Merry Christmas Eve

Here we are. Dec 24th ... already. I know we have a week left in this year, but my god this year went fast. 

The "excitement" over the last week has been the snow and ice. Yes! Snow! And Ice. Y'all know how much I loath snow and ice. It's beautiful. But it really doesn't belong on the roads. 

But before I get to that, let's talk about wine. 

Janet and I went wine tasting for like the second time this year. Far cry from years past where we got out a lot more to taste wine. I bought us the wine passports for next year so hopefully we'll get out more. 

We hit three wineries and I ended up bringing home 3 bottles of wine. And Janet actually bought a bottle of wine. 

As we sat at the first winery the snow started coming down. I was freaking out internally because I didn't want to drive in it. Thankfully it was still to warm so nothing was sticking, so we continued on to the other two wineries. 

I decided on the way home from wine tasting that, based on the forecast, I should probably go to the store and buy a couple more meals and the ingredients for Christmas dinner. The last thing I wanted was to NOT be able to actually cook Christmas dinner because I couldn't get out to buy ingredients. 

I'm so glad I did. Sunday afternoon the snow started. Just a skiff, but snow all the same. 

The snow started in earnest on late Monday night into Tuesday last week. I had 6" again on my back deck. It just kept coming. All....day...long. I shoveled my drive way three times during the day. Learning from last year that if I don't shovel as the snow comes down, then it's too heavy to shovel when it's done. I'm so very glad I did shovel. Kept my driveway nice and clean...for no one. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere, but just in case someone came to see me. 

On top of all that snow was frigid temperatures. It got cold. One day I woke up and it was 16 F outside. SIXTEEN! Reminded me of the days in Minot, ND and how much I hated snow then (I was in 2nd grade. You'd think a kid would like snow. Not this kid.)

The frigid temps caused freezing rain and all the roads in the Seattle area were covered in a thick layer of ice. I went out briefly just to see it and my clear driveway looked ok, but it was slicker than slick. I couldn't believe the number of people who were out on the roads too. Even though the advice was to stay inside. So I spent a good part of the day watching the news and seeing all these cars slide down hills and crashing into other cars. 

So, I've been stuck inside for almost a week. A week! Gah. While I've gotten out to walk around, it's not the same as getting in my car and going anywhere I want, like to go get coffee. Blueberry stopped by on Wednesday with a hot chocolate for me. She knows me too well. 

So here we are, the day before Christmas and it's finally raining. It's a balmy 41F outside this morning. My drive is slowly melting which means maybe, maybe, by tomorrow I could go out. Which is ironic since there's no place to really go that'll be open. 

And so on this melting Christmas eve, I wish all my friends and families (and my enemies) a very merry Christmas! Enjoy being with your friends and family. Hug them all. Tell them you love them and remember that before you know it, it'll be 2023!!

Snow-ma-giddon

There's something about waking up when it's snowed overnight. It's quieter in the morning and all you hear is the scrape of a snow plow against the pavement. Oh wait! Not this year because DOT doesn't have budget to plow.

Anyhow, it snowed out here today. 

In Seattle that basically means the city shuts down.  To our credit we do have a bunch of hills, and a ton of people who don't know how to drive in the snow (myself included) and think they know how to drive in the snow.

The demons aren't sure what this white stuff is.  I lured Linus out to the deck with a toy and he went as far as the snow and stopped. Lucy, on the other hand, saw the open door and booked. She didn't get far until she realized what she was in was wet and cold.

I used to love snow days because it meant I could stay home and enjoy the snow. Now working from home it means a snow day just means I work from home.

Speaking of work, I won't be doing that for too much longer. I found out on Thursday that my current project management position is going away. My contract will officially end on Jan 24th. Oh goody. An early NON-Christmas gift. Maybe this is karma's version of coal.  I'm sure I'll find something but am not too happy about having to look.  I don't blame the team and their decision, it's a decision that makes sense and frankly, this is the life of a contract worker.

Day after the ARTIC BLAST

So first and foremost, the news people in this area should all get academy awards for drama. Man...they called our inch to 2 inches of snow we got last night (and mostly in the higher elevations) the Artic Blast. Which reminded me of one of our News personalities several years ago who was up on the main pass between Western WA and Eastern WA. It was starting to snow lightly, and it was quite beautiful. His commentary was something like this...and I'm not joking, Mike can verify he was watching the news with me..."It looks peaceful enough now, but in hours these cute little snow flakes will become FLAKES OF DEATH".

Yes, we got snow. Yes, its beautiful...but my god, do people check their intelligence at the door when it comes to driving. It should be stated that Seattle drivers (no offense to the California folk here ) but most people up here are transplants from CA and apparently don't know how to drive in the rain, sun or god forbid snow.

I get to go see my future husband tonight. The Dudley Manlove Holiday show is tonight. Can't wait to see the boys of summer do holiday.

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

Yes, boys and girls, its snowing in Seattle. What that means really, is the city is about to shut down. We have about 1.5"s on the ground and its finally sticking. = ) Yipee....I'm about to head home to avoid the crazies on the road driving. Maybe tomorrow will be a snow day.

Its funny really how something as simple as snow can turn mature adults into giddy 12 year olds who hope for a snow day!

I'll keep you posted. Its supposed to keep falling for several more hours...of course the same weathermen who said it wasn't likely to accumulate said it will continue for several hours. So whatever.