MY DAY

I got a cut and perm today.

My instructions. Not short and not too tight.

OUTCOME:

My hair is as short as it has ever been. It is so tight, my toes are curled. (Except for the five that haven't moved in the last year.)

TIME TO POST

It's been a while. Funny how fast time flies when you don't do anything. I have 2 projects started and finished neither.

In answer to a couple of questions. I believe the snowstorm was about 1974, and that is a guess. The person behind Casey, I believe to be Shannon.

The most exciting thing to happen this week was - Sunshine!! Two days worth !! Very windy and cold, but sunshine never the less.

A week ago Tuesday Casey had a VERY frustrating incident. He left the house Tuesday night to go to work. And couldn't. His car was 'FROZEN' to the street. You read it right. FROZEN. I did NOT say stuck. There is a difference. After trying for some time to get loose, he had to give up and take Bob's car. Wednesday morning he worked over 2 hours trying to break the ice to get it loose. I have never seen anything like it.

The whole week was a nightmare as far as the weather went. Heavy fog every night and very icy streets every morning. I found out the hard way! I had a Dr. appointment that Monday morning at 7:00. With no warning, I hit ice and took my truck for a ride sideways down 70th street. It was a good thing there wasn't anybody in the lane next to me or it could have gotten ugly.

Friday we went to a movie. Casey talked me into it. I knew I probably wouldn't like it, but I was desperate to get out of this house. Avatar. Loved it ! Bob too. With a 2 1/2 hour run time I don't recommend taking children (or adults) who aren't able to sit for a long period of time.

Guess I will go get another cup of coffee and maybe take a stab at one of my projects.

WINTER, MID-WEST STYLE

It is still here. Winter that is. The first two pictures are from our local paper and are titled 'snow harvest'. There are more pictures and stories to be found here. I can't imagine the working conditions. Some of the crops can be saved but those buried too deep will probably be lost.

The next two pictures are of the 'hood' one morning last week at 3:00 AM. It was 22 below zero and bitter cold. The clouds were spooky but beautiful too. We hit forty one degrees today, a 63 degree improvement. We need lots more days like this.

FEMA toured the state last week to determine the damage and whether or not we qualify for aid. I hope they came down through North and South Dakota and Norfolk. The Dakotas had 2 feet and more, Norfolk 18 inches. Really ugly up there.

Our problem is there isn't anywhere to put this amount of snow. Out in the country it is really bad. We have also been spoiled for many years. Winters have been too nice.

I remember waaaaaay back when.......musta been 37 or 38 years ago. We lived near Garland then and the kids were all little. Bob worked in Lincoln and just happened to be on 1st shift at the time.

It had started snowing early in the day and kept getting worse as the day went on. Bob got off work and made it to Garland where he stopped to get some needed supplies. Milk and beer are all I can remember. Then he headed out into the country for home. He got within a mile of home before getting stuck. The next to last thing he did before starting to walk was to pull up the antenna on the car and tie a hanky to it. That was one of the smartest things he ever did. We had no idea how bad this was going to be. The 'last' thing he did was grab the milk and the beer. He made it home with the milk. The snow was too deep, the conditions were exhausting, and the beer was too much to carry. It was deposited in a snow drift somewhere along the road.

When it finally quit snowing enough to venture out, Bob headed to get the car. Remember that hanky? Without that, he would never have found the car. It was completely buried. A shovel wasn't going to begin to dig it out. The Seward newspaper wanted to take a picture of it, but the roads kept drifting shut and they couldn't get to it. Eventually the county plows came and dug it out. They also pulled it home as it wouldn't start. The engine was packed with snow.

When school finally resumed, school buses couldn't make their normal routes. Too many roads were one lane, and the snow piled so high that the buses couldn't make the turns. I will never forget the first day Casey was able to go back to school. What a relief! We all had cabin fever by then! We also needed groceries!!!!

We are spoiled. We haven't had winters like that since then. Back when people did what needed to be done and life went on.

TAKE A DEEP BREATH !!

After Thanksgiving, Christmas came fast ----- only to be postponed until the 27th.

NEVER have we done this before because of the weather. People, it just wasn't fit for anybody to leave a nice safe warm home and try to go somewhere, and I am talking about people who live right here in town!

As you can see by the pictures, the guys still got their loot. (Grandma and Grandpa didn't do too bad either.) It was still a bitter cold nasty night, so everybody headed home early.

Then came Grandpa's never ending bowl games. It seemed like the only 'important' one took forever to to get here. For those of you who didn't hear, the Huskers spanked Arizona in our bowl game. Love those Huskers!

On January 4th, Shannon had a birthday. She turned the ripe old age of 37. I don't know where those years went. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Since then I have been waiting. Waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever does. I spend my time doing pretty much nothing and I gravitate to the couch when I need to put up my foot.

Maybe I will get motivated to blog a little more as I do have some pictures I want to post.

Hope you all have a happy New Year !!

THANKSGIVING

It was a busy week. The house needed some major cleaning. It certainly looks better than it has in a long time.

Colleens family came this year. The first time since ?????? They weren't able to get on the road until Thanksgiving day, so our big dinner wasn't until Saturday. I had thought to have it Friday, but there was the matter of the Nebraska - Colorado game. Just can't cook, have a house full of kids and a game at the same time.

Due to lack of oven space I had to use my Hamilton counter top roaster. Only the second time I have used it. First time was ok. Didn't like it as well as oven roasted. This time I really didn't like it. I had a 22lb. bird and from the minute I turned the roaster on it sounded like it was frying the bird, not roasting it. It cooked in record time, but any dressing touching the pan burned. I just finished cleaning the pan yesterday afternoon. I would scrape a while, put fresh water in it and let it soak until time to scour again. No idea how many times I did that. I am calling it good and putting it away! (Until Christmas.)

All went well and the girls helped get everything on the table. The carving job has officially been handed down to Dan, who I might say, did an excellent job.

I added a cake to the desserts this year, as Colleen had just had a birthday. Denny helped and we managed to get ALL those candles lit before the first ones melted away. Looked more like a bon fire than a birthday cake. Don't know why the smoke alarms didn't go off. Maybe because we had the doors open. The kids loved it.

The kids had a blast playing. No fights. Peyton even managed to keep up and fit in. He is the youngest but wasn't about to be left out.

While we were all gathered here, Shannon and Kevin were busy moving into their new home. First one ever, and I do mean new! It looks like a nice house and I can't wait to see it. After years of base housing and small apartments, they deserve it!

Everyone is home safely now. Casey followed Ken and Collen back to Michigan for a few days vacation. Everything is put away.

Next: Christmas.