Snow Day!

As suspected, that balmy 51 degree evening was but a prelude to snow and ice. Not that I'm complaining mind you, just… noting. Never trust spring weather on winter nights!! Ellie and I left the church around 12:45 and it was starting to snow/rain, and I figured we would have plenty of time to go Ashland for some groceries real quick. By the time we reached Ashland, the snow was sticking. By the time we got out of the store, there was a substantial accumulation. By the time we got home, we couldn't even make it up the hill, make less the driveway. So, we got to hike through the snow in our church clothes, hauling groceries and water! Fortunately, there were warm pajamas and fuzzy socks when we reached the house, along with tomato soup with lots of cheese and bread. Rob came and got us several hours later and we went to the youth center to hang out, but first we went on a tour to see what had fallen where. Here's a picture of the church:

Rob and Co. dropped me off at the bottom of my hill around 9:30 and I got to trek through 4-5" of freezing and frozen snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. The city lights were reflecting off the clouds and the snow and there was none of the noise from the freeway that you can usually hear all the time. In fact, it was so quiet that when a plane took off later in the evening I nearly jumped out of my skin! This morning I didn't go in to work until 11. Here's what it looked like in the daylight:

That's down the driveway. Here are a couple other shots. Note the LOTS AND LOTS of snow on the SUV:

On my way home from Peter and Marie's house tonight, I could see the beginnings of the ice forming where the snow has melted across the road. It was kinda cool but a little scary to feel my car start to drift a little to the right without my permission. According to the National Weather Service, we're supposed to be getting another day or so of snow and then the rest of the week is going to be snow and rain. Can I get a "woot woot?" I'm really enjoying the change in my attitude towards driving in this nastiness (which is the worst in recent memory) from sweaty, shaking terror to slightly keyed up calm. Strangely enough, the snow and slush sliding doesn't bother me nearly as much as the ice. Maybe it's because my brain translates the snow to a potential barrier to keep me from just sliding off the road or down the hill.

Take care, all, and I hope your weeks are going well, strange weather and all (I've heard rumors about nastiness in CA as well)!

Pfffft!!

It is 51 degrees outside right now.

It is 11:13.

P.M.

That means "at night."

And it's 51 degrees. That is warmer than it has been almost all week. And the high tomorrow is supposed to be 39.

I love where I live!!!

Introducing Ophelia

I have entered the world of pet ownership by rescuing my brother's ex-girlfriend's cat from my parents' house and Spawn, who had taken to hunting down the intruder every time she was allowed back into the house. Her name is now Ophelia, although it was Spooky when I got her and apparently Veronica before that. However, I do not think that "Spooky" is an appropriate name for a pure black cat. We think she was abused before she went to the shelter, because she doesn't like to be picked up and she's very jumpy, but she loves to be petted. She's turning into quite the bug hunter and so far we've only had minor problems with jumping up where she shouldn't…. but I begin to fear for the Angel Wing fibrous begonia. Ah well, such is the nature of pets. For now she's living solely in the house, but I think it might be a good thing for her to get some outside exercise. I'm afraid my little apartment is rather small for an energetic young cat and my stuff. And there's the fact that her rather long and curving claws could use a little wearing down, rather more than the scratching post can provide. Anyway, here's a picture for you to savor, well, at least for the cat lovers to savor:

Merry Christmas!

Yes, yes, I know, it is well past Christmas, and indeed New Year's for that matter, but hey, it was a busy week….ish or two. But anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope the holidays went smoothly for everyone and that you (we) managed to get past the crass commercialism that has consumed Christmas to the comfort. I had a great Christmas and the Watchnight service at church was hysterical. One of the reasons that this is not a more timely post is that for the week of Christmas, I had no Internet connection (!!!!!!!), a situation which was thankfully remedied once my neighbors/landlords returned home and... did… something. My next Event was waking up one morning without heat, New Year's Eve actually, but it all turned out okay since the heat got fixed and I spent the day sitting and reading, sucking down an entire Dorothy Sayers novel. This seems to be a theme in this new year – sitting around and reading – and a habit that I somehow fell out of over the last ten years or so. Well, Nan-chan and I did have several episodes last year (James Herriott, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart) but apparently I just forgot about all of them.

So, my most-used new toy has been my new 30GB Zune (Microsoft's version of the iPod) that my darling brother and parents got for me. I have to say, this technology stuff rocks!! I can totally see myself getting all gadgeted up. One of my favorite things about having my Zune is that I can subscribe to a variety of podcasts and then listen to them at work (score!!). It's especially enjoyable to start catching up on the Hispanic/Latin American issues that I've been missing in the last several years… minus immigration, which I really hate hearing about anymore, no matter which side people are on. Anyway, Moo came down for Christmas and we all spent the day sitting around watching Firefly (I love love love love love my family!!) and eating. On Christmas Eve, Dad and I did a little baking and took some cookies and stuff to some friends and it was an absolutely gorgeous night, clear and frosty and cold!!!

I should admit that another reason I have been virtually cyber-absent (get it? Virtually cyber-absent? Ha! I kill me.) is that the weather has been fabulously stormy in such a way as to inspire one to not turn on one's computer for days and instead sit on the couch looking out the window or reading several books while drinking warm beverages. And hoping it snows enough that one can't go to work, which did happen yesterday… for at least an hour or so. It's been great, the passes have been periodically closing, the hills are covered in snow, and there's really nothing quite like having the wind whip the snow against the windows in sudden gusts. At least my apartment didn't get blown sideways during that one windstorm! Okay, I seem to have lost my internet connection again, so I'm going to go figure out what's wrong so you can read this. Nice to see you all again!