Spring Still Isn't Here Yet

There is a strange sleet/flurry/rain combination falling outside right now. Yesterday it was sunny, and a couple of days ago it was pushing 70 degrees. Now they are calling for 4-8” of snow. Bleh. I was naïve enough to think that we were in the clear. I haven’t decided if we are going anywhere today. Groceries need to be gotten so now the debate is whether to go now in the rain, or tomorrow when there’s snow. It’s kind of a lose-lose. Plus, I was struck with some variety of food poisoning/flu/mysterious bug last Sunday, and I have been pretty under the weather ever since, so naturally, motivation is dwindling. Not to mention the fact that Brett & I just got completely addicted to 24. We have made it through the first 12 hours/episodes, which means there are 12 more to go. The more I write this, the more I think we aren’t going anywhere today.

In other news, I have fallen completely in love with these:

They are measuring cups from Antrhopologie that come in the shape of adorable little flower bowls. Tempting. Very tempting. Then I remind myself that they cost $36, and it is NOT OK to spend $36 on measuring bowls. Spring needs to get here, because dangerous things begin to happen when I am cooped up inside spending too much time on my computer. Moving on…

Brett and I went to hear this speaker last night at Front Street Brewery in Davenport. He is a chiropractor/consultant/guy who builds practices for the purpose of selling them. He was interesting. And scary. He talked a lot about all of the things we pretty much already knew but didn’t particularly want to be reminded of about owning a business, growing a practice, financial stuff, etc. etc. etc. Oh well, for now I will just pull a Scarlett O’Hara, “I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.” And when I say tomorrow I mean 208 days, 19 hours and 40 minutes from now when Brett graduates. Not that I’m counting.

Now I’m in the mood to watch Gone With the Wind. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow instead of shoveling snow.

UPDATE: In the time it took me to write this blog post it went from wintry mix to actually snowing outside, and some of it is even beginning to accumulate. *Sigh* Where are you, Spring?

It's Freezing Cold

I really don't have much to blog about this week. Other than the incredibly cold temperatures here, everything else has been pretty normal. Last week I headed to work in -44 degree windchill. That is officially the coldest I have ever been. The air temperature here reached -29 degrees last week- that doesn't even factor in windchill. Even penguins would be cold. The day that we reached twenty-nine below was the coldest day in recorded history for Davenport. How lucky that Brett and I could be here for that. :-P <---Note the sarcasm.

I hope that everyone reading this is warmer than we are right now. ;-)

We Haven't Blown Away (Yet)

I am having a hard time believing that today is the first official day of winter, because we have been hit hard by the winter weather already. It all began on Thursday with lots of snow, sleet, and of course freezing rain to go on top of and solidify all of the snow we already had on the ground. Yesterday Brett was kind enough to go out and de-ice my car that had been sitting outside since Thursday night. The snow was so solid that this huge chunk came off in one piece off of the roof of the car:

Everything outside is completely covered in ice...

Even this bird house has a giant icicle:

We could even pick up giant chunks of snow in our yard because everything is so frozen:

Today it is very cold and VERY windy. When I woke up this morning the air temperature outside was -7 degrees with -32 degree windchill... I think I am just going to stay inside where it is warm and cook some chili. :)

NOTE: For those of you receiving e-mail blog updates, I added a cool plug-in to the blog so that it looks like it is snowing. If you want to check it out, you can go here.

Winter

I think I blinked and missed fall. I had the best of intentions and was planning on going out and taking some pictures of all of the beautiful fall leaves... and before I knew it they were gone. This was the view out my front door this weekend. Can you make out the tiny snow flurries? I promise they are there.

To get into the spirit of the season, I decided to make an apple pie from scratch. A patient brought us some yummy apples from her very own apple tree. I think I get two points for using locally grown apples. ;-)

And here is the delicious end result (a-la-mode, of course):

Happy New Year!

Here is the story of our day, told with (lots of) pictures:

It was very snowy yesterday. The crazy weather people only called for "about an inch." Well, we got a little more than an inch. More like 3-6" depending on your area. The roads were snowy and icy, so we really didn't go out much. Here is a peek of our winter wonderland:


Here is my MooseCat doing what he does best by hanging out under the tree:

And here he is looking particularly handsome:


Around 3 o'clock I got a crazy craving for French Toast, so Brett made me some. :)


Later on, we hung out with our friends Dean & Michelle. We played Battle of the Sexes:


And then we rang in the new year:


Aren't they cute?


Then we tried to take a group picture using some of my new camera toys. Here's how that went:
Maybe a little too much flash?


Is it working? Hmmm, maybe if I point my remote directly at the camera....oops!


That's better. :)


Happy New Year!

Ice Storm, Round II

Today, Brett and I had a snow day. Well, I guess it was actually an ice day. Either way, schools were closed, and I opted not to drive 20 miles to work on ice-covered roads.

Remember those snow-covered red berries from last week? Well, here they are in their current state.

They are now completely covered in ice. Last week I had to stand on my toes and use my zoom lens to take a picture of them. Now, thanks to ice weighing down the tree branches, they hang just a few feet off the ground. A grand total of 1/2"-1" of ice accumulation is expected. Other than stepping outside to snap a few pictures, I think Brett & I will be staying in for the rest of the evening.

This time last year, I was wearing a tank top

I'm beginning to think that Spring is never going to come. This is us on Easter weekend last year:

It was a glorious 70+ degrees, breezy and perfect.

This picture (from the Des Moines Register) is from the same week this year:

Needless to say, Spring is long overdue.