Left home this morning...no precipitation. None at all. Then...a few occasional flakes - just enough to make you say "maybe it's starting to snow". By a half mile down the road there were consistent flakes - definitely snowing. By a mile down the road it was constant - big wet fluffy flakes that make visibility difficult. By two miles from home there was visible accumulation - tracks on the road, grass turning white. By the time we made it the 7 miles or so to the fire station where the bus was parked we had at least a half inch on the ground and it was still coming down hard and fast. Hours later - by afternoon bus route - the fields and grasses were brown again, the sky was grey and all that remained of the snow was the shattered remnants of a gigantic celestial snowball fight.

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Driving in that mess this morning was definitely interesting. I didn't have a huge amount of trouble driving but stopping was a challenge. By the end of route I'd seen at least 2 vehicles in the ditch and knew there were alot more. I was thankful to be able to get safely home and stay home until afternoon route time.

For the first time in a week I felt pretty good today - had some energy and was able to get some cleaning done. Made supper tonight, did an invoice for B and have washed eggs. There's much more to be done but will only get the dishwasher reloaded tonight.

Don't have much more to write about. Hoping the word picture is clear.

No Delay...Slide-off...Winter weather

Roads are snow-covered this morning as are trees and bushes. Snow has stopped coming down now but we are supposed to get freezing rain later. I'm not looking forward to that. Hoping it holds off until tonight anyway. We had no school delay this morning though Dipstick did. Squirrel and I took off a little later than we should have for bus route but I drove slow. Didn't matter though as I spun out on the first "main" road we came to. It had not been plowed but was well packed. I wasn't going real fast but got too far off to the right side of the road and fish-tailed when I came back on. No damage done and we were able to back out and get going on to work. The miracle was that I didn't hit either of the two vehicles that were coming towards me.
By the end of bus route I was running a good ten minutes behind. At least though I didn't get stuck anywhere. One of our other drivers did - she was eventually able to get out without being towed but it took awhile. It's right at freezing though.

I was originally scheduled to have Bible study with a friend this morning followed by a trip south to see Stretch. However between the roads and my having a cold both those events were canceled. Instead I came home and have puttered around since - done some laundry, loaded the dishwasher, tried to take a nap. The nap didn't work as congestion is making it hard to breathe.

B took off about 9:30 to take a clutch into the "city". That's something I would normally do for him if I was around. Thankful not to be today though. I've got some phone calls to make and plenty of other things to accomplish today.

Yesterday morning was beautiful - clear, no snow or fog. The moon on the way to the bus looked like it had broken in half - split by a jet contrail. It was an interesting perspective and I really wished I had time to stop and try to get a picture. However as I only had my phone with me and we were not any too early I didn't. I saw several deer also - the first four were barely visible as the sun was not up too far and they were fairly far off the road. However the second group was a group of 10 or 12 deer near the main highway. I had just finished my last out of town stop and was waiting to turn right when we saw them. They of course took off running but it was really neat to see them. The sun was an orangish-red as it came up.

The birds are very busy at the feeders today - mainly goldfinches. I've seen one chickadee though and a few other types of finches. Would like to also attract some cardinals as their brilliant red really brightens things up. Would be nice to have some woodpeckers as well. Will eventually need to get a couple more feeders but that will have to wait a bit. Am dreaming about what flowers and bushes to plant that will attract more. B is even appreciating the antics of the birds.

Guess that's enough rambling for now.

Super Bowl Sunday and I'm only sortof watching the game. I have no understanding of football at all. Rugby yes, soccer yes, basketball yes...No desire to understand football. Squirrel is required to watch it as a homework assignment - I think that's funny.



This morning was incredibly beautiful - freezing fog that burned off quickly once the sun came out. Weather has been crazy - yesterday morning we got up to close to 6 inches of snow. Now it's mostly melted. Anyway I got around early this morning and went out to take pictures. Spent probably 45 minutes and could have gladly kept going. Had to stop taking pictures so I could get to church. Was still 10 minutes late. I have decided I will need to take my camera in - got some spots on the lens that I can't get off. But got a couple of really good shots I think.



