Merry Christmas

The whole gang in Dad's snowy backyard. It was cold!!!

Every year Al buys me a Santa for my collection. This big guy was a total surprise.

The kid's stocking. Jana & AJ's are their originals.

Hope your day was wonderful!

More Pretty Pictures

Beautiful black crows sitting on frozen tree limbs in our backyard.

Looking south down our street.

Our house @ 9:00 this morning.

AJ's car.

Cabin Fever Begins To Set In

It's hard to see, but the thickness of the branches is all ice.

Al loads up the bird feeder. Happy jays and chickadees.

Guitar Hero fills the bill when the walls start closing in.

The Arctic Blast just keeps on comin'. After record snowfall and below freezing temps yesterday, today has been an interesting whether day. It was dry all morning, then a bit of freezing rain fell, then some more snow, and then ice ice baby. Here in the Northwest, ice storms are called a Silver Thaw, even tho nothing is thawing. It's really pretty but it's also the harbinger of bad things to come. As the ice is so much heavier than snow, the weight of it breaks branches off of trees and downs powerlines. No power in these temps isn't very much fun. And a big ol' pine branch crashing down on your roof can be a very effective hole punch. Also not so much fun. Thankfully we've not had any problems other than being house bound today. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Rounds Three & Four

Today, after my morning at Maryanne's salon, we headed over to Target to return some items that we bought last night. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the front of the house. Maryanne and Al are somewhere behind all the flakes of snow.

Maryanne & AJ have an all-wheel drive Suburu so they have done most of the driving during the worst of the storms.

Yesterday we awoke to a Winter Wonderland. This was the deepest snow yet. The backyard was completely covered with beautiful powdery snow, the grasses were bent under the weight of it and the roads were sheets of ice. If you don't have to travel far, or up any steep inclines, you can really enjoy the amazingly gorgeous scenery.

Round Two

The deep freeze continues here in the valley. As you can see, we have about 4" on the fence and birdhouse. It's still really pretty because we got a fresh dusting this afternoon that covered up all the dirty spots. Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be dicey again with Saturday being the worst of the worst. I feel so bad for all the merchants that were hoping the holidays would help their businesses. There have been some people out (including me) but for the most part people are enjoying the snow from inside some warm cozy place. I'm still holding out for a White Christmas.

A White Christmas May Not Be A Dream

Yesterday afternoon an Arctic Express whether system rolled through the Northwest. As I finished up my Christmas cards I watched as snow piled up on the patio and trees in the backyard. It was so pretty. Snow usually doesn't stick around long but this system may well be here till Christmas. Normally I would relax and enjoy the lovely scenery BUT I'M NOT DONE SHOPPING YET! With temps in the low 20s and a wind chill in single digits, with more snow predicted for Wednesday and freezing rain coming over the weekend we may have to have Christmas in January.

One Step Closer to the Big Move

Last week, as AJ was slammin' his final work on his Master's degree, and Maryanne was resting her pregnant body, Al and I did 3 marathon painting sessions @ Jana & JJ's. The colors they chose are gorgeous and even without any finish work or furniture, the place looks wonderful. In my opinion, paint is one of man's greatest inventions. It can transform a room with so little effort and so little expense. I know that Jana & JJ are excited to make the big move downstairs to their master bedroom suite, home theater, office, & laundry room. It's going to be quite a delightful space for them!

Don't Mess With The USPS

Al & I were out of town this past weekend and no one picked up our mail on Friday (which included Thanksgiving day) or Saturday. On Sunday, AJ opened our box to find a curt notice saying that the postman had stopped delivery on our mail because our box was full and that we should pick up our mail ASAP or it would be "returned to sender". So this afternoon I went by the mail warehouse, used the secret knock to get into the place (911 paranoia) and was greeted by a snippy 20 something postal worker. After a very stern lecture on stopping mail service when I leave town, I was told to wait and the half door was closed in my face. Several minutes later, postal worker returned, handed me my mail and said in her cranky shaming voice, "that's a lot of mail". Dah! That's why it wouldn't fit in the mail box. So I get a lot of mail... sue me! Anyway, I juggled my stack of catalogs, magazines, bills and flyers into the car and headed home wondering all the while why it's called "going postal" when someone goes crazy in a public place.