This time it was a lousy day to fly

Today, I had planned to take a friend up flying with me.  We've been talking about it whenever we ran into each other for probably most of the 5 years since I got my lisence.  Alas, when I first called up the ASOS at KVTA at 08:30 this morning ceilings were at 800 feet.  When I called again around 10:00 it was down to 600 feet.  At that point, I called my friend and told him we'd have to try another time.  He was actually pretty cool about it.  I didn't cancel the reservation, though, I had reserved the plane for 3 hours (from 13:00-16:00), so I figured if the ceilings came up a bit, I'd at least do some pattern work.  However, I called the FBO and told them, I wouldn't be there before about 14:00 (so they could keep it warm in the hangar).  When I called the ASOS number again a little while later the ceilings were back up to 800.  Then around 12:30, I looked online and noticed that they were up to 1000 feet (my magic number), so about 13:15, I grabbed my headset and headed to the airport.  When I got there, they started preheating (did I mention the temp was -1°C or 31°F).  It was kind of chilly when I did my preflight, but I finished that up and climbed in.  The engine turned over on the second try and I let it idle at around 1000 rpm to get the oil flowing and warming for a bit while I finished up the checklists and listened to the ASOS.  By now, the ASOS was reporting winds out of 270@04 (right down the runway), altimeter 30.25, temp -1°C, dew point -2°C, and ceilings at 1200.  Okay, that gives me a couple hundred feet above pattern altitude before I hit the bottom of the clouds which at this time, I have to assume mean ice (did I mention the temperature).  Call CTAF, announce I'm taxiing (not that anyone else was on the frequency, but...), and head down to the runup area.  Do my runup, turn on the cabin heat, last look at the checklist, announce I'm taking runway 27, remaining in the pattern.  Taxi out, advance the throttle and we're off.  I still love that takeoff roll especially when I'm solo, leaping into the air, I remember that first solo 6+ years ago.  Okay, climb to pattern altitude and I'm beginning to wonder about that 1200, it is getting hazy at about 800.  Pull the power abreast the numbers, flaps, watch airspeed, VSI, hmm... a bit of a crosswind when I turn final, but we can handle that.  Nice smooth touch down, flaps up, advance power, rotate and we're off again.  Yeah, it is getting hazy at 800, but I'm not seeing any rime, so I'll do the 3 landings to keep my legal to carry passengers for another 3 months.  The last landing wasn't my greatest, but then I'm probably my own worst critic.  It was a pretty lousy day to fly, but there is still something special about being up in the air, even if it is only for about 25 minutes.  Hopefully, I can find a nice day in Jan to take my friend up.