Choir, OM, and Cheese Steak

Tuesday morning and another inch of snow last night......and more projected for the end of the week though tomorrow it may hit forty, perhaps some of what fell Sunday/Monday will melt.

The snow blower protested yesterday when nearing the end of the driveway where all the snow from the street being plowed was piled up. I took it slow and got through without busting a shear pin.

It was Quizno's Monday so while Chris emptied the dishwasher I headed over to Quizno's and got them sandwiches. A few minutes after five the boys headed back to their Mom's house and I took Danielle to Forest Hills Eastern school for her Odyssey of the Mind Spontaneous night. It took about 20 minutes to get there (I had never been before) and when we arrived at this large school there was no one from ON to be found. We walked around and then some maintenance folks directed us to the C Wing. I dropped Danielle off and headed back to my house for a conference call. That over around 7PM I headed out into the lightly falling snow and headed over to the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center for Chris and Scott's Choir. The X met me there and we both remarked how the boys were both very good. Chris particularly has come a long way and was incredible, you could hear his voice mixing in with the others verses the collective sound you often get. Scott did well too.

We also made bad jokes, such as which one was our boy when all the members on stage were female, would the other look good in a dress, etc.......we are bad parents but at least we have a warped sense of humor.

There was a college choir performing as guests, and, since Scott's participation was over and I knew he wanted to leave I went down to where the choir members were sitting and snagged him just as the guest choir began playing the bagpipes! TOO LOUD indoors!

I bid farewell to the X, dropped Scott off at her house and headed back home stopping first at Forest Hills Foods where I picked up a pack of steak-umms, a sweet onion, and some fresh Italian bread. I returned home and quickly thinly sliced the onion, sauteed it in just a bit of Olive Oil (thanks again Steve, I used some of your Christmas preset for this), added some Cajun seasoning, a pinch of Indian chill powder, and some freshly ground black pepper. While these were sauteing I cooked the steak-ums and layered them on the bread with slices of sharp cheddar and then put the sauteed onions on top.

It was very good! While not whole steak, steak-ums are very good, particularly if your pour off some of the grease!

I then just watched some TV (some Ugly Betty episodes) and hit the hay around 11PM.

Monday and more snow

We had about six more inches of wet heavy snow this morning.......though the kids had only a two hour delay for school. Can't wait to get home and remove it!

Danielle has Spontaneous Performance night again this evening for Odyssey of the mind, that runs for four hours and is about 8 miles away. I will be dropping her off and then heading home and attending Chris and Scott's choir concert at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center which is right down the road from my house.

Weekend was Snow Good

Quiet weekend, I had Scott and Danielle and the X come over around 5:30 Saturday evening. We watched the Scrubs from last week, then the X and I watched Two and a Half Men before she headed out. Scott and Danielle and I watched some Scrubs episodes and they alternated between TV with Dad or game time on the PC.

Sunday morning it had snowed overnight, about three inches worth. I was up before Scott and Danielle and rode the exercise bike, and then got cleaned up. All of us got together for Pizza for lunch (The X paid, thanks X!) and we watched the Monk episode from Friday night. Seating was limited as Scott had his friend Taylor over. We all enjoyed that as it was Monk's first exposure to computers and the Internet. Scott had also showed us his latest Flash creation, he is incredible with that! They headed out around 3PM and I did some work from home, watched some TV, and played on the computer, all in all a very quiet weekend which I needed after the grueling week with the representatives of the new company in most of the week.

It's a Wonderful Week

It's Thursday now (as it was when I just did the weekend post, finally got a break from the all day meetings) and the first round of meetings with the new company is nearly over.

Monday morning at work, where I had to drag myself in to prepare for the three days of meetings starting Tuesday, I felt like death warmed over, and people were telling me I was as white as a sheet! I managed to get what I needed done and left at regular time, I went home and collapsed until I had to go out and get Quizno's for the kids.....by Monday Scott was feeling much better and so was his sister. I sent them home their Mom's and was in bed by 8 PM.

At least Tuesday when I woke up I felt markedly better.....which was good because it was a 12 hour day at work and then more from home afterwards..........

