More Winter

You're probably tired of hearing about winter, but this is a new thing for me.  Last Friday was another big snow, and it snuck up on me.  I walked outside to go to work and it was coming down thick!

It looks like it was really early or late, but nope - these were taken about 8:30 AM.   Of course, I was running late (what else is new?), and I needed to stop by the post office.  It just looks miserable cold doesn't it?  It was!

Neat old light fixture outside the post office.  People around here probably think I'm crazy - stopping in this crazy snow storm to take pictures.  Very inconvenient, but really pretty.

So, this one was probably not the smartest thing to do, but I wanted to document how bad the visibility was.  It was bad!  I know, I know, I should have been focused on the road, but instead I was taking pictures.  Kids, don't try this at home!

A Bit of Winter Pretty

This was just a really pretty pond that was all froze up.

I took these pictures for my Florida-born friend who couldn't remember ever having seen a body of water completely frozen over. 

Winter

(This is an old picture that I just ran across. It has nothing to do with this post, but I thought it was cool. The reflection of the sun on the window made it look like I was on a different planet.)


Based on my previous whining, it's probably hard to believe, but I think I have secretly been longing for winter. After a hectic holiday, many people talk about the bitter, gray cold of the winter slump, but do you ever get the feeling that winter is intentional?

Once the crazy hustle and bustle, over-indulgence, and over-extension of the holidays are over, don't you need a time of abstinence, when you don't have so many temptations or obligations? This is a time when nature seems to close up shop and the dreary weather encourages you to snuggle in and recover and reflect. It kinds feels like we are given this time to finish up and put away all the stuff from last year so we can start the new year off fresh.  It seems like it's a time for acknowledging and accepting what is and listening as nature tells us to “slow down.”

Nature minimizes the distractions for us. We're being not only invited, but urged, to go inside - inside our homes and inside ourselves. We should be appreciating this dormant period when, like the plants, we can store our energy in preparation for the big bloom in the spring.

It feels like we should purposefully slow down to lay the foundation for the rest of the year. We have the time now to make sure this foundation is solid and level. That it is strong enough and broad enough to hold our dreams and support all that we will build in the coming months.

However, as is typical, once you have set a course, the universe seems to throw up everything it can to distract you from it. I've been under a lot of pressure lately to get things done - at work and at home, but all I want to do is slow down. That is really hard to do in a world that is go, go, go.  I'm sure this is one of the lessons I'm meant to learn...

Good Day

I hear tell this is like summer time... 

I'm not complaining - this is good!

Will The Real Wisconsin Please Stand Up?

Somebody lied to me!  Bait and switch, I say!

The weather had been so lovely (relatively speaking), and then when I went to work the other day - in no-snow - something dreadful happened while I wasn't looking!

When I went to the office, it was a bit cloudy and chilly, but not bad.  I had a meeting in another building at 11:00 AM and we were starting to have a few snow flurries.  When my meeting ended, it looked like this:

Pretty! 

Whatever....

This was taken at 4:00 pm!  It took me a good 10 - 15 minutes to scrape that stuff off my car (AND I WAS IN MY ONE PAIR OF BLACK FLATS!).  Not only did I not have the proper foot gear on this day, but I was also without gloves, hat or scarf.  SERIOUSLY unprepared!

For those of you new to this kind of weather, it's not a good idea to walk through the snow wearing pants with cuffed hems.  I am speaking from experience:  those cuffs filled up with snow, and I carried it around with me everywhere I went.

Anyway, I still had to go back to my office and grab my computer and bag before I could go home.  I got on the road about 5:05, and it took me almost 45 minutes to drive 3.5 miles.  That's crazy! 

Turns out the average snowfall here for January is 11 inches. We got 9.5 of those inches within a 4 - 5 day period. 

Needless to say - I've worn the boots - and I no longer wear cuffed pants.

To add insult to injury, on the days that it is not snowing, the temperature is incompatible with life.

I took this picture with my phone as I was pulling into the office the other morning.  I thought the song was rather ironic.  That's right, it says it's 1 degree outside.

That evening, when I got back into the car to go home, this is what it said...

Awesome.

It was a heat wave - warmed up one whole degree.  Wooo hooo!

Ok - this isn't fun any more - I'm ready for it to go back to the way it was when I first arrived.

Pride Goeth Before the Fall

We haven't had weather like this in 30 years.  I just heard on the national news that people are calling the Dallas Super Bowl cursed.  I think the title of this post says it all... (hint, hint, Mr. Jones)

Source

Bummed & Baking

I'm going to start with a wee bit of news.  Remember this post last week - I was waiting for (hopefully) good news.  The Mystical Magical Eight Ball must be broken, or maybe I have some bad mojo goin' on right now.  Yesterday, I heard through the grapevine that the positive news is going to be negative.  It's still not official, but I am officially bummed.

Oh well, it wasn't meant to be I guess.  I know God's working on something really good and it will show up at exactly the right time.  I was just hoping that now was that time.  *sigh*

So, what do you do when it's gray outside, a little gray inside, and you can't get out of your drive way? (that's not snow, it's ice)

Bake!

Maybe this isn't the healthiest way of coping with disappointment and boredom, but it is effective.  I pretty much threw everything I had in the pantry at this one - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I found it online here.  Yummy!

