This collage was supposed to be a "snowstorm summary," but the news just hit: there's MORE SNOW on the way!

Monster Icicle and Depth-Defying Snow

OK, so I'm just a tad dramatic.  But look at this!

This icicle has been forming outside our bathroom window for the past week while the temperatures have stayed below freezing.  Fed by long, steamy showers (grrrr!), it's at least 6 feet long and it just keeps growing and growing!

It snowed (but hardly blew) all night last night and we woke up to snow deeper than we've seen in our 15 years in the Pacific Northwest!

And it just keeps on coming, positively dumping as I type this! 

The forecast is for snow all day today and on and off for the next two days, at least.  Peter fortunately made it home over the Cascades in his trust 4 WD Subaru during a short break in the weather last Friday, but Elisabeth is "stuck" (quotes because she's safe and happy with CJ) in Seattle without a reliable, safe car (she has a car; it's just not safe or reliable!), so we're hoping for a break in the weather long enough for us to pick her up on Tuesday because we absolutely can't celebrate Christmas without her!

I'd been hounding the kids to get seasonal jobs so they could earn some much-needed college money, but at this point I'm just fine with them being safe at home.

Are you sick of Pacific Northwest weather posts/photos yet? 

Since We Still Have Power (Though it IS Flickering)...

...I thought I'd share a few photos that I took this evening.

The snow is coming down hard, but in light, shiny pellets:

Taken from the same spot a bit earlier, when Peter was doing his laundry and the warm air from the dryer met the cold snow:

Is that Poltergeisty, or what? "Come into the liiiiight!"

The view from the living room. Tom re-named Chris Moose "Ernest" JUST so he could say that he was "watching it snow in Ernest." (@@)

Here's Tom and Aleks watching it snow in Ernest:

I light Omi's candle once a year, on Mom's favorite day of all, Christmas Eve. I miss Mom most during the Christmas season. She would have loved the snow in Washington during the holidays because it would have reminded her of her native Bavarian Christmas.

The mantel looks so pretty tonight. Prettier than usual, I think. Must be the snow!

And if you get the Christmas tree in the photo, it's even prettier. Well, except for Aleks' feet. Can you believe he's hanging out in shorts and bare feet? What a warm-blooded nut!

To Guarantee that the Power Doesn't Go Out, Just be Totally Prepared for a Power Outage (Or "How Tom is Spending his Birthday")

So today is Tom's birthday. Happy birthday, Tom!  You were supposed to get a sexy snow woman for your birthday, complete with painted on (this is a g-rated blog!) bikini and "danglies." 

Instead, this is how you've been spending your birthday, because of this damn weather report, and that means that we MUST be prepared for what is on its way as I type this.

So maybe I'm over-reacting; that is actually possible.  I only admit that because it's pretty obvious here, as Tom and Peter give the generator a test start-up:

"Carol/Mom, breathe.  Caaaalm down.  Do not fret. It will start!"  (And it did -- the FIRST time they tried.  That clinches it: the power will NOT go out!)

We have reason to be concerned, and there's a bit of history to our (my?) reaction. In December, 1995 (we called it "Wind '95" which old-time Microsofties will understand), a windstorm blew through our area and dropped one of these...

 

...right smack-dab onto our house.  Or, actually... not RIGHT onto our house.  It hit the corner of our bedroom, then broke and not only hit the boys' room, but went straight INTO it (thank goodness they weren't in it!), then broke again and came to a rest on BOTH of our cars, totaling one and destroying all the kids' Christmas presents which we had cleverly (or not so cleverly, as it turns out) hidden in the trunk of the totaled car.  The house took almost a year to repair, but our psychies took a bit longer.  Have you ever heard the sound of one of these huge cedars crash through your house -- from INSIDE your house?!

So we're prepared this time.  See? 

Firewood has been brought (see the boot prints?) from the woodpile under the trees (see the green tarp, peeking out from the snow?) to the garage:

Supplies, at the ready: 

Provisions, at the ready:

We're just not all that worried this time because, well -- we have provisions!

Happy Birthday, Tom!  Now hunker down and get ready, because nature is about to bring you a rousing "celebration."

