Post-Holiday

We survived the trip south to see Gabe's family for Christmas. I say "survived" because we got more snow on Christmas Eve morning and I was afraid we might not be able to make it out of town. We did make it out of town, but it took us WAY longer than it should have. It took over 2 hours to get from Portland to Salem. That's a trip that usually takes less than an hour. Driving down I-5 we'd get stuck in a lane because there were these huge piles of snow and ice separating the lanes. We saw cars get airborne when they changed lanes trying to get over those piles of snow. It was a long and bumpy ride. I'm very thankful that I wasn't driving. I had a bad enough headache as it was by the time we arrived.
We had a nice time visiting with Gabe's mom and the Johnson's in Oakridge and then a nice time with Gabe's dad and Joanne in Eugene. We even got to enjoy Tom playing a coffee shop gig. It was nice to see family that we don't get to see nearly often enough.
As for the rest of my week off...I'm taking the time to get things done that I just don't get the chance to take care of when I'm working. For example, the hair cut I finally got today. I got a new book from the library that I can't put down. So, I may not get done as much as I should this week!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoy what is left of 2008!
-h

Winter Wonderland....

Well, not exactly! When I want snow like this, I know where to go...Mt. Hood. Never have I seen snow like this except on the mountain. We have over a foot of snow here on the valley floor. It's amazing that at an elevation of 50ft we've gotten this much snow. These are some shots I took of the backyard this morning. I'm not sure they really do the magnitude of snow justice. You have to try and walk in it to truly "appreciate" it. We went on a walk this evening and its tough work. Some snow drifts are nearly 2 feet and since none of the roads around us are plowed there isn't much activity. We should have put our snow shoes on! Maybe we'll have to do that to go get some dinner. All we have to eat in the house is left over party food. None of it very good for you!

Amazingly, Gabe did get up and drive to work this morning (after taking nearly 1/2 an hour to get the car de-iced and out of the snow bank that is the drive way). He was there for about 10 minutes when they made the decision to close up and tell people not to come in. Why they couldn't have made that decision earlier is beyond me. He called their emergency line tonight and they've already called off work for tomorrow. Thank goodness. I really was afraid the car would get high centered in some snow and he'd be stuck. We don't have that much ground clearance in the Outback.
So, I'm not sure what our plans are going to be for the rest of the week. We've had to cancel so many holiday plans all ready. I was supposed to meet the girls on Sunday for "brunch" and Christmas gifts. We were supposed to meet Peggy and Paul for dinner on Sunday too. Both were canceled. We rescheduled with Peggy and Paul for tomorrow night but I'm not holding out much hope that things will change much between now and then. Tonight we were supposed to have Christmas dinner with Tricia since the rest of the family is else where this Christmas. We rescheduled for next week since we're still hoping to be able to leave town on Wednesday morning to head to Oakridge/Eugene to see Gabe's family.
I just can't believe that we have this much snow! It's incredible!
-h

When did Oregon get moved to Alaska?

Seriously. We're used to a couple days of snow during the winter. Maybe some icy roads, and even some freezing rain once in a while. At this point it's getting a little ridiculous. Everything around here is covered with 6+inches of snow, a layer of ice, and now more snow is falling. This doesn't seem like the Portland winters I'm used to.

Fortunately the weather isn't keeping everyone in their houses. We had a pretty decent showing at the party last night, especially given the conditions outside.

This was the collection of shoes at the front door. Everybody spontaneously ditched their shoes when they got in the house. I guess it was to keep from tracking snow into the house, or, so they didn't have to wear wet shoes during the party. We all had a good time, and everyone traveled to and from the party safely.

Snow, Snow...go away!

So I'm sitting here in my clean house, with lots of yummy things to eat and drink, with this overwhelming fear that no one is going to come to our cocktail party tonight. It has literally been snowing all day. And since no one in P-town is used to winter weather like this, or really prepared for weather like this, it will probably be a small crowd. (or just me, Gabe and Jupiter) Which really bums me out. We really haven't had time this year to have people over. The summer flew by and so did the fall. I was really looking forward to seeing all of our friends. Can you tell that I'm really wallowing in disappointment?

another snow day?!

So here I am in day 3 of "Snow Day Extravaganza 2008".
Part 3 of the "Arctic Blast" was supposed to hit this morning at about 7am but here it is, after 11, and I have only seen some small snow flurries.
Last night we took another trip to the grocery store to get more baking supplies. I figured if I was going to be here another day...more baking needed to get done. I guess I wasn't the only one with that brilliant idea. The baking isle was empty. I'm not kidding. The shelves were empty! They didn't have the semi-sweet chocolate I needed. They didn't have the white chocolate I needed. They didn't have the marshmallows I needed. It was ridiculous. So I got what I could and I'll try to make it work.
Since I've hardly left the house this week, Gabe and I did go on a quick walk last night. It was quick because after about 10 minutes we couldn't feel our faces. We would have walked faster to get the blood moving, but with the risk of slipping on the ice, that wasn't really an option.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing to keep myself entertained today. Jupiter isn't much for company. All he does is sleep. I'm not really comfortable with all of this time on my hands! I didn't bring home very much work because I didn't know this would be a 5 day weekend. Any suggestions?
-h

Snow Day Part 2

Well, it's not snowing today but we still don't have school. I'm thankful. I was not looking forward to getting there on the ice rink which is still the street outside our house. I almost slipped right outside our house yesterday when I walked 2 blocks to the mailbox. Even with the snow tires, I am a true Oregonian and don't feel confident driving in bad weather. Especially when I can't even walk without slipping and sliding!

I sent Gabe after ingredients for cookies last night. So my plan for the day is to bake, bake, bake. Our holiday cocktail party is Saturday night (weather permitting...there's more snow in the forecast!) and I figured since I'm home all day I may as well get some of that baking done ahead of time. I'm making these and these. I was also planning on taking some treats to work. We'll see if that happens. 

I've been putting all this extra time off to good use!  I'm finishing off a book I've been working on for awhile, working on some scrapbooking and crafts.  Just staying inside trying to stay warm.
-h

Snow Day!

Well, tomorrow is the snow day, but today is the day we got the snow. That make sense? Didn't think so. To be more clear, it snowed today and then got really cold. That means that tomorrow Heidi has a snow day and doesn't have school. Unfortunately I think I'll be headed into work. The forecasts had been around for this storm for so long I fully expected it to not happen. To be on the safe side we took the Outback in yesterday and had our snow tires put on, and I'm glad we did. The snow didn't really get going until mid morning, but it stayed steady for most of the day. Out at Heidi's parents house they had 4" by this evening. All the roads are packed snow and pretty icy now. Should make for a fun commute tomorrow!

For those of you here in Portland, stay warm!

-Gabe

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Putting up lights on the house, attending my staff Holiday party, cutting down and decorating our Christmas tree...this weekend has been all about the holiday!
We didn't go out to the woods to get our tree this year. Our friends (Josh and Danelle) who we've gone with the last few years, had things come up that prevented them from making the trek out to the woods. So, we just went to a farm out in Oregon City. They had great trees to choose from, but sadly it was raining and muddy so we picked one out pretty quick. And it's a little shorter than I wanted. Oh, well. It still looks nice. Here it is!
Apparently, Jupiter wants to be sent somewhere special for Christmas this year. Any takers?I also wanted to share this picture. We had the most amazing sunset on Friday night. It was the most beautiful I've seen in awhile.
Sadly, the composition of the photo is terribly lacking since Gabe took it right out our front door. But he had to snap it quick before it was gone completely.
To conclude this holiday weekend we'll be watching the movie we traditionally watch on the day we get our Christmas Tree. The classic: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
h