Oh! And as I predicted, weather starting Monday hit the low 40's as that was the day my brand new winter coat arrived! It has been cold at nights, well below freezing but days have been high 30's to low 40's with less wind, so, it has been like summer! A lot of the snow has melted though a good amount remains.

Yesterday morning someone (I have to track down their number) called me on my cell at 5:20AM with a text message to warn me it was foggy and icy out......when I find them the weather will be the least of their worries!

When I came out of the Wednesday meetings yesterday it was 4PM. I usually leave at 3PM; I checked my e-mail which had an out of the office message on it, as did my phone, and in the group tacking calendar I was shown as unavailable.

Evidently the company p[population took this to mean "Oh, yes, please e-mail me on matters trivial and not important, and please DO DO MULTIPLE FREAKING TIMES!"

I had 260 e-mail messages to go through, which I did and around 6PM headed out to get the kids food (Dad took cowards way out and got them MCD's.) We then watched a couple of scrubs together and then ate the desert I had liberated from the meetings at work, 3 servers of double chocolate brownie pie and walnut's....Danielle had her portion of frozen Hershey's chocolate pie she was too sick to have over the weekend.

Today it is a bit colder and the weather this weekend will either be unprecedented sunny and 50's Saturday or major storm.....they just are not sure at this point!

Weekend Woes

Rough weekend, Scott sick with Pneumonia, then Danielle getting flu like symptoms with diarrhea and vomiting. Me, trying to rest up for visit of now company coming in all this week.

By Sunday night I was vomiting as well and had had very little sleep all weekend due to son barking like seal in his sleep! I wondered what the workweek would bring as I had to be in this week!

The World of Japanese Ice Cream

Note to self: NEVER eat ice cream while vacationing in Japan!!

Click HERE to find out why!

And make sure you hit the next link under the first selection so you can go through all twenty-one yummy flavors!

It's Caturday!

It's not Sunday, it's Caturday! Check out the videos HERE. After watching this video make sure you click on the other Caturday videos on the right side of the screen.

Thanks to Barry for sending this link !

As with all videos or referred links, screen yourself before deciding if suitable for sharing with our younger viewers.

Beware of Lock Bumping

A way for someone to easily open almost any common door lock.

Be Aware!

Or

Beware!

Click Here

Crappy Cold Weather Continues

This morning it is 22, cold and snowing. About an inch has fallen overnight, with another or so due today, with a bit heavier snow due tomorrow. While nothing like the 10 plus feet that they had in upstate New York, still more than enough cold and snow for me over the past four weeks!

This same snow thwarted the attempt of Syracuse, NY to break the record for snow angels currently held by Michigan Tech University! Click the picture above for a much larger image plus you can read about it here.

The Doom Sayers speak of global warming...some saying we are doing this to ourselves, others saying it would happen without our industrialized society. If it is getting so warm, why did snow fall in Kathmandu (remember the song by Bob Seger), Nepal for the first time since 1944? For the first time in over ten years it also snowed in Darjeeling, India. Note here in Grand Rapids snow or ice has been present for 30 of the last 32 days! I eagerly await the above freezing temperatures forecasted for part of next week!

Scott was diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday; he's been sick over 10 days now and when he went to the doctors Tuesday they said there was no sign of infection and he should be better by Friday....he was not. He's on a five day regimen of potent antibiotics.....his room is right on the other side of mine....as I lay desperately seeking sleep last night the barking seal sounds coming from his room, I was torn between feeling bad for him and wanting, for some reason, to open the door and toss in a fish..... I hope he feels a bit better this AM.

I could really use a good nights sleep; representatives of the new company will be on site Tuesday through Thursday of next week and I'd like to talk in an intelligent manner; first impressions are the most important after all!

Last night for dinner Danielle and I had left over Chinese food, while Scott had a sandwich and Chris a bowl of cereal for dinner. We all watched some episodes of Scrubs together, and then, Scott decided around 7:30 he wanted peanut M&M's even though I had already done the days shopping; he made puppy dog eyes at me and since he was sick and I love him so much, I headed out to the store to get them for him. We continued watching TV when I returned and I made them watch an episode of Special Unit 2 with me; Chris liked it Scott did not seem overly thrilled, and Danielle fell asleep...... Chris spent almost the entire evening watching TV with us which is rare, but, he said he had been very tired and could not focus on the computer. It was nice to have an evening we all spent together!

