transitions

We're finally into the Autumn weather transition. It won't get above 70 from here on out and you definitely need to turn the heat on at night. The leaves have started to fall in earnest and more and more people are lugging around jackets and coats. I like it. Just yesterday I made the seasonal clothing transition in the closet. Moving all the short sleeves and thin materials, to make room for all the less colorful long sleeves and heavier fabrics. I have a new pile of things for Good-Will now! It's a good time of year to do that. I'm even wearing slippers already! And it's time to wash all the blankets and throws to freshen them up. Halloween is next week and before you know it I'll have to bust out the scarves and gloves. But in my cool new car, my butt will never be cold!

weather

At the beginning of the week, forecasters and prognosticators said, 8 - 12 inches of snow on Saturday (today). The next day they said 3 - 5 inches. Then they said 4 - 6, 5 - 8, and 3 - 5 again. We decided to shop early this week, to avoid the panic and rush on french toast; eggs, milk and bread. So we went Wednesday night at 8:00...PM. We walked in, looked at the lines and came home. Seriously, everyone in town was there, 1/2 them at the registers. Oh brother. It's SO RIDICULOUS! I mean really, even if it DID snow 12 inches, how long do you thing you would be stuck at home? A day, 2 at the MOST. Good grief. So my fella went at 7:00AM on Thursday and it was deserted. Nice. Last night I was really looking forward to all that new snow, being all cuddly and warm today watching it snow all day. It's noon and so far all it's done is rain!! sigh 

But where are WE?

See this picture?

There's a big ice storm headed our way. Yay! Weather!! I suspect that all the grocery stores will be packed tonight, in anticipation. You know, because staying home for a day or 2 is SOOOO devastating!! Why does everyone in the Midwest want to make french toast when the weather is bad?
Milk, eggs and bread...always the first to go. 

But where is my home city??? The population of St. Louis is 318k. The population of Wichita is 386k. The population of OK City is 610k. The population of Indianapolis is 853k!!! Indiana is in that blue swatch. But there's no little dot for Indianapolis! Chicago isn't even in blue swatch but IT gets a little dot and name recognition! What the hell???

the IRS

First, this is just a little "you're invading my space" rant.
Just because the things on my desk are accessible, doesn't mean you can use them. I hate it when people just take things off my desk, without asking!!! Stop it! It's rude AND it's rude!! Geez.

Now, on to the worst government agency in history, the IRS. Does anyone actually appreciate the IRS? I don't think so. I don't want to be angry, because I happen to have just won my argument with them, but I am. It took 2 years of diligence on my part. I had to succumb to many threatening letters, duplicate and triplicate copies, ignorance and bullying. Me, Jane Doe, a regular citizen with a regular income, in a regular home in the Midwest. Because they came to their senses, I've now officially overpaid the IRS $1837. Yesterday, we received yet another letter from them stating basically that they accept what I've been trying to tell them, for the last two years and that I can expect a partial refund. 
Excuse me? PARTIAL??? What about the interest on what I overpaid you? What about the penalties you made me pay?? How about a refund on the whole amount, assholes. Honestly, I just can't be happy about my win and that really pisses me off!

On a happier note...we're having our first significant snowfall of the season! It's awesome!!
2 hours ago, there wasn't any snow on the ground. Now look:

Embracing Winter!

Today is the first day of Winter! Part of me thinks that we should get a break this year, after last years brutal winter. The other part of me is soooo disappointed that we've only had a smidge of snow so far this year. Imagine how happy I was to see THIS story!!!

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/christmas-travel-snowstorm-wind/39163954

Bring it! What could be better than a snow storm on Christmas Eve????

1978

It was the worst snowstorm to ever hit the state and stopped just about everything in central Indiana for days.

Officially, 15.5 inches of snow fell at the airport, but some places north of the city had more than 3 feet of snow. The entire city was shut down, including Indianapolis International Airport, which closed because of whiteout conditions.

The blizzard raged on for three days, packing blinding snow and whiteout conditions, with wind gusts of up to 60 mph and wind chill temperatures that dipped to 50 below zero.

Snowdrifts piled up to 20 feet high, making travel all but impossible. National Guard tanks were deployed to rescue stranded motorists. Schools were closed for 2 weeks.

The Blizzard of '78 became the measuring stick by which all other winter storms have been measured ever since in Indiana.

Flash forward to January 5^th, 2014. Actually, let's go a couple days previous to that. There's a storm brewing. LOTS of snow and SUBZERO temperatures. It's snowmageddon! Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Saturday morning I get up early because I have errands to run. One of which was to get my oil changed. That took about an hour. During that time, I didn't hear any news. I didn't watch any before I left the house either. Next up, the grocery store. Here's where it gets fun!

