C O L D : /

While the sun IS shining and I am soooo thrilled and thankful for that, it is in NO WAY providing any measurable warmth. It is C O L D, really, really cold with a steady wind, so you know what that means, the windchill factor that makes me really, really dislike this winter weather.

Currently, it is 10* and with the windchill the feels like temperature is -5*. At least I am not farther north, LilBlue is dealing with a bitter windchill and a feels like temperature of -25*! That's rough!

As beautiful as the white snow is...as clean and fresh as it appears and lovely looking with the sun shining it makes for not such beauty when there is a wind with it. Sooooo my plan is to wear my Uggs 24/7, cause there is nothing worse for me then cold numb feet, and I will keep a scarf around my neck along with continuing to wear my cuddle duds and not plan ANY outdoor activities. Works for me and hopefully this time next year I will be in a less wintery climate!

S N O W...

While not a "snow day" for us here it was for LilBlue in NE...she was uber thrilled, I was just thankful she made it home from work last night with no problems and she is safely tucked in for the duration of the storm. While I am thrilled she took on getting a job, it does cause me pause when she has to be out in weather such as this. I prefer she not have to but I also get that life is happening and she is a participant in it and this is part of life. Letting her grow up is rough...

Today, it is just snowing and snowing, looks like north of us and south of us are scoring a heavier layer of the beautiful white stuff but so far this is enough to make it look pretty here as well. I hope it doesn't cause too many issues for those who must be out in it. I myself was out first thing this morning before it was accumulating, however, by the time I made my return trip it was coming down heavier and starting to get just a bit slick. I was doing fine, going an acceptable speed, leaving distance between myself and the other vehicles on the road however, some of the other drivers were not and one was sliding around the curve and another was playing bumper car with the curb...slow and easy on days like today for EVERYONE people and you will still get there!

I think my beverage of choice today is going to be mugs of steaming hot tea!

Thursday Thoughts

As the day starts it is -17 degrees here...

I am thankful for heat and a warm house!
Hot coffee with flavored cream is awesome!
I am thinking I don't need to go anywhere today!
I am glad the car started for LilBlue this morning.
Only two more days til my MiB comes to see us!

We are supposed to get to 4 above, I hope so :)

Still in the deep freeze here...

Well, it was another frigid day in my world. We did not get above 2 degrees and we were at -27 degrees with wind chill for most of the day. According to the weatherman here we have not seen this kind of extreme temperatures at this time of the year since 1990. And believe it or not, I do remember it, I was pregnant with Lil'Blue at the time and it WAS extremely cold and I was trying to get to MO for Christmas...hmmm, there are lots of things that happened 18 years ago that are happening this year in my life as well.

Lil'Blue and I did venture out for church this morning. Roads were icy with snow pack on top and still quite slippery in the subdivision; although the main roads are starting to have "tracks" in them they are not clear and plenty of icy patches remain. The church parking lot was an ice rink! Whoa, talk about slippery, glad I wore sturdy shoes along with my wool pants, wool tights, and wool sweater. It was so cold it took your breath away.

We are trying to be hopeful for warmer weather so we can head south tomorrow. Usually we head out at first light but since it is so cold I think we will wait for mid morning and pray for warmer temps before making our trek. I really do not want to wait any longer, we have snow showers in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon and again on Tuesday, so waiting is really not an option if we want to be there before Christmas Eve day. Interstate road conditions according to the DOT webpages for IA and MO report they are clear. I pray so.

Unless we are delayed again tomorrow this will be my last post before Christmas, so MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! Take time to really enjoy the true meaning of this splendid season and share your blessings with those that you meet : ) While we celebrate the birth of the baby in a manger, please do not forget that the baby grew up and died a horrible death for our sins. He is our redeemer, our saviour!

...He came to pay a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.

ICE

Well, today I shoveled more snow, I'd say a couple inches or so maybe more, it was hard to tell since the wind was/is blowing so much. It is COLD, like -15 with windchill, actual temp was 7. The bad thing is the layer of ice underneath the snow.

After shoveling the snow, I let what little bit of sun was out do it's thing while I warmed up and then headed back out to chip away at the ice. That my friends is not an easy task, I was using a shovel, not a snow shovel, more of a garden shovel. I was able to get the upper and lower steps done and most of our stoop and part of the landing. It's slow going and very hard on the hands.

Since tomorrow's high is going to be 0 and -30 with windchill not sure I will tackle the driveway. I am still uncertain when or even if we will head to MO this week. I don't really think we need to be out traveling in such bitter temps even if the roads have cleared. I just don't know yet. I don't even know if I am getting out to attend church in the morning.

Well, I am going to get a big bowl of veggie soup and warm up, I have been in for over an hour and am still quite chilled. I am listening to the wind whip violently against the house as I write. Ugh, it is supposed to do that all night long, I never sleep very well when the wind in whipping like this.

Hmmmm, I guess I will do a little future thinking and tell myself, "Lord willing, this time next year you will be in sunny Florida" yeah, that's it, that's what I'll do :)

SNOW Day

No travel for us today, we had a SNOW DAY...woohoo! We will see how the roads shape up in a day or two. Right now there is only a couple inches of snow but underneath that snow is a good 3/4-1 inch of ICE. So we are staying put for now.

Hillary is doing a PJ day and did not take kindly to being photographed...

She has only moved from the bed twice to take care of necessities and to get the spinach artichoke dip from the kitchen. Other then that she hasn't done much except maybe send a couple hundred text messages since she woke up!

Thursday Thoughts

Well, here we are still hemmed in with brisk weather and more on the way, in fact we are getting our third winter storm this evening and it's NOT even winter yet...go figure, seems to reason it would be this way when I am manless :)

Onto the thoughts...

• I ran 4 miles yesterday
• I seriously need to get wrapping
• I have no use for brussel sprouts
• I am ready to be with the family for Christmas break
• I am sporting 5 extra pounds since Turkey Day and I didn't even eat the turkey :(

I truly envision having a fabulous evening while "the storm" hits and then anticipate the roads being travel worthy tomorrow so we can head on down to MO for Christmas. I think we are ready to go but if the weather is not good we will wait a few days and head out on Monday when the next break in weather is supposed to be. Internet is not so readily available while I am there so updates will be in short supply.

Oh, and the latest on Papa Smurf is that hormone therapy continues, possibly another surgery in January and also radiation should start in January. He will go 5 days a week for 6 weeks. He is feeling good, though still weak and not able to be as active as he was, his strength has just not returned like he would like and he plays out pretty quickly. We are thankful he is doing as well as he is! I know that prayers are sustaining not only him but all of us in his world!

Weather and Barking

Well, I don't really know how to tell you this but it is still COLD here and we now have snow in the forecast, as in when we wake up in the morning it's likely the white stuff will be starting to cover the ground and will continue to fall from the sky until late afternoon. They are calling for 2-3-4 inches, they aren't really certain. Who is "they" anyway?

Do you think I am excited to hear this...um, only if it means a snow day, which at this point is doubtful, but we can still be hopeful. Oh and our temperature got all the way up to 5 today, though it is currently -1. But tomorrow we are going to hit double digits, 13, woohoo!

On the homefront, LilBlue came home from school early today, she doesn't have classes the last two hours of the day anyway so she asked to come home. She did, went straight to bed. She has a barky cough with sore throat, achy body and headache...do ya think it's the flu? I am not positive, but I have a feeling it might be, I think she will be home tomorrow whether there is a snow day or not.

Off to administer the night time meds, goodnight!