I know that baking is a science, but I tend to look at recipes as a loose guideline.  So, while these were very good and well-balanced, I prefer more peanutty-ness (yep, just made that word up) and more texture.  So, it's not tried and tested, but if I were to make these again, I'd probably reduce the flour a bit so I could add another 1/2 cup of oatmeal and at least 1/4 cup more peanut butter. 

I did manage to make it out of the house late this morning, and I am sitting in my office right now wondering why I bothered to come in today if all I'm going to do while I'm here is blog.  Hmmmm.....

(Note to any future employers:  I'm really not a slacker. This is just a quick break in a very busy day.  Please take into consideration the 7:00 am conference call I was on this morning and the 9:00 pm call I have tonight. )  ;-D

Back to the salt mines....

S-s-s-so C-c-c-cold!!!

Before we discuss the fah-reee-zing weather, I just want to acknowledge that I had a really good hair day yesterday!  I have to mention this because it has been a LONG time since I have not hated my hair.  I finally found someone who did a good color AND a good cut! 

 

I thought I wanted bangs the last time I got it cut.  I was wrong.  Hated them!  Now they are growing out, and she did a wonderful job of blending them during this weird phase.  YEA!!! Thank you, Callie!

So... on to the weather.  Let me just say that I like it warm - really, really like it.  I do not like the cold - really, really don't like it.  I spoke to CL tonight, and it is colder in Texas than it is in Baltimore.  That is not right.

Just like most of the country, we were hunkered down at home today, and most likely we will be tomorrow, too.  It seems like everywhere else was getting snow, but we got sleet and ice.  Here's a chunk of ice from our driveway. 

Almost two-inch sheet of ice on all the roads.  No - I did not leave the house.

I worked from home - on conference calls and in front of the computer most of the day, but I did have to get up and take a few breaks.  There wasn't much to do except torment the dog and practice using my camera by taking pictures of everything.  I'd run outside and take two or three pictures, then I'd run back in, work a little while and thaw out.  Once I got warm, I'd run back out again. 

So now, since the dog is asleep, I'm going to torment you with a million examples of the pictures I took today.   What else do you have to do anyway?  I'm sure you're snowed in, too!  :-)

 The fire was cozy.

Lola liked it, too.  This girl is seriously in need of a mani-pedi.

 Was thinking the light fixture in the entry was looking pretty cool... bored.

 She sleeps ALL day when we are at work - we were interrupting her busy schedule.

 At this point she was starting to get irritated...

We keep her water bowl outside - we had one inside, but she refused to use it.  Last night, the ice completely covered the bowl and we couldn't get it out.  We put out a different bowl this morning, but this 150-pound beast is a big, neurotic chicken.  We tried it inside and outside, but she would just stand and whine and wouldn't drink out of it.  She decided it would be better to just eat the ice.  Crazy dog!

Alrighty then, moving on to other subject matter...

Yes, we still have pumpkins.  I think they're pretty and I like the color, so I set these on the patio table.  We were planning to throw them out this week. (no, really, we were...)

The dog hadn't nibbled out of this pot yet.

 Cart path only - ha ha ha! (crackin' myself up)

Look at me - practicing with the aperture settings!  After these I had to go back in the house because my fingers were numb and I couldn't move the knobs on the camera.

 Everybody home on a weekday - it was weird.

The holly bushes are just now getting berries - in time for Valentine's Day, not Christmas.  :-)

Stay warm, everybody!!

Big Texas Sky

Yesterday, Chicken Little and I took a little road trip up to Wichita Falls.  It's about 2 hours northwest of Dallas.  I thought I'd share some classic Texas scenery with you.

Look at this Big Sky

And these next ones were taken in some of the more populated areas we drove through:

 Hungry?

 Anyone lose a hubcap?

When we left at 9 AM, it was rainy and chilly, but no snow.  On the way, it rained and snowed a little, but it was never bad...until we were on the way home.  Luckily the roads didn't get bad until we were about 5 miles from home when they started to get a little slushy and icy.  I know pictures of the snow are not unique for most of you, but this is an EVENT for us.  So, just a few more pictures to make this post even longer.

This is the golf course around the corner from us.  No one out playing today, can't you hear it..." Hey Bob, did you see where my ball went?"

The street into our neighborhood - slip slidin' away.

Finally home...  I just don't think of snow as "heavy" but look at the tree.  (Yes, I did see that stadium roof cave in a few weeks ago, but it's hard to believe it was from too much snow!)

The snow makes everything seem so clean and pretty....to look at through the window from a nice warm house (or car as was the case here).  While I was taking these, I was trying to psyche myself up to get out of the car and go inside.  :-)

Looks like lots of folks got snow this weekend - how 'bout you?

I'm linking this one up to Favorite Things Friday at The Speckled Dog.

Refreshing...

So, so, so busy at work this week. Meetings all day, means working all night = no time for blogging. BUMMER!

It's 100+ this week, so just needed something to help me chill out. This was my backyard this winter. I'm sure at the time I was whining about the snow, just like now I'm whining about the heat. Never satisfied. At least I can appreciate in retrospect. ;-)