Spring? Snow? Huh?

I knew it was cold today...every time I washed my hands today, I just wanted to stand there with the warm water flowing over my hands, warming them. Then, as I was driving home, I couldn't figure out why there was such a backup going through the tunnel. When I got through, I knew why - the snow was coming down heavily! I thought it would stop as I drove down the other side of the hill but it didn't. It snowed all the way home and for about an hour after I got home. I haven't checked in a while, but I can surely say that a delayed start wouldn't go amiss. I'm sure that won't happen, but I'm just saying...I wouldn't be sad about it if it did happen.

And I didn't take a single photo. This new camera isn't as comfortable for me. I think I need to go back to my old one for a while.

Creaking in the Cold

I have woken up stiff the last couple of days and today it just never quite let go of me. It is late and I'm getting ready to go to bed, but I'm still creaking around after the whole day. I hate that. I think it is the cold weather...

And they say it may snow overnight. Yikes!

For now, I'm off to read a chapter in "The Hunger Games" before sleep.

Snow...

I wish I could just enjoy the snow, but I can't.  As an adult and as a person in charge of an office, it wreaks havoc on everything. I hate driving in it.  Hopefully, it will change to rain in the morning.  I didn't even take any pictures of it...

Limbo-Land

We are currently braced for the latest episode of "Snow-meggedon" or "Snowpocolypse" or "Super Storm 2011".  So far, it has all come to naught, so I'm not holding out much hope that there is going to be any snow-stickage for me to photograph tomorrow.  I will get up at my usual time, get ready and see what it looks like outside.

Other than that, a relatively uneventful day. I went to Art Media and got some Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water soluble pastels. I have been wanting some for a while. I think the thing I have been missing on my pages lately are the little frills. Some of the penwork, doodles, details, etc., make the pages what they are and I think that even though I like some of what I'm doing, I haven't felt like they were mine or that they were complete.

Also, getting ready for my trip - a combined business and pleasure trip. Hard to pack for those, but it will be good to get away for a few days. I'll miss out on the cold end of the Arctic Blast while I'm gone. Yay.

Snow? No

For the first time in a long time, I woke up on Wednesday, got ready for work, opened up the door to go out to the car and it was SNOWING!  It was already sticking and looked beautiful. I got in the car and just started off.  As I got closer to the hills, the snowflakes were bigger and softer and more snow was sticking. It looked beautiful and everyone was taking it slow where the roads were slick. I didn't have my camera with me or I would have pulled over to take a picture.  It all melted within hours, though.

The prediction was that it would be similar weather this morning and on Friday morning. For the first time in a long time, I was kind of hoping for snow. I was going to bring my camera and take a photo this time. No such luck. No snow today.

I doubt there will be any tomorrow morning, either. I'm only a little disappointed.

Ice, Art and Chinese Food

Well, I worked from home today because the main road by my house was frozen for a good portion of the day. I'm pretty sure that a lot of the main roads were fine, but it takes a while to actually get to the main roads.  By the time it cleared up, it was hardly worth going in as I was concerned about getting home again. Of course, I always make the decision on the days when it clears up. The days it is horrible, I am usually already out of the house and end up on some hotel. I guess I should have just gone in, but I did get a lot of work done.

I ordered two back issues of Art Journaling from Stampington and Company - I think I have been despairing that my art journals haven't looked perfect or the way I expect - even though some of the pages have come out pretty good. I needed some inspiration that I can make it look any way that I want. In my saner moments, I KNOW this, but for some reason, I need a lot of reinforcement in this area.  I looked through one issue while I was waiting for "Dancing with the Stars" results and I even did a little bit of work in one of the journals I started. Here's hoping I will get back to it - it has been bothering me that I haven't been doing anything, but I couldn't really bring myself to it. I guess everything has its own time and place.

I had great Chinese food from Szechuan House tonight - I thought it was a great choice for Thanksgiving week when all the traditional (and somewhat bland) food reigns. I have been going there for a long time and tonight it was DELICIOUS.  They make a mean hot and sour soup. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend the place. It doesn't look like much in its little mall, hidden back there, but the food was very good.

Winter Wonderland?!?

I really wish that I could enjoy the snow. It is so beautiful on the trees and on the ground. But I don't enjoy it at all. I worry. I worry about work, I worry about getting to or from work. I worry about the people I work with and if they will be safe and take care of themselves or if they will worry and try so hard to get there and put themselves in danger.

