Snow Plow's Revenge

I was getting pretty smug about the snow plow's lack of attention to our mailbox after my blog a couple weeks ago. I had decided the day after Christmas that I would blog about it. How it hadn't been hit for nearly a week and a half even though the snow plow had been through at least daily. Now I'm glad I didn't.

This is the kids digging out on the Monday after Christmas so I could go to work.

Well, all that pent up plowers frustration found a focus to vent....my poor little mail box at 6am on the day after Christmas. (Still don't know how this happened but not only did they hit the mailbox and send it flying into the ditch, the 6-8" support log snapped, but missed the garbage can this time.) I didn't worry about it for quite a while since we had no mail or paper service for nearly 2 weeks. So right now, we've been able to put our mailbox on the snow bank left by the plow, but with all the rain we've been getting now it's starting to dwindle. I'll need to fix it soon.

Yup, they got it good this time.

I called the county road maintenance supervisor. He said that this snow storm there were so many downed mail boxes that they are going to have to go to the county commissioners to ask what they should do, since they don't have the money in the budget to fix them. So not much is going to happen and even then, I doubt I will like the county's solution which will definitely be much too little and way too late. (I'm a county employee so I know how it works - especially in with this budget.)

Calendars are coming

I have been slowly working on the family (both families) 2009 calendars. (Sorry it's taking so long.... Hope to have them in the mail no later than Monday 1/5 and hopefully a lot sooner.)
After getting all of the calendar parts done for each family, I had to stop working on them in early December and start working on Christmas... (The clock was ticking quite loudly and didn't think my kids would appreciate receiving a calendar as much as "real presents".) Then the snow really threw me through a loop. Then this week I started back in ernest to work on the photos, which caused me several delimmas on content. (There will be surprises this year - different picture format.) Then I tried to use B's new Photoshop 9 program (bad mistake!!!) Before I at least knew how to take the red eye out, crop, and manipulate various aspects with my old photoshop starter 3.2program. Now I'm struggling...
All that to say.... Don't buy a calendar family ...it'll be in the mail soon.

New and Improved

The much improved Christmas tree. You can barely see KT & B's ornaments. We should be barfing tinsel tomorrow and be much more "Christmasy". Hurray!! I'm looking for anything to help me. I sorely need motivation. The snow although grand has really thrown a curveball into a time when I need just big old fat waist high fast balls destined to be knocked out of the park.

(Good thing since the big day is only 2 days away.....AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!)

Awesome!!

That's how my daughter, M, describes her experience this afternoon.

It took us about 2.5+ hours to dig, stomp, sled, compact and/or shovel my driveway so that Aon could escape and get back to PDX to feed her cat and pick up my youngest sister tomorrow from the airport (cross your fingers) and that I can go to work in the morning. (Didn't make sense to do it AGAIN until it stopped snowing so much.) -That's not the awesome part, but was actaully pretty enjoyable.


Afterwards, M went up to feed and water the goats & chickens. Our black lab, Cricket and Amber, the golden retriever, accompanied her. All of a sudden, Cricket went very still and was staring into the woods right next to the goat fencing. M followed her gaze and realized that a big cow elk was very close and staring back at them. The elk started to walk back into the woods and so they followed. Then the dog whined. M then saw another elk bedded down about 5 feet from her. Amber strolled up to them from another angle. The elk then got up and took off back into the woods and down the ravine. All of a sudden, about another 50 elk got up from where they had been lying and took off after the first one.



Pretty awesome huh?

The barn and woods behind our house.

Santa's Little Helper

Yesterday we got an unexpected visitor. A lost dog came to our house in the middle of the bad snow storm. It was a very nice (young) weimreiner. Even after our dogs chased it off, it came back. So we let her come in and kept her overnight because it was so bad outside and it was obvious that she was very lost and couldn't find her way home. M slept in the downstairs family room so that she wouldn't be alone. We put up signs, put a notice on craig's list. In the morning I called around to the neighbors and down to the gas station and feed store at the bottom of the hill. Luckily, the owners saw the notice at the gas station and called us. Shelby the dog went home with her family this afternoon. (It ended up being M's math teacher and husband who lives about 1/2 mile from us.)

Snow More

So it's been snowing even more the last couple days. We've gotten easily a foot and half. (It's hard to tell since the snow earlier this week was so wet and heavy that it compacted on itself. And on Thursday and Friday it warmed up to about 34 and so it started to melt (there's about 3/4 inch of ice underneath). Now it's been really snowing hard and staying below freezing for a couple days. Yesterday I think we easily got 10 inches. The freezing rain that we were supposed to get last night and today has mainly been just snow. - just a very thin sheet on top.

Off my deck last night. It was so pretty coming down.

B showing how much snow we have gotten in the last 4 -5 days.

Snow is definitely up over the boots.

Cricket, Bella and Amber have been having fun out in the snow.

Let the Barfing Begin....

My sister, Aon, is here visiting / helping me get ready for Christmas. She was kinda concerned at the condition of my house. Her comment was "I was really surprised and had to go check and make sure I got the right house. Usually Christmas throws up at your house." Well, not this year!!! I told you "I'm really not in the mood this year." Our tree has been cut for 2 weeks and up for a week. And this is how much decorating we have done, as of December 20th.


Yep, two ornaments. One my daughter made a couple days ago because she could stand the naked tree and one KT made. (I wasn't kidding when I told her that her ornament had a place of prominence on tree.) Can't get much more prominent than that!

But all that will change... I brought out the Christmas stuff last night and today we decorate while the snow and ice storm rages... so let the barfing begin of Christmas spirit!!!!!!

Two-fer

I believe that one of the snowplow drivers for the county has a thing against cedar "house shaped" mail boxes.