Danielle has Odyssey of the Mind this morning, at least it is not snowing like that first Saturday of February where I wondered if I would make it back here alive......after I pick her up at 1PM we shall go in search of shoes for me and sneakers for her. Like her Mom she has wide feet and it is so hard to find something to fit her. We will try a large shoe store that the X has not hit in the past weeks in pursuit of this sacred quest!

A Valentine's Day Tribute

Chris and Debby Falco

Today's sole post is a Valentine's Day tribute to Debby Falco, the woman I fell in love with and envisioned spending the rest of my life with. A warm and wonderful woman who gave me three fine children, years of fond memories, good times, and loved me...at least for a number of years.

Time heals all wounds they say...to an extent this must be true...last night, for the first time in nearly three years I was able to listen to my favorite song without tears....our song that we danced to at our wedding about 20 years ago. I love that song and it was good to be able to listen to the longer live version...and drift back to that the first dance as man and wife.

So on that note I dedicate today's post and the following song to Debby, my X wife, who I still love. May everyone have someone special in their life to love.

Wonderful Tonight
by Eric Clapton

It's late in the evening; she's wondering what clothes to wear.
She puts on her make-up and brushes her long blond hair.
And then she asks me, "Do I look all right?"
And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight."

We go to a party and everyone turns to see
This beautiful lady that's walking around with me.
And then she asks me, "Do you feel all right?"
And I say, "Yes, I feel wonderful tonight."

I feel wonderful because I see
The love light in your eyes.
And the wonder of it all
Is that you just don't realize how much I love you.

It's time to go home now and I've got an aching head,
So I give her the car keys and she helps me to bed.
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light,
I say, "My darling, you were wonderful tonight.
Oh my darling, you were wonderful tonight."


In spite of the divorce, it is good to have loved and to still love. I think "How empty is a man's heart who has never known true love", though Alfred Lord Tennyson may have said it best. 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'

Violence at the local Mall

I was quite distressed this AM to read a report of a stabbing at the local mall that my family and I shop at on a regular basis. When we moved out here from New Jersey almost 7 years ago, the area was so nice and peaceful than the east coast and so much more family oriented. My X and I were shocked when strangers would greet us! Don't get me wrong, we were not living in a war zone or anything back east, but, area out here was so much nicer. From the friendly people to the family rest rooms and kid play areas in many stores and such you could see that family life was important out here.

Now I see I will need to be looking over my shoulder in the formerly perceived safe shopping area. I mailed the X and to her to be aware, particularly if visiting the mall after dark.

WHAT IS WRONG with people these days????

Rare picture of Eagles and their young

Time for a picture! Mom sent me some awesome pictures that were taken recently near Comox , BC, Canada. No one knows who the photographer was. This is something few people will ever be privileged to see. I have three more, let me know if you want to see them and I'll post one a day.

Click picture for a larger version in a new window

Oh, the major weather we were supposed to see is going to be mostly south of here. Our up to 12 inches has dwindled down to an inch at most. Yay! It was a balmy 14 degrees this AM, today we are not supposed to hit 20, in fact we won't see the 20 mark until the weekend they day. It had hit 26 yesterday but another cold front is moving in. In fact, Today (Tuesday) is the 17th consecutive day with below average temperatures, at least 10 degrees colder though in some cases it is much more than 10.

Last night the kids and I had left over pizza; I picked up Scott from his Mom's on my way home. He was feeling somewhat better. Chris, Scott, and I watched a Scrubs, then Chris, Danielle and I watched Lost while Scott took a snooze in his room. We all then watched Family Guy and The Simpsons from Sunday. Scott was a bit sad as he said his Mom 'yelled' at him when he wanted to stay home from school today; I explained that he was feeling fine last night, playing games and horsing around with his brother and then he did not want to take his cough medicine before bed, so he was up coughing all night. I also reminded him Mom was feeling terrible too and when we do not feel good we sometimes do not react completely correctly. I also reminded him is is out way too much from school! Kids! His Mom is a good Mom...we all raise our voices some days......though I can understand how he feels to a point....when you are sick even someone raising their voice a bit can seem so extreme.

