The D-d-d-doings Re-re-re-port

Well, folks, it was was an exciting night. The wind here wasn't all that bad, but what it did to our unusually powdery snow was really cool. We have smooooth lawns and barely discernible curbs. And yet note how little snow is on the roofs and in the big tree; the wind blew it all off.







That last one is interesting only because it shows the drift up against the fence. I know it doesn't look like much of a snow drift in comparison to what they get in, say, Fargo (where with windchill they had temps around
-40 last night!), but it is very unusual for us. Our snow tends to be soggy and heavy; it splatters, it doesn't drift. But then we've had a very unusual week. Snow doesn't "stick" here very often, and what does stick doesn't often survive for more than a day. Yet this week we've had such cold-for-us temperatures that our snow is not only still there but still light and fluffy.

And still continuing. I'm watching the tail end of last night's storm coming down as I type this, just a few light, lazy flakes. We aren't supposed to have any significant melt until Christmas Eve day, and then there's more snow in the forecast for Christmas night. This is wild.

I haven't been to work since Monday. I had such an ordeal getting there that day—or rather getting a car to move that day*—that it didn't take much snow on Tuesday to convince me to stay home, and then I joined most everybody in my group in working from home the rest of the week. And I did work, lots, so I am in really good shape for my deadline Monday.

That being the case, MJ and I took yesterday's brief weather window to head to the mall on not-bad roads with the rest of the known universe. We shopped (waited in line) for about five hours and then it was done. Except for the people I forgot. But it was a lovely day. She and I had so much fun together, laughing and brainstorming and just being together. She is a fun shopping buddy and only made me wait through one brief visit to a dressing room. (Unlike Chiara, who can disappear into one of those little cubicles for hours.) But we did decide it would be faster for her to tell me what she doesn't want than what she does. :-)

Last night the four of us spent wrapping gifts and enjoying each other's company. And the girls had their weekly dance party, which I didn't know about but am happy to get behind. I can always get (my) behind (into) dancing!

More photos on MJ's blog and more going up on my photo blog shortly.

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* The sequence: Bundle up and head out to the MR2. Discover the driver's door is frozen shut. Enter through the passenger door, squeeze body over the console and into the driver's seat, beat on door until it opens. Start car. Get out and begin digging out the car, moving about two cubic yards of snow in the process, and then scrape all the windows. Begin driving and discover, just as you pass the turnaround point, that the emergency brake is frozen on. Creep around the block and arrive back at the house, surrounded by the smell of the recent brake job burning away. Park the car, go inside to whine to Frank, and then head out to the van. Get inside and discover that a Coke Frank left in there has exploded in the cupholder. Stomp back inside for a cup and a spoon and spend ten minutes scooping up Coke slushie and mopping up sticky goo. Dig out the van, deciding the other drivers on the road can just live with all the snow flying off the roof, and then scrape the whole huge windshield, deciding the other windows are clear enough. Begin driving and discover the gas tank needs filling. Get pissed and drive to work on fumes, then come to your senses and dump a few gallons in at the station a block from work. Go inside to discover that neither of the two meetings you came in for are going to happen. Spend the rest of the week at home.