The Perfect Storm

Last night we got a couple inches more of snow.  The temperatures were below freezing, and at about 11 PM (when I had to go pick up The Girl from a Christmas party) the roads were icy and slick.  This morning the snow was turning to rain so the roads are wet but slushy and much easier to drive in.

Most storms begin as rain and turn to snow.  The way this one is going, the mountains will still get pounded with snow--they estimate measuring new snow in feet this weekend, not inches up there--while the valleys will be washed out and the air will be cleaned out too.  This is my favorite kind of storm.

I do love seeing the snow in the mountains, but can do without it on my day to day travels, and especially when the freezing temperatures come and the ice can temporarily build up.  Looks like this weekend the storm is behaving perfectly, at least for my money.

Be warm and safe out there, friends.

Restoration

Last evening I got my car back.  Look how shiny, and happy, the car looks back home in the garage.  I think it is smiling.

It is so nice to get it back. While I thoroughly appreciate my dear friends who hauled me about town when I was wheel-less, it is so much nicer to have my Durango restored to me.   Makes me want to say "Ahhhhh." 

Polar Express, Locally

Last night we were lucky enough to be invited to ride the Polar Express.  Did you know the Polar Express runs in Lindon, UT?  Yeah.  Me neither.  But it does.



One of my PTA colleagues and dear friends invited us to come to their family's annual Christmas activity.  Her parents, siblings, their spouses, and the kids work together and put on quite a production.   We showed up and checked in--we had reservations for the 9:05 ride.  We watched a portion of the Polar Express movie in their "barn" (the classiest, nicest barn I have ever seen...even better than many a 'shop' I've been in).

Then our names were called and we were boarded on the train.  The train travels all around their family compound...they have their homes all around with a central family recreation area.  It was like a grand children's heaven! 

After a short ride we made it to the North Pole where we met the jolly old elf himself, along with several helpful and cheery elves.  We chatted briefly with Santa, and took a family picture together.

After our photo and chit-chat, Santa gathered all the riders together and asked the children to help their parents to believe.  Then he had a chance to tell us that while he loves celebrating Christmas, the best reason to celebrate isn't just his anticipated visit but that Jesus's birth makes all the difference.  Then he invited the children to listen closely to the music on the return trip and to watch the pictures we would see.

On the return trip, we passed many, many illuminated posters of Jesus's birth and life and atonement and resurrection.  It reminded us that the reason Christmas is so joyous and wonderful is that Christ's mission on the earth provides us with the assurance of our own resurrection and the chance to live with God again.  It was a lovely culmination of the evening.

On a side note:  Happy Birthday today to Jane Austen!  Even Goggle was celebrating:

A Helpful Hint

This is post # 870.  Wow.  I'm, just saying.  Anyhoo....

 Before you set out on your travels over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house you go...or just over to the cousins' or a friends' place, may I suggest a great alternative to an audiobook or DVD on your car's entertainment system? The iTunes store has many, many, many podcasts.  Some are vastly interesting, and others are not worth your energy to even look them up, but I have a favorite that I'd like to suggest.

"Stuff You Missed in History Class" is a short (from 10 minutes to an hour) brief lesson on one event or one person who affected history, but not necessarily the high points that history teachers are rushed to cover in class.  It is produced by the people that bring you HowStuffWorks.com.  You are guided through these rascally historical points by the delightful Katie and Sarah (at the least the podcasts I have listened to) who are intelligent and charming young women who bring their love of books and their knowledge and curiosity to the topics at hand.

As I type I am on episode #46 of the 186 I have left on my iPod.  It is titled "How Eleanor of Aquitaine Worked".  I love to listen to these random and obscure pieces of history as I go about my regualr tasks, and even while I am exercising.  I feel so much smarter after I have spent a little time with my homegirls, Sarah and Katie.

Perhaps it is because I graduated with my bachelor's degree in history, with an intent to teach high school, but I an enthralled with this little radio show, of sorts.  The ladies do their own research and hunt through the most interesting resources on their topics.  For example, I am still amazed that the girls quote from books written by people who have spent their whole careers focused on and writing about Catherine de Medici, for example.  I think that is a little crazy.  Crazy, but interesting that I can glean the tantalizing bits from their work, and then move on to another topic in 17 minutes.

The best part about these intelligence-increasing podcasts is that they are FREE!!  You know I love a bargain, and for the time it takes me to subscribe to the podcast and load them onto my iPod, it is the best some of the best spent time deal I have had.

