Snow.......

In most parts of our country, people are enjoying warmer temperatures and all of the activities that come with them. There are actually parts of our country though where you can still find lots and lots of snow. One of those areas is the San Juan Mountains.

On Sunday, Matt and a few of his friends hiked and skied 8 miles from the town of Ophir to where Matt lives in Telluride. It took them 7.5 hours. One of the friends was Matt's best friend....his gorgeous border collie, Luna.

I thought I would share some of his pictures with you. I can't stop looking at them....they are so wonderful. I hope you enjoy them.








Be sure to do something really nice for yourself today!

Fun at the Fabric Store

Here is a picture I took on my drive in to work this morning. The weathermen failed to get it right once again and we only got about 5 inches of heavy wet snow instead of the10 that was predicted. It was pretty, but I give it permission to melt quickly.

Sunday I made a trip to Joann Fabrics...one of my favorite stores. I haven't been there for a while and it felt so good....like coming home. I bought fabric to make three new clocks for my etsy shop, FourDogDay. I learned a while ago that I have to buy fabric that other people might like and not just fabric that I like. So, with that thought in mind...here are the three I bought. Can you guess which one is NOT something I would normally buy? HAHA! I just thought it might make a fun little desk clock. I'm hoping someone will like it! The other two I LOVE!! The green one is awesome and the old fashion looking one is so pretty. I'll show you the clocks when I get them done.

Then I bought fabric for three new tote bags. I love all of these and I can't wait to get started on them! The prints are the outside and the more solid colors are the lining. Flowers, darling kitties and bumble bees!

The fabric store was bright and colorful from wall to wall, and everything just shouted "SPRING"! It was so awesome.

Here It Comes.....Again!!

Didn't I say something yesterday about spring getting here one of these days???? Well, it sure isn't going to be today or Monday. Here is our latest weather report!

Issued by The National Weather Service

Chicago, IL
3:39 am CST, Sun., Feb. 21, 2010

A WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON.

* TIMING... SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS BY THIS EVENING. AREAS NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 80 CORRIDOR WILL RECEIVE MAINLY SNOW FROM THIS SYSTEM. THE SNOW MAY BECOME HEAVY SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY MORNING... WITH ACCUMULATION RATES OF AN INCH PER HOUR EXPECTED.

* ACCUMULATIONS... TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES ARE LIKELY... GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 88... TAPERING TO AROUND 6 INCHES TO THE SOUTH WHERE PRECIPITATION MAY MIX WITH SLEET AT TIMES. THE SNOW SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH FROM THE WEST AROUND MID DAY MONDAY.

* HAZARDS... SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF HEAVY WET SNOW AND GREATLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES.

* IMPACTS... TRAVEL IS EXPECTED TO BECOME DIFFICULT AND HAZARDOUS SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MID DAY MONDAY... WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE MONDAY MORNING RUSH HOUR. AIR TRAVEL THROUGH CHICAGO OHARE AND MIDWAY AIRPORTS WILL BE AFFECTED. THE HEAVY WET NATURE OF THE SNOW MAY RESULT IN FALLING TREE BRANCHES AND POSSIBLE POWER OUTAGES AND THE HEAVY WET SNOW WILL BE DIFFICULT TO SHOVEL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW... SLEET... OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

Have I also mentioned lately how utterly tired I am of the snow this year and how I can't wait for spring? Mother Nature's hearing must be going!

Make it a fantastic day and do something really, really nice for yourself today!!

Snow, Snow the Wonderful Snow?

As I sit here writing this on Monday evening, a major snow storm is barreling our way with anywhere from 6-12 inches of snow. If this were December or January I would be Chee Hooing all over the place....but this not December or January and there are no Chee Hoos coming from my lips.

November and February are my least favorite months. They are the "in betweeners". November is long and cold and I can't wait for the snow and the Holidays to arrive. February is cold and I am done with winter and ready for spring.

Irv had all of his seed catalogs laid out on the kitchen table this weekend. Birds were chirping in the morning on Sunday and flitting around when I walked the dogs that afternoon. I saw a pair of squirrels scampering up a tree. It just felt like spring was not too far off. Unfortunately, spring weather doesn't arrive here until March or April! Do you feel my pain?

Irv loves being outside. He doesn't come in the house from the first warm day until it's too cold to stay outside. He enjoys working in the yard and growing his garden. Last year with the bigger garden, he really had a hard time keeping up with everything, so I told him this year we would share the yardwork.