Since last year, he hits our mailbox (which is no mean feat mind you) at least once a snowstorm - and usually its once a day. I'm actually not sure how he is able to accomplish this and especially since the new guard rails went up, but we've had witnesses tell us that it's the county snow plow who takes out our mailbox on a regular basis. (So far we just haul it out of the ditch and nail it back onto the supporting horizontal post until the next time it gets hit.) I'm beginning to think that there is a points system because they need some little diversion while they drive all the county roads over and over again. If that's so, this guy is good! the paper holder or the support system isn't hit. He must just clip it at just the right spot in order to have it sail into the ditch.

Well, yesterday was a banner day for snow plow points!

Not only did he get our mail box - TWICE !!!

He was able to also take out the big garbage can full of garbage that did get picked up during the storm which was in the drive way. (still not sure how it was accomplished but it was impressive.)
Yep! A Two-fer!

Snow Day

I LOVE snow!! I know lots of people really like clear, cold sunny days, but not me! Give me a pretty postcard snowy day. After a week of teasing and temps in the low 20's and teens, our storm finally hit. (The previous two storms hit in Portland but missed us who are only 60 miles north.)

Today was our first SNOW DAY of the school year. Since it was predicted to really snow in the morning and then have freezing rain in the afternoon, I wasn't sure I would be able to get home so I stayed home with the kids. They were very excited to have school cancelled. (At first, the school district said it would be a 2hour late start.) Castle Rock was going to be the only school in all of SW Washington and NW Oregon who would have been open today, but luckily they changed their minds. (I think they realized they would have late start and early release which just didn't make sense to run all the buses and not get credit for a day of school.)

I'm excited. I'm frantically trying to get ready for Christmas (which I just realized is only a week away - AAAAAHHHH!!!!). I was able to get lots of presents finished, wrapped, boxed and ready to go. Now I just need to keep up the work. (but I'm a little tired from shoveling my walks and decks - twice so I might just take a break and hit it hard in a little bit.) Now I think I'm going to start a fire, drink a cup of cocoa and enjoy the snowflakes.)


Here are a smattering of pictures from my house today.

Winter wonderland from my front door.

Frosty finial from my back deck gate post.

B and the dogs making the world's largest snowball (or could have been a snowman's head). Cricket the black dog LOVES balls, so she REALLY wants B to throw it. It's pretty funny to watch her chase snowballs.

M shows that we got about a handful of snow by about 4pm today.

Yep.... 6inches of frostiness with another 3+ inches predicted tonight. (Oh and meterologist keeps saying we'll get the freezing rain too.)

My coworker called me tonight and said the judges did something pretty astounding this afternoon. They cancelled officially court for tomorrow...... All District, Municipal. and Superior Courts (and associated clerk's offices) are closed tomorrow. (And the best part is that the presiding judge talked to Jim Z who is the head of the county's personnel office and told them that it is paid time and we are not to be charged vacation time for it.)

HURRAY!!!!!

I LOVE SNOW DAYS!!!!!

CENOTES

There are over 8,000 Cenotes on the Yucatan Pennisula. A cenote (pronounced by the locals almost like "snow day") is a limestone cave / sink hole that was been carved by water. Most are full of water and many are fine to swim in. On our trip to Chichen Itza, we stopped at a famous one and swam in it.



Here we are before we head down the the roughly hewn stone steps to the to bottom of the cenotes to go swimming. (It felt GREAT because it was kinda hot and muggy that day.)






This cenote is 200 feet deep and then the water is another 150 feet deep. All the jungle vines hanging down are pretty cool. You can see poeple down there swimming and jumping in.















M leaps into the water while B watches from below. (splash to the right was C going from the "high" dive which is about 18-20 feet up.)

Going to a cenotes was on my list of must do's while down in Mexico and we weren't disappointed. Wish we could have spent more time. (Only had 1 hour before we had to catch the bus to go to lunch in the little Mayan village nearby.)

My first attempt at video clip. Hope it works. (sorry I can't rotate it...If you know how to do this let me know.)

Chichen Itza

Flora & Fauna

Here Fishy Fishy

Snorkel Sister.....


These are some pictures of the little sea turtles off our beach. When we went snorkeling at Akumel we hung with the BIG sea turles whose shells were 3-4 feet long. They would just hang out and eat sea grass. My kids now LOVE turtles. B says they are her new favorites ....even better than cats!

Some of the cool coral formations off our beach. It didn't turn out well, on the camera, but there is a really cool little fish almost smack dab in the middle. It's black with neon blue spots.

If I remember correctly, these two fish (above and below) are six lined grunts (someone tell me if I'm wrong). In Cozumel, we had a school swim with us all the time. They would get so close to us as we swam around (within inches of your face) and you could touch them if you quick and so inclined. They were very curious and bold creatures.

More cool coral off our resort.

Sea Urchins were huge. Made me remember to put on my beach shoes when I went into the water, because I saw them on rock that people were swimming and playing near. The ones off our beach were about 4-6 inches across in the body (with spikes they reached up to 8 inches) In Cozumel, they were a bunch whose bodies were 8-12 inches and with spikes were up to a 18" round. They were huge!!! I saw many angel fish that were as big soccer balls. (no joke!) I couldn't get over how big the fish and plant life got.

Brain coral

Sargeant major fish. We swam with some schools of them at Cozumel and a school of blue damsel fish that numbered in the hundreds.

Sea turtle swimming near our beach.

Cool coral landscape. Now multiply this by 1000 and you'll get a taste for the variety and amazing amount of fish at Cozumel. At Cozumel, we saw schools of great barracuda, green moray eels, giant crabs and clams. Aon and M, saw nurse sharks and sting rays. It amazing how rich and vibrant the ocean is on the Mayan Riveria.