Apparently, I missed the Governor's announcement that you, John Q Public, ought to have enough water and food to get you through 3 days. You know, due to the storm of the century. The grocery store parking lot usually looks a lot like the below picture. On Saturday though, it was COMPLETELY full, except for a few spot down at the end;

Whoa. I couldn't go home though! I had to check it out. So I went in. But there were no carts. Not because a worker hadn't brought them in...nooooooo....but because they were ALL in use. Wanna be shoppers were following shoppers that were done, out to their cars so they could get their cart!!! What??? It was nuts. There were no potatoes, celery, grapes or onions. There was very little bread and hardly any meat. I have never seen anything like it! I just walked through the store giggling the whole time at the panic! I guess it's not funny but all I could think was, so you can't drive for a few DAYS. Big effing deal! You might have thought people were hunkering down for the duration of winter! What do I know.

In my neck of the woods, we ended up with 13.5 inches of snow. (on top of the 6 we already had) We lost our Internet and cable for 3 days. They didn't plow our street until Wednesday. The Governor declared a snow emergency Monday and closed all state offices. Unless you were emergency personnel, stay off the roads. I was totally ok with that :-)

I watched movies, drank wine and did these;

This will be the first full week I've put in, in ages! You wanna know a secret? I can't WAIT to retire!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My first post of the new year! And what do I have to say?

I LOVE SNOW! OK, so I'm not happy about the sub zero temperatures we're expecting, but I love all the snow. It's soooo pretty! Our usually semi orgasmic weather people are trying to keep the next storm pretty low key. I don't get it. Normally they're about ready to pee with excitement at the 'chance' of a blizzard!! Nope, not this time...which kind of concerns me.
The other thing that concerns me is we (Govt workers) received an email today that say, Due to the unprecedented snow forecast and record low temps, the Governor has instructed state offices to adjust the normal hours of operations for all non-essential staff Monday, January 6"  Yikes! Then I thought, OH!, I'll check the weather in Chicago. They get a lot of snow every year. They won't fib or be crazy, they'll just tell it like it is. Now I'm really worried!!

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/cold-snow-detroit-chicago-clev/21623238

Seriously, that's a lot of snow. I guess tonight we'll get another snow shovel and some more salt. I'll have to shovel a path and a clearing for the dogs just so they can pee! Ahhhhh, a snow day :-)  Fuzzy slippers, quilling, rum. Maybe even a couple musicals! Happy, happy me! 

thanksmass...

I hate it when Thanksgiving comes at the very end of November. The time between then and Christmas is just too short! It's already the 13th and I'm not done! And 3 and a 1/2 weeks of Christmas decor isn't enough. I need more joy :-)

This weekend we're getting hit with another winter storm...up to 7" by the time it's done. I know it makes a lot of people grumbly, but I like it! If it's going to be this cold, there better be something to show for it!

Sunday night we'll be off to The Palladium to see Trace Adkins, the voice of God, sing Christmas Carols! Yea!! What could be nicer?

Oh! and the closet/bdrm project? It's coming along nicely. After the totally absurd quote of 3 grand to finish the drywall and texture the ceiling, my man of all trades has done a pretty good job of finishing it himself. He hasn't done the texturing part yet but it already looks acceptable. I got to hang clothes up in the closet last weekend! It's AWESOME!

dashing through the...

...ice and slush and snow.

So, the first big winter storm is barreling through the Midwest now. It’s name is Cleon. Cleon? When did they start naming winter storms? And where in the world is Cleon a real name??

In Minot North Dakota, the high tomorrow is MINUS 6. Holy crap!! And it’s only the start of December! Brrrrrrrrr

In Anchorage Alaska, the high tomorrow is 36.

In Honolulu Hawaii, the high tomorrow is 79.

In my world tomorrow, it will be snowing and icy and 30ish.

We’ve had a couple crazy mild winters so I think we’re in for it this year!

I’ll bee prepared, will you??

Home renovations day 47...

...I wish I had something new to add.  Oh wait, he did get the last of the drywall up and this week called somebody to come out and quote a job for finishing the seams and texturing the ceiling. At least it's progress. I think he's been a little side tracked about the roof? You know, the night before we left for the Ozarks, there was a BIG storm. In the morning he went out to check the roof and sure enough there were several giant branches strewn about and a couple holes in the roof. Well, of course everyone was going to charge an arm and a leg, so he put on a tempory fix and off we went;

The things that concerns ME the most right now are these;

That is the top of the tree to the left. It's the biggest one yet. We really need to do something about that one.

Anyway...it was a lovely drive once we got out of the city;

Last time we went, we took the long way. This time we went through St. Louis;

And on the way back, we kept seeing these billboards that said, "Candy Factory" and "World's Largest Gift Store" You know I had to stop right?!?!?! The candy store was a bust and the gift shop was fun in a kitschy sort of way. It was pretty dang big!