The past two summer have been all about etsy and FourDogDay. I don't allow my business to run my life anymore...I make the decisions and I run my business. This summer I want to take part in the planting of the flowers again and the weeding and watering.

I am always into the yard and the flowers in the spring...it's so easy. Everything is so beautiful and fresh and new. I love spring...and then spring becomes summer and I always drop the ball. Watering takes sooooooo long and I hate the heat. I have to pile on the sunscreen, sunscreen clothes and a big hat so I don't get too much sun. I sweat and the bugs really bug me and I hate dirt under my finger nails and it's just so friggin' humid and.....

maybe that snow storm doesn't sound so bad after all!!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

I started walking every day after work this week, in accordance with my "plan" and Mother Nature has NOT been very cooperative. The first three days of the week were frigid. I mean cold enough where any exposed skin hurts like hell when you are out there...and I was out there all three days. Then Thursday it was a tad warmer, but it was snowing.

Some of our icicles

I don't own any good boots so I put on my hiking boots and headed out. It was pretty slippery....but I walked.

The start of my walk

I took my camera with so I could take a few pictures for you, but as you can see, it was still snowing and since I have no clue how to really use a camera....we have big white blobs all over the pictures....but it's okay, you'll get the idea.

Our neighbor's evergreen....so pretty covered in snow

One of the neighbors was shoveling when I walked by and asked me if I have had enough snow yet. "Not yet", I said. "If I have to have winter, then I'll take the snow." That wasn't the answer he was looking for. He wanted someone to commiserate with him.

Little lights peeking out of the snow

Big beautiful evergreens

I'm glad Irv puts my car in the garage every night for me.
I wouldn't want to get up to this in the morning.
Our Christmas tree waiting at the curb for the recycling truck
My empty squirrel feeders
My lilac bushIt was a nice walk and now I can cross that off my list for today.

Search and Rescue

A few months ago Matt was asked if he might be interested in joining the Telluride volunteer Search and Rescue Team. At the time, he assumed that when you were part of SAR that when you got pages, you had to go. Being a public school teacher, he knew that wouldn't always be possible so he didn't pursue it. He was asked again and yet again. The last time, he actually started asking questions and found out that when you get paged for a call, you go if you can.

Knowing he could be part of the team made him start asking even more questions, but now they were directed at himself. Could he be committed enough to attend the twice monthly training sessions, which would go on for many many months? Could he wear a pager 24/7 and drop whatever he was doing to go on a call? Could he deal with the emotional side of this kind of work?

The last question was the only one he was unsure of when he attended his first training class last week. It will be many months before he goes out on a call, so it's hard to answer that one.

The first class was held in an airplane hangar learning all about helicopters. You never know what kind of vehicle you will be using for a rescue. It could be snowmobile or a helicopter, a 4WD vehicle...whatever it takes to get you to the scene.

You might need to find someone that is lost in the mountains, or help someone that has fallen off a cliff, you could be searching for someone buried in an avalanche, or even recovering bodies from a car that went over the side of the mountain. You don't know what awaits you.

Matt's feeling is that no matter whether you are assisting in a search or a rescue, you are helping someone. It might be a rescue where you save a life, or if you are retrieving a body, you are helping the family and friends of the victim put some closure on a tragedy.

Matt will continue to attend classes and I will update you from time to time on what he's learning.

Speaking of avalanches....they scare the heck out of me, but I am also in awe of them. I can watch videos of them over and over and over again. Kind of like a video of a tornado. It's like I can't believe what I am seeing. Here is a video of a controlled slide. Often times they will create man made avalanches when conditions become unsafe on the mountain. This is in Telluride where Matt lives.

Clean, Organize, Create

We had a wonderful day yesterday with the kids. Gifts were exchanged, lots of food was consumed and lots of wii was played. We had a great bowling tournament...and I'm telling you...you can really work up a sweat playing those games. I counted that as my Friday workout!

Everyone stayed over night and they were all quite slow getting up this morning. I already had my workshop cleaned and reorganized before any of them were out of bed! My understanding is that the wii playing went on until around 4:00 a.m. and for Michael and Matt, that was the second time this week that they went to bed shortly before the sun came up.