Today was a fairly quiet day - nice after the last two hectic very long days. Friday we had a two hour delay then I did a parts run then we went out to supper with an old friend of B's. That turned into a very enjoyable evening - they have spent time on the mission field so hearing their story and some of their experiences was awesome.

Saturday was a long day. Squirrel got me up early (earlier than I'd intended on getting up) as it was snowing heavily and he had to be in the city by 8:20 for his competition. We left the house 20 min or so earlier than planned, met another student who needed a ride 15 min later than planned and made our slow way east. The only plowed road was the main east/west highway and it was not well plowed. The back roads were deep snow - when we got to the city and stopped for gas I noticed that the back wheels were still packed with snow around the hub cap. It alternately snowed heavily, sleeted some, changed over to rain and eventually the sun came out.

Squirrel and his fellow students did very well. They are now going to the state competition in Indy in 2 weeks. The plan is to take a big bus which I will hopefully get to drive. Anyway we finished up there about 3 pm and headed back home. B and I had been invited on a double date with S & C to go to the RV show and then to supper. Basically I dumped Squirrel off at home, B jumped in the car and we went to meet them. The RV show was amazing - not someplace I would want to go on an annual basis but for someone who'd never been it was fun. There were RV's of all shapes and sizes - both tow behinds as well as self driven ones. Some had bunk-houses and multiple slide-outs, some were pop-up tent type things - a few were meant to literally live in for several months. Probably the most amazing one to me had a full size tv mounted on the outside. Nice features on some of them were kitchenette things built into the base of the camper - complete with grill/cooktops and fridges. This of course was in addition to the regular inside kitchen area. I did see a small size, drive yourself camper that I would love to use to take vacations with B. It was even what I would consider reasonably affordable - especially as compared to the other larger ones. We probably were there an hour and a half before we left for supper. The wait at the restaurant was still close to an hour - thankfully we were able to call ahead and get our names on the wait list. Anyway...B, S and I all ordered steak meals. Mine and B's were overcooked, S's was perfect. The waitress looked at S's and ordered her another one thinking hers was overdone. I sent mine back and B was eventually convinced to allow the manager to get him another steak to go. We ended up with 3 extra meals to go. In addition to that the manager completely comped our entire meal. None of us had asked for that - or really expected it. Needless to say we left thankful and laughing. Writing it does not do justice to the experience - think laughter until you cried and gasped for air.

Better close for now.

Normal Life

2 hr delay this morning due to fog. It was getting foggy last night as Dipstick and I were coming home from grief group in "the city". At first Dipstick couldn't see it then 30 min later he was saying "oh it definitely is foggy". I am thankful for the delay but rather wish I could have gone back to bed and slept some more. But we usually get the call too late for me to do that - I'm usually about to go get dressed.

This week has been nice weather overall - highs have been well above normal and it feels rather like spring. However the groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter. We will see if that is what happens. (Squirrel says he has run shirtless this week - that means it's been warm. His definition and mine tend to be a little different.)

There's not much else going on - just normal life. Today after bus route I have to go back to the "city" on a parts run. Will probably have just enough time to do that and then back on the bus. Tonight we are meeting a college friend of B's for supper - he's not seen this friend for over 25 years so that should be interesting. Tomorrow is ISSMA (Indiana State School Music Association) competition. Squirrel has to be there by 8:40 am and it's an hour drive. We probably won't leave there until after 2 so that will be another long day. (Not as long as the final state competition will be but that's in Indianapolis and right now we don't know if we are going or not).

My slide/negative scanner appears to have died. It turns on and scans but will not save and will not stay on. I do have another one but have not got it out of the box and installed yet. The new(er) one is supposed to also scan photos so that will be helpful if it works.

I'd better scoot - time to go get dressed. B and Dipstick are wrestling around on the couch. I want to leave a little early as my bus needs fuel and I won't want to do that after route.