But there was an * after the word Store and I never did find out what it meant. Some kind of disclaimer I'm sure.

random things

First up, hail! No really, it hailed yesterday. Check it out;

That was pretty big for our neck of the woods. When I left work yesterday it was 81 degrees. When I got home an hour later, it was 68 out. Crazy I know! Also, I was wondering, what happens to all the birds when it's hailing like that? Or, if you live in the Midwest and you have a farm, what do all the cows do? Because you know it has to hurt. One of the ladies in the office said, "hail is a natural meat tenderizer". Ewwww. (I laughed though)

Next up, an old story. This summer, my honey bunch and I are going to Michigan for a week. We'll be gone for 7 days and we won't be staying in the same place longer than one night. There's a lot to do in Michigan...and we won't even do ANY of the inland things! Anyway, there is a young woman in our office who is from the upper peninsula so I emailed her and asked her what the 'must do' and/or 'must see' things are. She emailed me back a couple days later and apologized for taking so long but she had emailed her Mom to ask her and was waiting for her to reply.  I looked at her list and they were all things I already had on our agenda. But then it hit me...she had to ask her MOM? Oh, because I wouldn't possibly like anything she herself would think is fun? Because I'm OLD? Like her MOM?!  Harrumph.

This is a sad story;

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/11/17704463-parents-students-fatal-text-serves-as-warning#comments

If you don't want to read it, it's about 2 parents who just released the last screen on their son's phone. He died when he rolled his car after jerking his steering wheel trying to get out of oncoming traffic. He was texting a friend. He was cut off in mid sentence. I CAN happen to you.

There was something else random I wanted to say, but I've forgotten. Must be my old age.

More quilling stuff :-)

I forgot to show you my new Easter decorations!

right now they are on desk at work. I want people to see them. It's working. I've already gotten another customer! But we're going to barter. He's a wood worker so I'm going to do his Alma Mata and he's going to make me something - he's going to show me pics of what he does and I can choose. Far out!

Next is the latest paying customers job;

It's a gift for a butterfly, purple loving woman who is retiring.

And this is unrelated but I took this picture of my daffodils this morning;

Think they'll make it?!

Happy Spring!

I was going to whine about this;

I was REALLY unhappy about it Friday. Saturday was such a beautiful day too. 50 degrees, sunny. It was great. Sunday sucked. Snowy gloomy. Boooooo! Then I remembered, there were a few times when we went to spring break in Florida and came home to snow on the ground. Granted, not 6+ inches, but still.
I'm a lover of seasons and I want winter to end now. I'm ready to move on. And not because it was a particularly brutal winter either. It was just so gloomy this winter. Not a lot of sunny days. It makes you frown after a while.

Anyway, we ended up with just shy of 7 inches in our burb;

I think it was more than the non blizzard we got in December. Also, it was a record for yesterday.

They did a great job with the roads though and because of all the school closings, traffic this morning was awesome;

Can you believe it's almost the end of March?

the last hoorah...hopefully

You know I love all 4 seasons. No, I really mean that! But now, I'm ready for some green. Hopefully this past week was the last snow. Spring starts in a couple weeks and P. Phil said we were getting an early Spring this year.

Anyway, it was a beautiful snowy morning yesterday;

how hot is it?

Real hot.
SUPER hot.
Damn hot.
OMG hot.
Too hot for coffee in the morning.
Hotter than hades hot.

The heat index (w/humidity) is going to reach 105 to 116. Booooooooooo. To top it off, it appears that all the rain we got last spring was it for the rest of the year! Everything is brown and/or dying. Even in the posh neighborhoods. It sucks.

So what do you do when it's that hot out? We'll probably work on some finishing touches in the bathroom. We still need to get a shower head. Tomorrow night, Mom and I are taking the man to his new favorite sushi place for dinner. Sunday we're going to Harry Potter. Plus, there's lots of quilling to do!! And I still have movies on the DVR to watch. I'm actually looking forward to a nice weekend indoors :-)

Bee cool everybody!

ooooooo, ahhhhhhh

That's the view from our sun room. There's a big empty space behind our house so we can see the sunset every night.

Now they are building homes behind us :-(  We're REALLY going to miss this view.

Bee Cool!

Today is the first day of summer, officially (well, in 6 minutes to be exact). It's been summer for me for a couple weeks now, ever since I saw the first lightning bugs! Today, the sun won't set until midnight in Indiana. Just kidding. It will only seem like that. It'll be 'light' out until 9:49, because we're in the wrong time zone, because of wonky politicians.

If you want to know what time the sun will set in your neck of the woods, you can find out here;
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php

Happy summer everyone :-)

Whoa!

My goodness with the weather this morning!

We're on our 2nd storm already and it's only 10:00.

And look at this!

Yep, 3195 total lightning strikes this morning!!! It's be one continuous rumbling, for hours. I had to change my route this morning because there were so many stalled cars due to high water in the street. Right now it's raining so hard that it looks like fog when you look across the street. It's crazy out there!