Guest Phoblographer: Kat

I wish I had Kat's photographic eye.  I wish I had Kat's photographic talent.  I wish I had Kat's photogenicity!  (Is that a word?  Come to think of it, is "phoblographer" a word?)

Kat went outside with her camera for a few minutes this morning and came back with these:

...starting with the all-time best photo ever taken of Boo!  Is it not obvious why I'm all a'twitter?  (Oh wait -- bad choice of words.  You didn't hear that, Boo.)

Yeah, so some of it is clearly her Nikon D-40.  But c'mon, does this girl have talent, or what?

Now see, I don't think I would have even seen this snow-crested leaf as photo-worthy...

This photo of Shasta was taken when Kat told her it was time to go inside.  She clearly didn't want to!

As opposed to this look, when she's asked if she wants to play outside:

Christmas Dog! (Who does not want to go inside! and is... hiding?!)

"Winter Light."  Eh? 

The Seattle weather report predicts that this stuff won't melt for many days yet -- maybe even a week. They're gorgeous up close, aren't they?

 

Bailey is a weird cat.  She seriously puffs up and down according to her mood and the weather.  She's such a... FEmale!

 

Leaf.  Snow.  Sunshine.  Rockin' photographer... a great combination:

Forget my lame Christmas card!  Here's Kat's:

 (Needless to say, please don't steal these; they're Kat's.  She IS very generous and would probably be willing to share, though.  Just ask!)

Snow Day in Seattle*!

    

 

 

*Yes, I still worked! (Between play sessions...)

Shasta's Obsession...

...has reached new heights widths!

This just sent her right over the top. She's become a crazed, ball-centric OCDoggie! Just look at the insanity in her eyes. Do you even want to know what happened after this photo was snapped?

(Pun intended.)

All I can say is, that poor, poor snowball.

(Kat survived the ordeal...)

Wait for it... Wait for it...

So I called in "snow" to work today -- mostly because I'm a big fat chicken when it comes to driving in snow or ice.  And, to be fair (to me!), the local weather guys had predicted a "90% chance of snow by mid-day today, prompting at least 90% of the local school districts to declare today a snow day before the sun even rose.  (Or didn't.) 

Of course, calling in didn't mean I wouldn't be working today.  In fact, it meant that I'd be more productive because I'd be working instead of commuting.  I'm sure my boss gets this, but still, I got an IM from him around mid-day, saying "streets are dry as a bone here....and the temp is 36....looks like the weather may be better than expected :)"  To which I, being the respectful and subservient employee that I am, replied, "Yeah, rub it in! :)" and felt guilty for the rest of the day for crying wolf snow.

By 4:30, when my official work day had already ended and there wasn't a snowflake (or raindrop) to be seen, Kat and I decided to head to Costco, with a stop at Safeway on the way.  As we drove into the Safeway parking lot, a few raindrops hit the windshield and we bemoaned the whole "snow!!" panic in the media, deciding that it was all a buncha hooey and the most humidity we'd get would be in the form of a few raindrops.

We headed into the store, quickly gathered a few items and headed to the cashier.  As she was ringing us up, she said, "So, it's finally coming down out there, eh?!"  We looked outside and the ground was completely white. 

Wait just one minute!

Just 4 minutes and 37 seconds previous, it was barely sprinkling and now it was practically blizzarding?!  We loaded up our groceries and started to head home.  Luckily, I had driven our new 4-wheel drive and whether I liked it or not, I was now gonna have a chance to test it out in real conditions. It drove like a dream... like a cream puff in the snow!  (Rule about car-speak: every time you say something good about a car, use the term "cream puff.")

Our house is less than a mile from Safeway, and even in the blinding blizzard (weeellll...), it took us less than 5 minutes to drive home. I immediately took out my camera to snap these shots:

(Look carefully.  Who do you see?)

You better believe that there's no way I'm "calling in snow" tomorrow.  It's still dumping, so surely there will be massive amounts of snow, come morning.  But I'll leave it to others to declare it too treacherous to go to the office. 

The closest I'll get would be to call in S.A.D.*

*Seasonal Affective Disorder, an officially recognized affliction of Northwesterners in winter.