I sent Chris and Scott home around 6 so Scott could get settled in and start on the homework he has missed since last Wednesday. Danielle elected to stay with me and she played on the computer a bit after doing her homework. Then she asked me to make her Hot Chocolate; since we were out of whipped cream I put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it.

I usually use Swiss Miss instant no sugar added mix (except when I make my infamous home made hot chocolate once a year) but I blend it with a hand-held high speed mixer to make it smooth and frothy. It is just never right using a spoon, you always get some little clumps of the mix.....reminds me of the Bill Cosby bit where he is talking about lumps in cream of wheat and how he can't get them down, even if someone put a hundred dollar bill in his hand!

Her Mom picked Danielle up around 7:30; I had Danielle all ready to go so the X did not have to get out of her car. I hope the X starts feeling better; she picked a nasty case of bronchitis down in Florida and she still is not over it. She stopped in a clinic on the way home and went to her regular doctor yesterday. He prescribed more medicines and told her if she was not a bit better today she would need to go get chest x-rays. I shall have to call her later and see how she is feeling!

Right now outside the window it is windy and snowing....I have to take Scott to the Doctor a bit later, I hope the roads are not slippery if I have to go the the pharmacy for prescriptions! The doctor is on the same street I am on, just on the other side of the cross street. That side of the street is all businesses while my area is all residential.

Not much to say other than snow...snow...snow

It was a cold and blah weekend in Grand Rapids, Saturday I picked up Danielle around 11:20AM for her OM meeting, at least this time it was not snowing (much....)

I picked her up at 1PM, we did some quick shopping at Meijer's, then snagged MCD's for lunch, stopped back at the X's house to pick up Scott who had been home sick Thursday and Friday. We headed to my house and the rest of the weekend passed in a fog as I was starting to feel really sick. Danielle had a sore throat, Scott the walrus-like cough, and me all of the above.

Sunday the X and Christopher came over around 12:30 to await pizza (this was after a fevered dash by myself to the ATM down the road for cash) as they had been down at Kettering the college Christopher will be going to in July.

We ate, then everyone except Christopher watched a Scrubs and then the X, Danielle and and I a Medium from last week. They headed out back to the X's house and other than some chores and such I enjoyed being 'one' with couch until bed time.

I called my Dad and talked to him and his long-term girlfriend; they are possibly coming out for Christopher's graduation on May 21s2, that would be awesome! My brother and Sister in law may come too; I can't wait! It would be awesome to see them all again!

While so attached to the couch, I remembered the Sci-Fi channel is rerunning Special Unit 2 on Fridays. This is a show about a unit of the police that deals with supernatural things like gargoyles, werewolves (no vampires, THEY evidently are just a fairy tale!) . It is in the vein of Men In Black, as it is most amusing with some drama throne it. I watched the first three episodes of the DVR last evening along with the Lost Survivors Guide.

The X called this AM to inform me Scott was home again; she said he was fine all afternoon on the PC and horsing around with his brother........he misses way too much school!

Today looking out my office window it is again snowing; we've probably had about an inch since I got in this AM. It is supposed to stop soon, but tomorrow it is supposed to snow all day. Up to 6 inches is predicted, we shall see.......

Cathedral Windows

For those wondering what the view is out my Cathedral Windows, here is a shot looking out from the dining room. Note also the same windows exist in the living room too.

Note this shot is about a year old....the only major difference is there is less snow in this picture but the house is neater a year ago! ;)



Click on the picture to open a larger version in a new window

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

OK, granted, most of you may not know my brother Rick, but, he's a heck of a guy who I love a great deal, and TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY, so I just wanted to post it here.

Oh, in case any of you are wondering why I titled the post "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK" and are wondering why since my brothers name is Rick, well, you might as well ask about Wee Working Willie, Mr. Liquid, Jimmy The Greek, Mr. Funny Shoes, or the fire at the middle school that I was suspected of!

Heck! You might as well ask if we can eat the scorpion..........

I love you Jack! Wish we were together today!

