I'm not saying we've had a lot of snow, but...

here they are clearing my driveway...just kidding, of course. But I'm ecstatic that it's going to be above freezing this weekend. Maybe it will start the melt slowly so southeastern Iowa doesn't wash down the Mississippi.

Ah, yes, how well we recall...

Last evening we had the opportunity to visit a bit with Jana regarding her latest grad school acceptance (U of Ga - still too far away for my tastes) and then visited a bit with Charlotte, who has become VERY yakky. She talked, sang, counted, talked, sang, counted, blew kisses, talked...you get the idea. As we were talking to Jana we could hear her in the background continuing to talk, sing, count, etc.
Brought to mind when Jana was a young lady about Charlotte's age. As she grew, we eagerly anticipated when she would be able to talk with us. One evening we were on the way to my brother's house, and Jana had talked over half way there (5 mins.) and showed no signs of slowing down. We looked at one another and I asked Kathy - "Where is the button that shuts her off?"
Don't be shutting Charlotte off, Jana & Jeff. Enjoy every stage. Especially the ones where she still likes you.

A fairly normal week...

...was enjoyed by Kathy & I. Here's how it went:
- Spent practically all of Monday snowed in. Got to know my county supervisor better, as well as one of the superintendants of the road graders. Finally got plowed out late afternoon, we were in the car and headed to town minutes later, preparing for the possibility of getting snowed in again the next day...
- Which didn't happen. However, our girls did lose in substate Monday night, freeing up our schedule for this week. Tuesday night, our guys pretty much obliterated their opponent in district play, setting them up for a substate match on Saturday evening...
- And, yes, I spent a portion of pretty much every day this week scraping ice from sidewalks as it would melt. Job security.
- That is, when it would melt later on in the week, as it was colder than billy heck for a good portion of the week (billy heck being defined as zero)...
- Went to a concert in the new auditorium at the new high school. MUCH more comfortable seats, AMAZINGLY better sound, an enjoyable experience all around
- Saturday evening we went to the substate game. Almost everything that could go wrong did in the first half, especially when our starting point guard went down with an ankle injury with 2:34 left in the first half. We took a 6 point lead in to the half, and the team came out on fire in the third quarter, finally winning by 21 points. Now making plans for the week of boy's state...
- Sunday, we were finally able to be back in church after a snow cancellation last week. A great day.
Hope your week was fairly normal, as well.

OK, so this whole weekend storm thing is getting old...

Another weekend, another storm. As I write this, there is rain causing ice on the trees (about 1/8 - 1/4 inch) which will turn to snow in a bit.
Blizzard warnings are out for our area.
Hope we can keep our electricity.
Yikes.

A Busy Time Of Year

When you get to be our age [AARP eligible] you would think that things would calm down a bit. However, that is not the case of late. First, our respective jobs are keeping us pretty busy.
Then, there is basketball.
See, we are big basketball fans.
High school basketball.
Pella Christian High School basketball, to be more precise.
And this has been a good year. We have one of the better teams I can recall ever following. And, my observations are supported by third party evidence (see 2A rankings here - http://www.desmoinesregister.com/)
So, if you've been trying to contact us in the evening, our cell phones are your best bet.
And, by the way: Boy's state tournaments are the week of March 3. Keeping my calendar open. Just in case.
Oh, yes, both boys and girls have a shot...the girls are one game away from state as of last night. Girl's state begins the week of the 25th of February.

When you're hungry...

You'll do about anything to get something to eat. Like this guy...


Here's a broader view.

That can't be a good position for food digestion.

I Never Knew A Road Grader Could Be So Exciting!

But when it FINALLY came down our road at 11AM today, I must admit I was stoked.
One snow day is enough.
For both of us.
This keeps up, we're gonna need a 4wd.

So, we never get snow like we used to...

Which is normally true except for this winter, which has been more like the winters of old. Looks like we got another 10-12 inches last night and today. Finally stopped at about 1PM, now we wait for the road grader to get our road open...
We are having a snow day at home, and it really suits both of us just fine.

A Fast Trip, A Fun Time

5:04AM Saturday morning found us leaving home to meet with our kids in Chicago. Note: AT NO OTHER TIME FOR ANY OTHER REASON will Kathy get out of bed at 3:30AM on a Saturday.
After an uneventful trip in, we picked up Scott at his palatial estate in Mokena, and then proceeded to Crestwood to meet with Jeff, Jana, and Charlotte at the motel. From there, we lunched at Trinity's new bookstore/cafe, where Mindi (Jana's friend) joined us for a trip to Shedd Aquarium.As you can see, the trip to downtown gave Charlotte time to catch a few zzz's. Thanks to Uncle Awesome's great skills in smooth picking up and carrying, she was able to stay asleep from the car all through the walk to the aquarium.
We ALL had a great time at the aquarium, Charlotte was like a little sponge observing the various lifeforms on display. She later regaled us with tales of what she had seen [turtle - biiig turtle - in a-pond! little turtles - two little turtles! dolphins - swimming! penguins!]
After some AMAZING pizza (both deep dish and thin crust) at Palermo's, we called it a night.
The next day, we attended church with Scott, and then lunched at Harrison's, where Scott works part time. Ginormous sandwiches, followed by desserts to put you in a food coma, then on the road back to Iowa.
Where we hit snow not to be believed.
All the way from the river to Iowa City.
Ditches so full of cars and trucks you had to stay on the road.
But, we made it home, and backed in by the house just in time to hear the winning touchdown scored by the Giants.
So, Brady, what about that 38 points your team was going to score?
It was a great time. Now to rest up...