057 ~ Unexpected

Wednesday - Dec 14th -

It was going to be a day for work - but ran into an unexpected problem that tied me up from 9am until 2pm... and at 2:30 I had to meet with Sis b/c she had an MRI scheduled for 3pm... plus I needed to drop off Mack's car to him before getting Sis to the hospital... and right after getting her squared away I had to go get Dany.  Fortunately Becca was able to stay with Dany while I returned to the hospital for Sis.  We got her home about 4:30... and Becca & I headed to our place soon after.  I was going to spend some time on work then... but had to go back to Sis' about 5:30 because Dany had run off and was refusing to listen to her mom who was in no condition to be running all around outside chasing after her!  I ended up having to stay there with them until Mack got off work - by which time both were pretty much ready for bed, and Dany was under strict orders from me not to cause anymore problems tonight or she'd have to deal with me tomorrow!  Mack & I got home about 9pm... by 10:30 I had tended to various things needing my attention and was ready to get some sleep!

No work today. :(

But...

Tomorrow's another day!!!

We continue with the blizzard effects....

City crews will be working for weeks clearing all this snow off roads!

045 ~ First Snow

Friday, December 3, 2010

(catching up...)

First Snow 2010-11

Began a little after 8pm Friday

Continued thru the night

started out light...

but had lots of periods of heavy snow

covering everything before too long

giving us about 8" to play in Saturday

Lake Tomah is now frozen over w/8" of snow on it

About midday Saturday the clouds returned,

the sun tried to keep shining,

but more snow came.

The first snow is always something!

Many people forget what it's like to drive in it!

(which accounts for the many accidents

that happened Friday night and Saturday)

Most years it comes on gradually...

we'll get a dusting...

then a few days later, an inch or so...

a few days to a week later, maybe 3 inches...

and somewhere close to a month of 

gradually increasing snowfalls,

we'll get a good storm that will 

leave us with over 6 inches

to as much as a foot of snow!

This year, we got dusted a few days ago,

and then slammed hard Friday and Saturday!

I know, this is Friday's blog - so we'll stick to Friday

as much as possible.

Everyone must head to the store 

just before the storm

to get those things we always need

during a storm.

When I'm there I tell myself to be sure

to plan better in the future so

I don't have to go out like this!

Then another storm approaches and

I find myself

once again

heading to the store

for those "gotta have"

last-minute things!!!

The first snow was due near 6pm,

then 7pm,

then 8pm,

then 9!!!

It's so frustrating when these storms don't do

what the weathermen say they're going to do!

I had one of my daughter's coming quite a distance

to visit us...

and she had to cut short her visit

so she could get ahead of storm

on her way back home. :(

Another daughter was doing OPENING NIGHT for

her latest play at school; 

"Twelfth Night"

WXOW's Live @ 5 segment with my daughter about the play

I hope they had a great Opening Night!

And to finish out the night...

something (we're not sure what yet)

caused a power outage in our neighborhood

starting about 10:15pm!

It lasted until 1am Saturday morning!!!

To bad I couldn't sleep in...

I had to run my son to work @ 5am

~ in 8" of unplowed, snowy roads ~

and then stay up because my niece, Dany

would be getting dropped off early

because her mom had to work.

And so it goes...

On to Saturday!

043 ~ Winter

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

(deep sigh - it's late again)

Beautiful LAKE TOMAH 

from the clinic parking lot

looking west.

The ice on the lake is getting thicker!

We got a dusting of snow yesterday and

I snapped these two pics right before going

inside for a doctor's appointment!

I've lived in Tomah four and a half years now

and I've never really kept track of when the lake

is finally frozen over or how long it remains frozen.

This year I will track it in this 365 blog!

Shouldn't be too hard!

:o)

Winter is not my best season.

I do love watching the snow fall,

and I love the fresh snow, untouched.

But the cold... and here it's really, REALLY

*C*O*L*D*

The last time we were above freezing (32F - 0C)

was just yesterday ~ it got up to 43F.

And we'd had a few days at the end of

November with highs in the 40s.

Now, as December gets going we're set to have

the next 10 days with highs that won't

even make it to 30!!!

Most Decembers up here are like that.

We'll stay above zero most days, 

but the closer we get to January,

the closer the highs get to zero!

January & February seem to stay

mostly in the sub-zero range;

to the point where we'll think 

ANYTHING

ABOVE ZERO

is a HEAT WAVE!

LOL

Then, of course, it's still another month or two,

at least,

before we're back above 32 at all!!!

Each year I come to dread the winter more.

:-(

Why is that?

Every season has it's purpose.

Each one wonderful in it's own right.

Then again, I don't like summers that are too hot.

So I'm glad I'm not in Texas anymore!

Just find me a place that stays

like SPRING or FALL

all year 'round

and I'll be fine!