Another fine day in Michigan

It's even warmer today in Michigan! A temperature of 9 degrees awaited me, though, again today we are not expected to get to 20. In fact, my morning e-mail weather forecast this cold weather to last through the end of the month, and possibly through most of March too!

Yikes and EEEEEEKKKK to coin a phrase!

It is snowing lightly outside my office window as I take a lunch break to make this post. The roads this AM are much better, I hope there is not enough snow to ice them up again!

Upon arriving home after work yesterday, exhausted as work is very crazy these days with a new project dumped on us regarding the daylight savings time changes. No work has disappeared and now virtual every computer needs to be patched. That's thousands of computers.....

So, I wanted nothing more than to plunk down and relax and Scott informed me he needed for school a 3 ring binder, binder organizer, sketch pad, plus he had to pick up his USB memory stick at his Mom's house so he could scan some picture as part of this school work.

So, after a quick pass through the e-mail we headed out, got what he needed at OfficeMax, and then stopped into Gamestop to pickup a game for his DS Lite that he wanted.

We headed back to my house by way of his Mom's so he could get his memory stick and his DS Lite. We arrived back to my house where I made sandwiches for Scott and Danielle (Chris has made one for himself while Scott and I were out). Danielle had wanted hot chocolate so I made her that too. Everyone seemed a bit lethargic, so, we settled down on the couches and watched a couple of Monk Episodes from this past Sunday's marathon. By this time Scott was coughing a lot and stating he was not feeling well. The kids headed back to their Mom's house around 8PM. I talked to the X this morning and Scott stayed home from school.

Speaking of kids Danielle got her MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) tests back and was above acceptable in all areas tested! I was most pleased by this news and praised her on her accomplishment!.

Sunny Days

Today it was even warmer when I arose! A full 3 degrees above zero! Whoo who!!!!

As daylight began to cast off the mantle of darkness the Mistress of the Night has enshrouded us with, I was heartened to see the sky was blue and soon the sun was shinning down.

HOWEVER even now, past the noon hour, the temperature is barely 15, the windchill is minus 2 degrees, and we will not see 20 today.

20's are predicted for one day this week, but, then another cold front will be hitting later in the week and more snow could appear!

Driving yesterday home from work was just as slick as the evening before. This morning though I could see some improvement on the roads, though they are still a long way from being safe. The kids have school today, which means they will be at my house and it is Wednesday night so I will have them until 8PM.

We shall see what to do about the feeding.......they are, at the dinner hour, akin to the velociraptors from Jurassic Park...

For some strange reason I fell like grilling, but, I cannot justify using a whole tank of propane just to heat the grill enough to cook some steaks! I am thinking something simple, such as turkey bacon and egg sandwiches, or something inexpensive out.

Munch on Snowy Goodness!

Here are all the pictures I took Saturday February 3, 2007 during the blizzard. Click the picture below to open the entire album of 31 pictures in a new browser window.

February 2007

How cold is it in Michigan?

It's so cold that there have been reports of polar bears breaking into walk-in freezers at various warehouses, in an attempt to warm up!

Seriously though, I know it is colder elsewhere. For example I hear it is 40 below in Minnesota right now! Brrr! The 10 below we hit yesterday was cold enough for me and it is the coldest I have ever been outside! As to places where it is colder.....well, all I can say is, if you are crazy enough to live in an area like that, you must like cold weather and you are probably a member of the Polar Bear Club. The first question on their site's Q & A page sums up how I feel about swimming outside in the ocean or lakes in the dead of winter; "Are you folks nuts?".

Today I was greeted with temperatures far above yesterdays morning temperature of 8 below zero. It was a nice balmy 1 degree above! In spite of the warmer temperature the streets were even worse than yesterday, I found myself sliding more than I had yesterday on the ride to work even driving as slowly and carefully.

I did get to see light pillars this morning! As I turned out of my street and headed towards the first traffic light, I saw what looked like many searchlights trained on the sky. This turned out to be cars that were just below the intersection on a slight upwards angle pointing skyward. Evidently as the local TV station's weatherman's blog educated me, on rare occasions (usually when the temperature is colder than +10F), we get to see light pillars. Columns of light rise upward from a light on the ground. These columns are caused by tiny ice crystals/needles in the air. I had pretty much figured this out as I drove and could see the tiny crystals reflected in my headlights.

