you sing in a choir and practice a work for several weeks is that you hum bits and pieces of the songs you've learned as you work, drive, wash dishes, whatever. Those songs stuck in your head (they're called "earworms") can be frustrating, but I really don't mind them too much. I learned from Wiki just now that a neurologist in 2007 suggested a more scientific name for this phenomena- "Involuntary Musical Imagery". Other research suggests that earworms are more prevalent in women and musicians. Top 10 earworm list as documented by 559 students participating in a study:
1. Other - (students named their own worst earworm
2. Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" jingle
3. "Who Let the Dogs Out"
4. "We Will Rock You"
5. Kit-Kat candy bar jingle ("Gimme a break...Gimme a break...etc")
6. "Mission Impossible" theme
7. "YMCA"
8. "Whoomp, There It Is"
9. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
10. "It's a Small World, Afterall"

Any of those bothering you yet? (ha)