We don't know how to drive in the snow and everyone makes fun of Portland for practically closing down, but with the snow comes ice and danger when you have to drive over bridges and overpasses that cover water. Schools and businesses don't want to close, so they wait until the last minute to decide which means there are almost always some people who had already started their trek before the decision was made.  Sometimes, I just wish we didn't have so many hills or so much ice or so many over-water roads. Maybe it would be easier then.

I feel cranky about the snow because everyone is always wishing for it and then when it comes, they complain or are upset when decisions are made that mean they have to continue real life and drive in treacherous conditions. STOP WISHING FOR SNOW for heaven's sake!  The only time I really welcome snow at this point is when everyone is already at home and no one will be affected (which is really never, when you think about it...)

Anyway, that's all. I don't even feel better for being cranky about it.

Arctic Temperatures?!

We have entered the extreme language zone for 2010. "Arctic temperatures" and "Storm Watch 2010" and all the accompanying stupidity.  "Be sure to watch our exact, down to the second doppler, radar, sonar, weather predicting program for the next 4 hours so that we can show you pictures of the snow FLAKES that were coming down 3 hours ago. We will show them over and over again because there is no actual snow falling in the area right now..."

Basically, it *might* snow. It might not.  It is cold. Ironically, it is also November - the traditional time for cold weather in the northern hemisphere.  Most of the news agencies have sent their crack reporters out to the far reaches of the area to stand in the dark and talk about the snow that hasn't happened yet. One station even talked to a runner who was prepared for the weather by...hold on...making sure that he watched for cars in the bad weather. Now, forgive me, but I'm pretty sure that my parents told me to watch out for cars ALL THE TIME. I know that seems radical, but it makes prep for the bad weather seem pretty easy.

I am bringing clothes in the car to ensure that if it snows while I'm at work, I will not have to drive in it. I will book a room at the Hilton and have a little staycation with cable TV.

Snow Panic Part Deux

The only real irony here is that today, when one of my co-workers called and said that they didn't want to get caught in a freak snowstorm, I told the story about how this one day, in 1995, there was a snowstorm. The weathermen in Portland FREAKED OUT - they thought it was going to be the "BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY" or "BLIZZARD WATCH 1995" as it were. They recommended that businesses close and send workers home, that schools and government agencies close and send everyone to the safety of their homes.

So, they did.

What ensued was the most ridiculous and sad, GIGANTIC traffic jam that lasted hours and hours. I was over on the Northeast side of Portland and it took me a little over 7 hours to get home that day. By the time I reached the Sunset Highway, there was NO SNOW. Wait. Let me say it again - NO SNOW. It had all melted. Driving was still tricky because, in addition to the massive traffic jam, we also had to dodge all the cars that had run out of gas on the freeway and were immediately abandoned in the middle of the freeway. When I heard that I decided I would not be one of those people. Before getting on the freeway that afternoon, I waited through 33 traffic signals to get the last gallon of gas at the last gas station out of town. I counted 99 cars on my way up the hill before traffic got moving enough that I didn't have time to count the cars anymore.

Why is this ironic, you ask?

Well, when it started snowing at 2:30 PM - completely unexpectedly (I thought the freak snowstorm was local to Wilsonville - a town south of here)- I started preparing to go home. I really, really, REALLY didn't want to stay at work overnight. I could have gotten a room at the Hilton across the street, but the last time I did that, it barely snowed and I had clothes with me. It took me until almost 4 PM to get out of there - just enough time to not know how bad it was or how bad it was going to be. AND I needed gas.

I should have stayed at work. I'm pretty sure I was in the car by around 4:15 or 4:30 PM. It took me an hour and a half to get from the office, across the bridge to the best exit (small hill) to get gas. I got gas and stopped at a restaurant for some food and read a little while before attempting to work my way through Portland on surface streets (the freeways were backed up SOLID).

I thought I would stop at Lloyd Center Barnes and Noble and kill time. The temperature was supposed to go up around 8 PM and all would be well. When I got there, they were ushering people out the door with a sign out front saying they were closing early(7:30pm). So, I slowly made my way downtown and decided to go to Powell's. I got there by 8:30pm. They were closing at 9:00pm. So, I got back in my car and decided it was probably clear enough to get on the freeway - even if the road was icy, they would be free of traffic, right?

