Week of Snow & Ice

So - that first snow has turned into a week of snow and now a crust of ice sits on top of all of it. I worked from home all week. Venturing out from time to time for food or to shop. Last Sunday we got a couple of inches. Then Monday and Tuesday were clear blue skies - and frigid temperatures. 16 on Tuesday. On Wednesday more snow came - about 3", but it also warmed up a bit and we started to have some melting. Thursday and Friday were colder - and somewhere in there we had a couple more inches of snow. Yesterday is when it really got crazy. It didn't stop snowing all day. Literally did not stop. Last night when letting pippin out around 11pm - there was about 10" - maybe even a foot in the back yard. The drifts were much bigger. Then overnight the freezing rain arrived. So now the snow has 1/4"-1/2" of ice sitting atop it.

Church is canceled again - last week too. It is weird. All of our Christmas programs, and my Joyful Noise Christmas Concert have been canceled. Kind of sad. On one hand the snow really makes it feel Christmas-y, but not going to church and not singing beautiful Christmas music is making a big void.

Christy and I have been walking the dogs (3 - since Christy is dog sitting for a friend) all week. Yesterday it was quite a workout plodding through the deep snow. I don't think we'll walk today. The ice really upset Pippin this morning. After breaking through it once he wouldn't walk on it anymore. I had to go out in my wellies and tromp across the back yard - back and forth until most of it was a mix of soft snow and crunchy ice. Then he could find a way to feel better. Although when he got to the edges of where I broke out the ice - he would get frustrated with the boundary and bark at the ice. Poor guy. So a walk would be completely non-productive. Pippin would just follow me around in my footsteps that got rid of the ice surface.

Now Christmas is nearly here. Dan and Genny spent the night on Friday on their way to LA for Christmas. We had a yummy Costa Vida dinner and a good time talking. They drove out on Saturday morning in the crazy snow - but were able to get out of Oregon before the passes got nuts.

At the same time, Rachel was driving from Boise to the bay area. She flew out of PDX on Thursday - her flight was delayed a bit, and she left her coat at the gate in the airport - but she made it. She is helping some friends move to Hollister. She'll be spending Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's. Christy is leaving on Tuesday to help a friend drive to Arizona. Well, she is getting dropped off at Grandma's - so she is helping drive part of the way. She'll also be Christmasing at Grandma's. So the Foulger Christmas in Oregon will be small. Just mom, dad, Kathy & I. And Aunt Sue - if her flight tomorrow night isn't canceled. We'll miss Rachel and Christy. Pulsar will be spending the week with me and Pip.

So now I just await packages from Amazon - arriving from many spots across the country. We'll see if the weather makes them too late for Christmas. Hopefully not.

Here are some pictures of the storm this week.

Here is the snowfall from Wednesday - looking out across the neighborhood (towards Christy's house).

Bundled up walking the dogs on Wednesday.

Last night Pip was dressed up in his sweater. Jumping around in the snow that was past his elbows. The snow was still falling.

Christy and I went out for a couple of errands. Here are the big ruts in the driveway once I got home. And it was still snowing.

In the middle of the night Pip needed to pee - but wouldn't I went out and dug out a hole in the snow. He still wouldn't. He just stood at the door wanting to come in from the cold.

Here is the layer of us that we woke up to this morning.
And here is the backyard once I had stomped around. Finally Pip could go to the bathroom.Here is the house from across the street.
And looking down the road.

First Snow

This morning I woke up to feed Pippin at about 8am - it was a long weekend and I was sleepy. Pips ate and then I let him outside. While he was out there (I thought to pee) he didn't make it past the patio for the longest time. It was just barely starting to snow - just barely. Like 1 flake at a time and he seemed completely mezmerized. I kept telling him to go sniff - go pee. And he wouldn't even look at me. He just kept watching the snow fall. Finally he just came back in.

