The Arctic Blast Continues

So the Artic Blast continues here in Portland. I am a little worried. Today Extremo says we can't even get our cars out of the driveway. The snow is deeper than the bottom of the car doors. Today we were supposed to get ready for our Christmas trip to Nevada. If we can't get out of the driveway we can't get ready to go, much less go anywhere! I refuse to get stuck here for Christmas. If we can get to Albany the roads clear up after that... it is my Christmas wish!


Here is a picture of the back porch from yesterday. The chair is pretty deep and you can see the red handle bars of Grandson #1's trike.

Here is the backyard this morning! If you wanted to sit in the chair you might as well sit in the snow. You can't see the red trike anymore! Everything is a big white lump.

Here is a look out the front door. The big bear is asleep.

Here is my little sparkly tree.

This is a little table outside the front door. It sits about 2 feet off the ground. This is just getting annoying now.

I saved the best for last. This is the front walkway. Unfortunately you can't walk on it anymore. What was once wonderous is now pissing me off.

The view outside our front door is amazing! We have a great big polar bear with a Santa hat that sits outside and protects his little friend the shiny reindeer. I love the bear and the reindeer, in no particular order. It is fun to watch the bear come alive from under a bed of snow, first his back arches out then his head pokes up and then his paws start to grow. It takes a while but he finally gets his neck free and starts to stand. What a wonderous sight.


This picture was taken Saturday morning after the night storm and before the day storm really hit. You can see Sullivans paws and you can still see the wheels and the bottom rack on the barbecue.


Here he is that night. He sinks into the snow drift and you can no longer see the wheels or the bottom rack! The funny thing about these pictures is that they are taken under the outside overhang! The wind was so strong the snow drifted everywhere.


So here is what I have been doing during the Arctic Blast of 2008! Hmmm, yummy.

Offspring #3 played in the backyard making a big pile of snow. This morning it just looked like a big mound, smooth and rounded and pristine.

Arctic Blast 2008

This was the storm to top all storms. It is the best and deepest storm that I have personally been in. The local stations are calling it Arctic Blast and Deep Freeze and other such "out of control" names. I even heard someone on the radio making fun of it and calling it Weathergeddon! I have to admit it is pretty unusual for Portland weather and anyone who has ever lived up here knows that we get pretty excited. We dig in and hibernate or chain up and slide all the beejesus over the place. It's been going on about a week now. It started last Sunday with a snow storm that we thought was pretty bad, lots of powder everywhere.

This first picture is day one of the storm. You can see that Extremo just cleared the walk and you can even see the cement. Then came a few warm days and the streets cleared off but the street we live on has a pretty good wind going and it is usually a few degrees cooler than everywhere else. It snowed off and on and was pretty cold at night. The snow level stayed pretty consistent for a few days, here is what it looked like on Friday. You can't see the walkway anymore and it is a little deeper probably 1 to 2 inches.

Here it is on Saturday morning. We woke up with a layer of snow about 3 inches deep. It was pretty windy with snow blowing everywhere. Extremo is out filming the big polar bear we have in the front yard before he started shoveling the walk. No need to really, no one went anywhere but him. It snowed and blew all day. Extremo played in the front yard and Offspring #3 played in the backyard. The picture on the right is what it looked like about 3:00. You couldn't even tell he cleared the walk! It snowed a lot, a lot, a lot.

As the night came on crazy men stopped playing outside and came into the house. The snow just drifted down and covered everything. It was peaceful and blustery and cold and safe in the house.

Christmas Has Begun

The Christmas Season. I love it. This year I am just a little bit tired. It has been a really busy, busy year. I didn't even want to decorate the house. Don't get me wrong, I wanted the house decorated... I just didn't want to do it. So I did the obvious, I paid Offspring #3 to do it. It was a really wise decision. As I was driving up to my driveway I saw the sparkle of little lights and got really excited. As I got closer I saw the lights AND the red ribbons swirling gently in the frozen breeze as I turned the corner into the driveway. I was looking closely at the light and enjoying the sparkel when I almost ran into the fence, I was so distracted! And, oh look, the Santa is hanging from the roof! And, look over there, the reindeer is sparkling and gently nodding from side to side! And, the little sparkly 6 foot tree! Oh, Oh, and what is behind that in the window?? THE TREE! All lit up and blinking at me. I rushed into the house, as best as I can these days, and was bathed in the glow of a winter wonderland! It was the best feeling ever. The house was dark and all the lights were blinking and the kids were standing in the background watching my reaction. I was in Holiday Heaven!

We have been looking for a good hat that fits the baby for while now. Every one we found is too big or too little, or flops down over his eyes or even his entire face! It has been a trial and a tribulation. However, Robin planned on taking his picture for her Christmas card and we saw this little Santa hat at Target. I figured it would work long enough to snap a picture. It is the best hat ever! It fits around his head and ears snugly, it stays on great, and it keeps him warm! Perfect. So he has been wearing his hat out in the world and people think it is because it is Christmas and he surely is cute. But really, it is because it fits his little, cute, baldy head.

Grandson #2 sure is growing. He is 4 months old here and looks like a real baby. Not a newborn anymore. He smiles, gurgles, and coos. Last night Extremo came home from work all dressed in clown regalia. G2 loved it! He was so excited, started bouncing up and down and reaching for Extremo. His eyes were open soooo big (G2, not X), he started baby laughing, which is not really laughing but you can tell he wants too.

So far, the Holiday Season is good.