Here is a picture of this phenomena for your viewing pleasure. (Click on it to make it a bit bigger.)


This was a totally new experience for me; I love when you get to experience something new! In fact, I can hardly wait to experience warmer weather again!

Yesterday on the way home since the kids had the day off from school, I stopped at their Mom's house to pick them up as I have them for dinner. Monday as some of you may know is traditionally Quizno's. They have a special on Monday where you get three of their subs for a very decent price. It's the only night that they are affordable in my opinion!

It was about 3:45PM at this time and Quizno's is just down the street past the street my house is on. As it was cold and windy and the Mustang was having trouble going forward I announced "You're either all hungry enough to have Quizno's now, or, I'll be making cold cut sandwiches at dinner time because I am NOT taking the car out again tonight!" The kids unanimously agreed they wanted to eat now, so I bought them sandwiches (and they picked out a large bag of Doritos to have with them) and we headed back to my house. While they ate I made myself a sandwich using some of the cold cuts I had bought last Friday when the storm started.

Their Mom showed up around 6:30 PM and we all watched the Scrubs episode from last week which we had saved so she could see it. They departed shortly after 7.

The kids have off today from school today too, so I will stop at their Mom's and pick up Danielle as she has an orthodontist appointment. She will then stay at my house until her Mom picks her up on her way home around dinner time. I do NOT plan on venturing out again after Danielle and I get back if I do not have to!

Poor kids....today makes the fourth school closing day for bad weather, so, they now have one day to make up at the end of the school year.....they think nothing of that now.....But I predict they will sing a different tune at the end of the school year.

Odyssey Out of my Mind!!

Click on the picture to see it larger.

Here is a picture I took while driving my daughter to her Odyssey Meeting on Saturday. As I said I must be out of my mind for driving in conditions like this!

It's snow Good!

It was one of the worst and coldest weekends since I came to Michigan back in 2000. It was 8 degrees below zero this morning when I awoke. As I did my morning rituals I had the TV on in the bedroom and the living room watching the local news as I do each morning. In the 20 minute period that elapsed the finally got to the school closing list that contains the school for my kids. By the time I shut off the TV as I was walking out the door, they still had not reached the part that was on when I first started watching!

Because it was so cold overnight, even though in many areas no new snow had fallen, so many schools were closed because of the icy roads. No matter how much salt you use in temperatures like this, it will not melt the ice on the road, hence the many schools closing. I did wonder though why they just don't show a list of schools that are open as the announcer said virtually every school in our viewing area is closed today!

The Mustang was hesitant to leave the dry garage and looked at me piteously want to stay inside. Since the alternative would be a walk that would surely lead to the loss of toes or worse, I drove. The roads were incredibly slippery in spots, but, carefully driving got me to work in twice the usual time; it took 12 minutes instead of six! ;)

Over the weekend with it snowing and being around 10 to 15 degrees I just wanted to stay inside the house. Danielle had her Odyssey of the Mind meeting Saturday, I must have been out of my mind to undertake the odyssey of taking a drive in total white out conditions (I shall post a picture of this today). Well, we made it, but, it was a ride literally fraught with danger. The Mustang is an excellent sports car and with it's all-weather tires it handles OK in snow. NOT a foot of snow, not during a blizzard, not when it is 10 degrees out, not when the development the coach lives in was barely plowed. When I went to pick her up 3 hours later it was even worse. It was snowing so hard that not only did I have to snow blow before I took Danielle out, I had to do it 2 and a half hours later when it was time to go pick her up.

I vowed to stay inside the remainder of the day but around 7PM Scott and Danielle wanted additional treats and convinced me to head out with them to the local grocery store. It was freezing, windy, and still snowing. I decided to tease the kids a bit and intended to do a fishtail coming out of the driveway. Imagine my surprise as we did a complete 360! In the few minutes we were in the store the car completely iced over.