Once everyone headed out, I am working on my new decoupage items. It's going really well and I can't wait to get some of them done and listed in MyOtherShop on etsy. I might be able to post a couple pictures tomorrow if they are dry enough.

Matt decided to head into the city (Chicago) tonight to have dinner with Tresa and Chris and to visit with some of his high school friends that live in the city, so the house is very quiet.

It has been raining...yes raining...all day today. Our snow that I just wrote about and posted pictures of is just about gone. Rivers and streams are flooding and there are tornado watches and warnings not too far from here. This is really the strangest December I can ever remember!

Irv just headed to town to get us Subway and some fries. If you recall from previous posts, I start my new food sensitivity diet soon, so I am consuming everything I can that is on that list before I have to give it all up....cookies, bread, sugar, fries....all of the good stuff!

I have been off work since the 19th and sure am enjoying this. I can't believe I have to go back to work on Monday. What a bummer! At least I have Wednesday and Thursday off next week....I could really get use to this!

White Christmas

Woke up to more snow this morning. This has been a really snowy December. Most years we keep our fingers crossed for a white Christmas....we didn't have to this year.

Irv and I ran a couple of errands this morning in the snow. On the way home, the snow started falling in gigantic clumps. It is so amazingly beautiful when it does that. Big huge bunches of snowflakes. When we pulled up, Matt was already outside shoveling. He had his dog, Luna out front with him and our dogs were in the house. Wrigley tends to wander when she is out front and Sparky doesn't go out in the winter unless you pick her up and throw her out the door. She prefers to be curled up under an afghan from about November 1st until June 1st.

I went in and grabbed my camera and let Wrigley out in the back yard. I snapped a few pictures and then threw some snowballs for Wrigley to chase. It is so funny to throw snowballs for the dogs and then watch them digging their heads in the snow looking for the "ball" you threw! I added a short little video at the end of the post.

The rest of the day I spent baking and getting things ready for our trip over to Irv's nephew's house. We had a nice time. It's fun to watch the little kids open their gifts...each with their own special style. We got home around 10:00 p.m. Matt went out with a friend to try to find somewhere open to have coffee and chat. Irv crashed on the couch, and here I am typing away.

Tommorow will be a very quiet day here. We are celebrating our Christmas on Friday so the kids don't have to chase from house to house. I have about a dozen gifts left to wrap and then I'll spend the rest of the day "playing" in my workshop. I'm looking forward to a whole day of organizing and creating.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day today.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

We had a bit of ugly weather yesterday afternoon that turned the evening rush hour into a commuting nightmare for thousands of people in the Chicago area. I get off work at 3:30 so it added an extra 20 minutes to my drive home. Not too bad. It took my son 3.5 hours to get home and my daughter a whopping 4.5 hours! Not a fun way to spend the evening.

Going in to work this morning wasn't too bad, however the National Weather Service just issued a Winter Storm Warning for tomorrow evening into Friday. Depending on where you live you are either going to get a ton of ice, or a boat load of snow. We are closer to the snow line, but you just never know what kind of tricks Mother Nature is going to play.

Take the winter of 1979 for example. Mother Nature hit us with one major storm right after another that year. We kept shoveling and shoveling and shoveling and before long the piles on the sides of the driveway were so high that you couldn't even throw it up there any more. We finally had to have a guy come with a front loader to push the snow into the yard and give us more room to throw the never ending snow.

Tresa was in her glory. She was 5 years old and I don't know too many 5 year olds that don't love the snow. She never wanted to come in. It was funny because the vent for the dryer is on the driveway side of the house, and it kept melting the snow we threw over there. It made a great little hiding place for a 5 year old.

A not so great thing that came along with the snows of '79, were roof collapses. The roof of the bowling alley we use to bowl at came crashing in one night, destroying the building and the family business that went with it.

Irv was the Operations Manager at Carson Pirie Scott at that time. They had just finished a huge remodel of their Junior World department, and that roof came crashing down too destroying merchandise and a big section of the brand new department.

For many years after '79 when we would get heavy snows, you could see people on the roofs of businesses shoveling the snow off.

I don't anticipate another winter like that, but there are many years that we don't see snow until some time in January and we have already had many snows that have required shoveling.

I don't like to see bad roads because it causes so many accidents, but I must say I am kind of keeping my fingers crossed that we get just enough snow for the school district I work for to be closed Friday and the call to my cell phone with the recording that says, "District Office Personnel can work from home today".

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!