The snow from the end of December and the first of January is gone. The only traces left are at the top of Grizzle and Powell Butte and in the shadows on the north slopes of hills. The last few days we have been under a severe air inversion that has left much of Oregon in fog. And, of course, eastern Oregon has had freezing fog. The hoar frost in some places around Madras on Tuesday got up to about an inch long.

This morning I went out to start the car and the windshield was just wet. I climbed in to start the motor and run the wipers and darn if it wasn't patches of ice along with the wet. I got Elin to school, got home and stepped out of the car and went sliding down the drive. I had been gone about 10 minutes.

About an hour later, it wasn't any better, I was headed to Redmond and stopped to pick up Spencer. (He works at the Opportunity Foundation). He was running late and could hardly see... His glasses had gotten wet then froze while he was trying to walk to work (21 miles from where he lives). Any way, I stepped on the breaks and fish tailed to a stop at the side of the road. I then had problems getting started again down the highway after he got in because it was so slick. The really weird thing was that on top of the ice, it was very wet. Cars and trucks were throwing up muck onto windshields. (needless to say, I came home early.)

Spencer is kind of famous around central Oregon. In bad weather he walks to and from work. When the weather gets warmer and then through into fall when it gets to cold, he rides his bike. He has only missed 2 days of work in 10 some years that he has worked at OFCO. Its amazing how many people know him and are willing to pick him up to give him a ride.

Snow Gone!

Our beautiful snow is gone! All that is left is the piles of pushed aside dirty stuff. At least the drive is clear and I can take my car out again to work tomorrow. Not that the weather is improving. Tonight is a 50% chance of rain/snow same with tomorrow. Temps are up! Both outside rabbits got a little close to their light and singed the hair on their backs. Spice has quite a large singed area. Shadow's is just about quarter size. Neither got their skin burned, but it was enough that I raised their light farther above them so they can't get right up to the bulb. Although with the above freezing temps they really don't need the light.

Its back to work tomorrow. I've been doing the never ending laundry today. My usual Sunday activity. Todd and Elin headed out to Grammy & Papa's today. It sure has been nice and quiet without her "I'm bored".

We had a nice Christmas. Was good to see Tammi and Guy, Todd's brother and his wife. They arrived Christmas day just in time for dinner. They took off Friday morning to head back to Chiloquin.

Below is Elin, 5'1" taller than Grandma Norma, she is ready for her concert last Dec 7th.

Dec 23rd

Elin has already started on "can I open a present?" No, she has to wait till Christmas morning at Grandma Norma's then again in the evening at Grammy & Pappa's.
So, this is what the house looks like with 4 inches and counting. I started cleaning the drive, but it has been driven on several times so it is hard to get it all up.
So, I worked harder on my side of the drive than I did Todd's, but that is his problem. I had to move my car in order to get mom's out to take her on errands this afternoon. I've been putting the dog into the garage at night due to the cold, cold weather. She seems to wake up happier in the morning having the heat.

Well, along with the bomb that went off in a bank killing 2 police officers over in the valley, Prineville had it's own version. A call was made to the Mental Health office, and caused about 6 blocks to be evacuated for the day. This happened last Friday. It turned out that the call was traced and a suspect arrested. It closed the Mental Health building, several business across the street, US Bank and across third street (state hwy), Radio Shack and the barbershop. By the time I got home from work 3rd was back open, along with 7-11 and some others, but the bank and mental health, meat market and one or two couldn't reopen until Saturday.

So, I hope every one has a good holiday. We are double dipping again this year. Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Talk about getting into the Christmas Spirit! How about -7 degrees last night with a wind chill making it -21 degrees. Thank goodness that was in Burns and not here, we only got to -14 degrees last night. Todd turned on the heat in the garage for poor Sasha. She didn't seem as stiff and cold this morning. Rabbit water takes about an hour to freeze even under the 100 watt light bulb.

So, I've survived 4 school concerts. Friday last was the best! However, last nights concert wasn't bad... Can you pick out Elin? She's the first one on the bottom row in a red shirt and black scarf.

SNOW IS COMING!

Every other news item this morning on KTVZ News 21 is on a big storm that is coming in today. Guess what, I wanted to go to Salem tomorrow. Now the weather is heavy snow tonight with near whiteout/blizzard conditions tonight and into tomorrow.
www.tripcheck.com
for current road conditions for central Oregon. They are saying that snow levels will be down to 500 feet here. This ought to be interesting.

I'm taking mom to Redmond this morning, going to drop her at Walmart Superstore on the north side of town then go to work.

Last night was Todd's office Christmas party. It was at the office this year and VERY fun. Got to visit with wives and employees that I don't normally get to visit with. Elin went to the bowling alley with Grandma. She seemed to have a lot of fun bowling with another child who got stuck there. Luckily they caught the kids before they started their 4th game (Elin got a strike) and only had to pay for 3 games.

I better get her up so that I can listen to her whine about how tired she is. She has her first Christmas concert tonight at the highschool. It is a fundraiser for the highschool choir. I hope to have pictures to post tomorrow.

Its already DECEMBER!

I just can't get over how fast this year has gone, just last week Elin started 6th grade and now, her first trimester is over. She is getting mostly A's & B's in school. This trimester she starts P.E. and is NOT happy about it.

Today is Yule log making for the PEO Bazaar. Saturday is the bazaar at the Christian Church. They let us use their Fireplace room with its kitchen and seating area. Hope we have a good turnout of goodies to sell. Its a fun thing to work, as I get to see people I haven't seen for a while. Old family friends & new friends made over the years. I sure don't think I've made enough. All those beads I have and only have a few items to go in the sale. I made lots of Christmas cards and generic all occasion cards. Guess I should clean off the table again and get some more done.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I was emailing back and forth with a gal that went to Jr. High (middle school these days). She told me that her parents sold her off at age 15 to get married, just like her mom had been. She said it was a family tradition until her. How sad. She doesn't plan on ever coming back to town as she has very few happy memories here.

Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving weekend!

Nov 29, 2008

Saturday after Thanksgiving;

I went to work yesterday at the Madras Library. When I got there, they were closed, so I was able to just set up and get to work. I was home by 7pm and got a great deal done. Today I'm going to meet with one of my AYSO board members and see if I can fix her computer. Have a feeling its just viruses and bugs.

We had a great time Thanksgiving day. Todd & I fixed the turkey and I got to baste it. It was even done on time. Mom really did most of the cooking, but I pealed all the potatoes and got them ready to boil, and cut up the great smoked ham that Scott did at his work. I set the tables and Elin folded the napkins in a fancy way. There was 11 for dinner. Zach and Scott were not very happy being put at the card table with Elin, but they survived. It was Zach's second dinner, so he wasn't very hungry.

Had lots of time to visit with Todd & Toni, Mel & Dorene, Linda and the kids. I didn't even take one picture.

Time to turn the laptop over to Elin to play on it for a while. I'm going to have to check this computer for bugs here very soon, some of the places she visits (I do monitor)still have spyware and trojans. Bye for now