Sunday we managed to stay indoors for the day other than myself going out and snow blowing. The X-wife was due home from Florida and she arrived with my older boy (who had been holding up at his Mom's house since he was going to be snow blowing there) around 6PM. I had offered to cook dinner for us all, but the X wanted to buy us dinner, so, in spite of my resolve to stay warm (and safe!) we headed out. It was fridged, windy, and snowing and the X's small car (with Scott, Danielle, and I crammed in the back seat) was hard pressed to have traction to proceed and we had the usual idiots going to slow or too fast driving around us (those that were foolhardy enough to be out!) to make matters even more fun!

The kids had wanted to eat at Red Robin, we parked and zoomed through the freezing weather only to find they had closed earlier because of the storm. We ran back to the car and ended up at Fridays. Danielle and I got the last 2 cups of hot chocolate and we had an enjoyable dinner and a frosty ride home!

201st Post

Well, the pressure was too great for the 200th post, so, what can I say??

200th Post

Yup, that's this one!

ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!???orLet it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I must have missed it on the news last night, but, when I awoke this AM to my usual ritual of groggily groping for the TV remote, and, after finding it, turning on the local news, it was snowing and had been for several hours. There were already 3 inches outside and unlike a couple of weeks ago when they had an inch or so of supposedly very icy ground covering and cancelled school, they did not today even though up to five inches more were expected.

Since the X is again out of town and I have had the kids for a week, I have been taking Scott and Danielle to school each morning since the bus stop is around the corner and down the street and thus not in view of the house. Add to that the cold weather, etc. I just feel better driving them and they like that I do it.

We headed out about five minutes early and the roads were not in good shape at all. However leaving a bit early was a good idea as we got there only a few minutes later than we would have on a normal departure time with very little traffic in front of us so I was able to keep up a safe and sensible speed without either

A - Some idiot in front of me driving five miles and hour because Oh my god there is snow on the road!!! What shall I do!!!!
or
B - Some idiot zooming around me or sliding off the road endangering me in an SUV or Four Wheel Drive vehicle without any brains at all thinking (picture this in goofy kind of voice) Gosh! Gee willikers! If I cans starts out easier on slippery roads in my four wheel drive I can stops faster too!

My logic paid off because int he 5 minute interval of dropping both Scott and Danielle off at their respective schools and heading back out to the roads I just traversed, there were now many care coming and they were doing about one-quarter of the speed I had been able to do minutes ago on the uncrowded roads.

I even got to work by the usual time I do when I drop the kids off to school, and it has been snowing steadily up until just about now (a bit after noon as I spend my lunch break at work blogging today) and some sun is just starting to peek out. There will be snow blowing after work for me and Chris, with his Mom out of town, will have to take care of her house.

We have videos and a game to return to Hollywood video, so, we will do that this evening and I will splurge and get the kids some fast food for dinner. Last night I made pasta and sun-dried tomato and basil meatballs and pasta with Parma Rosa sauce for Danielle and I. Scott had pasta with marinara sauce. As Chris has stayed home from school with his stomach bothering him, had had a banana and a bagel for his evening repast.

Oh! As to the ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!! portion of the title of this post, as I was nearing the office there, in four inches of snow in the freezing cold was some, IMHO, IDIOT riding his bicycle! I can;t imagine how he was not falling every few feet, but had I not been afraid of startling him I would have put down the window and shouted ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY!!!?? to him. not only was he endangering himself but what if he slipped and fell into traffic causing a car or cars to have an accident.

I also have an employee who is a nice guy and a talented worker, he drove 100 miles here, a good portion of it in the snow. He would get the runner up crazy award and I told him next time if he has any doubts as to conditions up here to give a buzz and he could work from home that day! Have to admire his dedication though!

I hope everyone is doing well! Still no word here on the GE buyout of my company but we should, I hope, hear some things soon. Anyway I had written this between 12 noon today and then added this note at 12:20: Oh! In the interval of when I started writing this and me finishing it up, the snow is back with a vengeance!

THEN When I tried to save it blogger was doing it's semi-regular "Can't talk to the server crap" so I saved all this text into a mail message and now am posting it from home around 4 hours later. Both boys are asleep on the couch...they will be woken soon as we will be departing in search of food!

I did have lots of fun snow blowing when I got home though, yay!