The next 2 hours were one phone call after another telling me that church was canceled. Oregonians are pretty funny about snow. This is supposed to be quite a storm though - snow all day followed by 2 days of deep freeze and then more snow in the end of the week. Christy and I went out for a drive at about 12:30 in her AWD Audi with snow tires to winterize her out-of-town friend's house and it wasn't tht bad - but things were visibly worsening as we were out for about an hour. I need to take my AWD CR-V with ice tires out and see how it does - the Thanksgiving drive to grandma's (that I bought the fancy tires for) was absolutely snow/ice free.

When I got back home I took Pip outside to play for a few minutes. I thought he might be able to see Red Bug (a laser pointer) in the snow - but not so much. Just enough to get him really excited. We'll probably try again tonight. Here is a cute picture of him and the snow in the back yard (after he had bounced a little) - he is wearing the "non-denominational Christmas bandana" from the groomers at Play Care. I took him in for a self-serve bath this week to try to get him to like the groomer's there better - plus they have this new kind of walk in tub to try...he was mostly fine. Before we left the groomer made sure that we had a bandana. I can't tell if he likes it or not. I took if off right when we got home - but then mom came over yesterday and put it back on him. And it is kind of cute for a Christmas picture in the snow.

I hope you are all enjoying the rapidly speeding by Christmas season.

My Friend's Husband

I just found out that one of my close friends from my Folsom days (and since - she moved to Tacoma when I moved back home - we are still close :) ) had a weekend full of trauma. We spoke on Friday night. She is pregnant with her 2nd child, and she and husband and baby boy were spending Thanksgiving with her in-laws in Oregon City. She was hoping for a reunion - but I was in California basking in son and love at grandma's. Debbie and I had a great chat - and her world fell out from under her the next day:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/pilot_injured_in_ultralight_ai.html

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/35262894.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/pilot_injured_in_ultralight_ai.html

These all basically say the same thing - her husband Tony was in a plane crash on Saturday. By many miracles, he survived. He had a badly broken ankle (which has been repaired surgically) and much trauma to his face (those surgeries won't start for a couple of weeks - to allow swelling to go done and see what is really going on). They are at OSHU - he just got out of ICU yesterday. I hope that I'll get a chance to visit - but want to help in any way Debbie needs - even if that is space.

I have spent some time with Tony - while he and Debbie were dating - and since they married and while Debbie was pregnant. The last time I saw him was the weekend before I moved to England. We had reason to get together with 2 fabulous gals visiting from Folsom (well - one was mid-move to Minnesota). Debbie was very pregnant with Max - and Tony was so great with her and us. He is a goofball. He loves to fly. I remember one of the first times I met him he was thrilled about the 5-point harness newly installed in his truck. Apparently he installed something similar in his new plane and invested in a Chinese fighter pilot helmet - both contributing to the miracle that is his life. Tony's dream is to be a commercial pilot - I really think he'll achieve that dream. I just ache for Debbie.

Please keep Debbie and Tony in your prayers.

One Christmas Tradition

Many years ago someone in me family - maybe mom, maybe Kathy - saw a magazine featuring a sugar cube castle (probably Martha Stewart Living). Since then - we make sugar cube castles just after Thanksgiving and enjoy it (or them) until New Years.

This year I had a very small party with Kathy, Rachel and a couple of friends. Here are our efforts:

I went for a simple tower and forest:
Rachel was very pleased:
This is our friend Andree's castle. I think it is so cute!
Here's Kathy's:

And Esther's:

It was a fun night. Everyone arrived at 6:30. We made pizza with dough from a local yummy pizzeria (Schmizza). The trick to making it taste right is dusting the pan and crust with cornmeal. We listened to Christmas music (until we had to switch to Sarah McLachlan's Afterglow), ate pizza and built with sugar cubes. The decorating is fun fun fun. And the castles light up beautifully with a tea light. I love them. Everyone was gone, the house cleaned up and the dishwasher running by 10pm. Perfect!

Have I mentioned recently how my I LOVE my dishwasher? I do! Just about as much as I love my dryer. I find myself throwing everything into the dryer - I suddenly don't care that some shirts should be line dried. I don't want my dryer to think that I don't love it. I am sure eventually that will wear off and I'll love my shirts more and start hanging them to dry.