The time goes by in the car, or doing mindless chores, and I learn something as I go.  Pretty clever use of the technology I must say.

If you aren't as interested in the historical side of things, look around the iTunes store for other free podcasts.  There are a ton of them.  I high recommend them.  There are even some university podcasts that include read classics of literature...Jane Austen's works, among them. 

A Gift Quandry

I have a very dear friend, who turned 40 last week, who means a great deal to me and to the family, for whom I cannot come up with a decent idea for a Christmas gift.  I think I need help here.

She had struggled mightily about turning 40 this year, regardless of my quips that "its only a number" and some such nonsense.  Her younger sister put together a surprise party for her last weekend and the love of many friends around seems to have cushioned the blow of another decade older, and still not being where she wants to be in her life.  For her birthday gift, I chipped in with her sister, mother, and sister-in-law and we got her a gift certificate for a day full of spa pampering treatments.  It is for a spa she loves already, so we are already ahead in that game.

A Christmas gift idea for her, well, that is another story.

She is a singleton, with a good job and her own condo.  She had a pair of cars--one for commuting and one for comfort.  No pets. If she really wanted something, she'd just go get it for herself.  That said, I think sometimes I shop for Christmas gifts they "need".  And those, rightfully so, are not always the most fun items to open.

For her birthday, her friends gave her many gifts of jewelry this year.  I am leaning toward a pretty, grown up looking jewelry box.  Maybe?  Typically she doesn't wear a lot of jewelry, but with so many new things, she is branching out and putting them to good use.

Having a birthday and Christmas so close together can't be much fun for her either.  I have suggested that she celebrate the birthday in June, so to mix it up a bit.  No real takers on that idea yet.

She loves movies, but is the Queen of Netflix and has many DVDs qued up already.  So she rarely goes to the movies in the theaters anymore.  Because Netflix works for well for her, she doesn't buy many DVD either.

Not a lot of hobbies, as her work is demanding.  She spends a lot of time there, and when she is home, she is vegging out or asleep.

She has lost 31 pounds since June, so treats are out.  I'm so proud of her progress in this area.  Her health was being compromised so this is a good thing, and I wouldn't want to knock her off track.

Any ideas?  I'm pretty much stumped.

Mid-December's Holiday Funk

I don't know; it might just be me.  But I am feeling some of the holiday blues today.  Nothing is really going on to feel that.  I have things meant for Christmas done and prepared, so it isn't the worry of procrastination. 
The tree is up and the music is on and the baking is on-going and the kids are happy and it is the last week of school before the break.  It just feel like a combination of disappointment and discouragement.  A let-down of sorts.

As I think of what I'd like Christmas to be for my kids, for my family, I can see it will never be the big, built-up, magical event I wish it could be.  Now, logically I know that it really doesn't matter--after all it is just another day on the calendar, but with layers of meaning and hopes of feelings attached.

Maybe that is the problem:  there are expectations I hold in my heart that I don't see matched up with reality.

I hope it is just a passing wave of emotion.  I'd feel guilty if I kept this little dark cloud overhead the next two weeks.  I make a pretty good Negative-Nancy or Debbie-Downer when I feel like this.

But the calendar is thinning out and the option to do more as a family is coming into focus as Genius Golfer should have sometime off beginning this week sometime and going through the end of the year.  (Vacation time, he was told this year, 'Use it or loose it'.) He has worked so much--a lot of long, long days-- the last several weeks we have hardly seen him and have had even less chance to talk with him.  I am sure that is part of what I am feeling.  I haven't even chatted with him about what the plan is for the holiday, or for the travel we are hoping to make, or even for the surprises he always comes up with for the kids.

I guess I need to get a move on and work myself out of the funk.  I have already cleaned the stove top, the deep fryer, laundry is halfway done for today, and the car is loaded with recycling, DI donations, and stuff to return to friends just waiting to be taken where they need to go.  I've even got a grocery list and plans to make that jaunt out today too.  Not bad when it is early out day for the kids, and my work day is reduced one hour of "alone-time".

Don't worry about this.  I am sure it will pass. At least the sun is shining and the roads are dry and the little car is waiting for me in the garage, and the Jason, the body shop guy, called Friday and said they were prepping the Durango for final paint, so I should have it Wednesday or so.  All these are good things.  I can put off my internal struggle a little longer, and work it out of my system.  Things will feel merry and bright again soon.

Video Sunday

Need I say more?!