Well, folks, I arrived home at 10:30 PM tonight. I will be putting some clothes and toiletries in my car tomorrow - for just such emergencies. Next time, I'm going to go on Priceline.com, get a room at the Hilton and watch cable TV instead.  I hope someone will remind me of this in the future, so that I never do this again. It is ridiculous and frustrating and pointless.

So, here are photos of the snow at my house. I would have taken some earlier except that I didn't have my camera with me. Or my iPod. Or my Kindle. Or ANYTHING. It was a long day.

Snow in the yard, the back yard, on the cars and on the garbage and recycling cans (to show depth).  I felt like I had to memorialize the day in some way.

 

 

 

Change the Theme: Jean Miller

"Oh, for the love of Pete! Change the theme already!" ~Jean Miller

That's right...I'm quoting the little voice in my head...I started out strong, but man, is it hard to talk about change in meaningful ways EVERY DAY.  I keep looking for quotes that relate to my mood, my thoughts, etc.  I'm fresh out.  And I'm out of the energy to look for more quotes.  Luckily, quoting myself is only against my own rules, and those can be broken without dire consequences. Smile.

I went back to work yesterday for a very long day and then a frustrating day in the snow today where I found that PT Cruisers have a weird little light that shows when your tires are sliding/skidding on ice and not able to find traction.  I was stuck for an HOUR with the public safety folks driving around like maniacs where I was.  It was annoying and a little bit stressful to see their big SUV careening towards me on the solid block of ice that was the road.  I finally made it to work and had one of those days that I just couldn't get it together.  By the time I got home, I was exhausted and took a nap immediately after arriving home.

Here are a couple of terrible photos from my sidekick when I was stuck today.

Kitty Shelter

When I went outside today to get the paper, I noticed kitty prints in the snow and then saw that they had dug a hole in the ice/snow and had a warm place to be under the car.

I have been worried about the squirrels and birds and cats that wander around the house...today I put some seed bread out for the birds and/or squirrels. I hope they will be all right. I will buy some bird seed when the weather clears up. More snow due in tomorrow.

My poor mail carrier was trying to deliver mail but he said people were driving like crazy people and pulled into the driveway and into the snowdrift at the end of the driveway. His chain popped and I spent some time shoveling snow to try to get him out. The P.O. sent reinforcements in about 20 minutes, got his chain back on and he was on his way.

What a crazy couple of weeks! And I haven't been able to get out to rehearse for "Color Purple"...I have been listening to it, though. First time I read the script all the way through, it made me cry.

More snow!! It's never ending...

This is the most snow I have seen here EVER. I have lived here since 1979 and I have never seen anything like this. It is crazy.


My car today. 12.22.08

Snow on the bush outside.


Garbage can lid with snow on it...High!

This was to show the tracks down the driveway - Garbage can and recycling made big tracks but they are all covered now.

The chairs for comparison.

More chairs.

Closeup of the bushes.

Yard and my footprints covered (the indentations in the snow are my footprints from yesterday).

My footprints got covered up.

Cone of snow on the inside of a bush.

Close up of the chair. Amazing!

Pretty, huh?

Compare the snow by the cars and on the bushes and chair with Saturday and Sunday!! Crazy!!

Cabin FEVER!!

Here are the lastest wintry photos...I need to get a digital camera...all I have is my sidekick...the pics are good enough, but nothing spectacular.

It is supposed to be my vacation this week...whoopee! I'm trapped in the house. I want to go to the movies! I want to go finish my shopping! We will probably have a delayed Christmas celebration, much like our delayed Thanksgiving...

Enjoy the pics.

Let it Snow?!?

It has been a week and it is still snowing...today has been the worst/best day. It is beautiful out and I don't feel pressure to go out of the house unless I want to. It is the worst because the roads are terrible and I have been trying to manage things for work.

Right now (as of about 9:30pm) I have about 8 inches of snow outside and it is still falling. I don't have a GREAT camera to show this, but I did take some pics from my sidekick.

Crazy cold, too. The Weather Bug I have on my computer is registering 18.3 degrees. Been snowing since about 5:30am...

















This is the top of my car around 1:30pm...It has been snowing harder since. This was about 4 inches of snow.














This was at 1:30pm, too. COLD! BRR!