Free at Last

I finally got out of the house. When I went to the store yesterday morning for groceries, the checker said, "I am so glad to be out of the house. I was stuck there for 7 days with my kids." Made me laugh,--maybe I should be glad that I was alone, but it might have been fun in the snow and giving the kids ideas of things to do that would occupy their minds and bodies.

The party at Katie's last night was fun. She's so great to host us all. We didn't all fit into the living room to do the white elephant gift exchange.--Extra spouses this year--our family is growing. We missed everyone who couldn't make it.

It's raining and washing all the snow down and away. It went down by half overnight and now half again. By tomorrow I think that all that will be left are the big piles the snow plows made in the parking lots.

Snowy Beauty

Yesterday it snowed all day, stopping overnight. We are expecting more snow today, and the kid in me wishes there were people here to go sledding down the hill with. It's too bad the roads are not good. I'd go pick up Heidi's girls who live 10 miles away and give them a fun day. I'm happy, not lonely or anything--everyone is a phone call, email or chat away. It's just like the snow is wasting, that's all! Hopefully they are sledding somewhere and enjoying the snow.

I remember when I was in 6th grade in Waukegan, Illinois that one night it snowed a lot and then it got icy. There was ice everywhere, but school was still in session. I lived about 8 blocks from the school and was a walker. So, we strapped on our ice skates and got to school that way. It was quick and no one would slip on the ice that way. My teacher drove a volkswagen bug and I remember it was so slippery he came around a corner near the school and his car slid for a bit. His name was Mr. Kuss, which we thought was funny, of course. He was a good teacher and I liked him.

Christmas is close now, and we can enjoy the beauty of the snow today.

Still snowing. It hasn't snowed like this, meaning all day, all night without stopping, in the whole time I've lived in Portland. That's almost 35 years. So here's the depth as of 10:00 this morning.

Celtic Thunder

I went with Nancy to see Celtic Thunder. Wow is all I can say. Five men with fantastic voices. Then there were the musicians--all so great and the drummers were so good, too. You should have a listen to them sometime. The song ,"Chrismas 1915" gives a whole other meaning to "sleep in heavenly peace". Spending time with Nancy is always the best, and we've changed a little since we were 18, though not that much.

The youngest member here, is now about 15 years old and almost up to the other guy's shoulders.

Snow Day

It's snowing! They cancelled our church meetings--when we get one inch of snow the whole city stops. That's because in the whole Portland area there are only 5 snowplows. Jerry and I are so enjoying our relaxing morning. He's on the phone right now with his 90 year old Aunt Jewell Swertfeger in California. He hasn't talked to her in about 5 years. He talked to his Mom and his Aunt Alice Swertfeger in Missouri. Those two are only 3 years away from 90. He's sweet to them.

All the kids here are hoping for no school tomorrow and they might get their wish--it's only getting colder over the next two days.

So we'll continue to enjoy our pretty, relaxing day. We'll stare at the pretty Christmas tree and watch the snowfall. Jerry was blasting TransSiberian Orchestra. His favorite is "The Wizards of Winter".

We have our Christmas tree in the family room this year. The grapefruit tree is getting so big we didn't want to move it at all--so now it gets to be a Christmas tree, too.