There must have been a lot of people abandoning their resolutions for the new year this week as that layer of fat acquired so easily over the holidays actually came in handy. By midweek the brief reprieve we got from last week’s deep freeze was over and the temperatures were slipping back to the south side of zero in the early morning dark. As Mark Twain once quipped, if the thermometer had been an inch longer, we all would have frozen to death.

Plenty of people are struggling with frozen pipes, dead batteries, and cranky heating systems. Scott Baggett spent about 12 hours last Sunday in cold, dark crawlspaces and cobwebbed corners thawing out the heating system and steam pipes at his in-laws’ house, only to stagger back to his own house to find the water pipes frozen there as well. Even the water cooler at The Newtown Bee went haywire, but in a strange twist, only hot water was coming out of the cold-water spigot. Go figure. Heat… not there when you need it, there when you don’t. Anyway, the problem was reported to the water cooler company, which frankly wasn’t overwhelmed with requests to cool things off this week, and was taken care of.

Steven and Cara Reilly of Pinnacle Drive are the parents of triplets born December 20. Mr Reilly answered the phone Monday, when The Bee called to ask how everything was going. “Fine,” he answered, adding, “You want to come over and help?” He has been given a leave of absence from his job, but will have to go back to work next week. The three babies, two girls and one boy, were each four-pounds-plus at birth and are now sleeping through most of the night. Their two older siblings, ages 5 and 6, are lending a hand. What’s the best part of this whole experience? “Just the fun of having them,” Mr Reilly replied. Come the spring thaw, we hope to take a picture of the whole family.

Mae Schmidle was delighted when she heard that the American Heart Association is promoting heart health for women with a special day, February 6, when all women are encouraged to “Wear Red For Women’s Day.” Mae –– who never ventures out without wearing red — says she swears she didn’t think up the AHA proposal, but she regards it as the best one she’s heard in a long time.

Laura Lerman wants all the shower singers in town to know that the Newtown Choral Society will hold its first rehearsal of the season next Wednesday at 7 pm at the middle school. All that’s needed to join is a love of singing and a desire to learn. There are openings for all voices. For more information attend the first rehearsal or call 426-3769.

Board of Finance member Jim Gaston was unable to attend Monday’s board meeting, but sent a taped message that would address his position on a proposed tax deferral program for senior citizens. The tape was unable to be heard by his fellow board members, however, despite repeated attempts by Chairman John Kortze to make the tape playing machine work while the other members looked on. “He’s not going to be happy with us,” Mr Kortze said as he gave up on his efforts. “Us?” quipped member Harry Waterbury.

We had some difficulty with machines as well, though our snafu made some folks happy –– at least for a while. When schools were delayed for 90 minutes on Monday morning because of the overnight snow storm, The Bee’s website carried the news of the delay as usual in a scrolling marquis on its home page. Yet when The Bee’s online database was instructed to email the notification to those who have signed up for our breaking news service, it picked up an old school cancellation notice from early December and emailed that to hundreds of households. The miscue was noticed almost as soon as it went out, and after some technical wrangling with the errant software, a second notice went out correcting the mistake –– much to the disappointment of kids all over town.

In order to conserve heat, I have to go curl up on the hearth now, but my winter’s nap won’t be too long. I’ll be back, so be sure to …

Read me again.