Day Six of the Snow

Six days later and it is still here.  The temperature rose a bit today and rain rolled in.  Now we are just waiting to see if school will be cancelled again for Cliff tomorrow.  Crazy.

Winter Wonderland

We got snow yesterday.  That doesn't happen all that often in these parts.  We were hit by frosty temperatures and quickly our one to two inches became two to four and ended up at close to seven.  The newspaper broke yesterday down into three numbers: five degree low, seven inches of snow and 259 car crashes in one day.

With the threat of snow on Thursday night, I went to Walmart to get a snow shovel.  We didn't have anything that would be helpful if we did get a bit of snow.  Fun fact: Walmart does not carry them.  They told me "we don't need them here."  What?!?  I calmed myself and saids "no worries as Jerry's is next door (think Home Depot of Eugene/Springfield).  They only had two.  Not two kinds...two total!  Not because there was a run on them but once again because we don't need them here.  Regardless, I grabbed the Rolls-Royce of snow shovels and headed home.  I paid $21 bucks and Cliff assures me it is the nicest shovel he has ever used. Go me.

I had to go into work yesterday and I anticipated Main Street to have at least been treated or plowed.  Nope.  Springfield apparently owns one deicer truck and two sand trucks.  That is it.  Not a single snow plow.  Based on what I saw yesterday I would have doubted that we had anything.  Just packed snow on the roads for as far as the eye could see. We don't do salt here so the snowy/icy roads are here to stay for a few days.   It was a quite day at work as only about 1/3 of folks made it in.  At about 2:30pm I decided to call it quits and take some work home.  The snow was not stopping and I was getting nervous about even my two mile drive.  Like I mentioned, no plows, no salt, just untreated roads.  This was my view from the parking lot....

I was so jazzed about driving that I decided to document my view from behind the wheel before I hit the road.  I drove very slowly (10-15 mph) and  gave myself plenty of room to stop.  With this said, I did activate my ABS twice during my two mile trip home.  The first time I started to panic until I remembered that is what they are supposed to do.  Oh my....

While I was at work, Cliff was amazing and shoveled our sidewalks, the sidewalk across the street as our neighbors have moved, and a friend's sidewalk.  He tended to them all day (pretty much the only person who did because apparently people really don't have shovels here).  It was awesome to come home and not fear busting my butt walking to the door.  When I got home I found this little creepy guy waiting for me.  I love him because he is holiday kitschy and creepy but the snow eyes...they take him to a whole new level.

I spent the rest of the day fielding calls about the postponed Christmas parade and daydreaming as I watched the snow from the windows.  I miss snow.  I wanted this storm so bad.  I felt warm and fuzzy all afternoon as snow days (even if they are only partial) are magical.

When I took Rudy out to go to the bathroom last night I decided to document the situation on the roads.  Deep trenches with no relief in sight.  It was official....we were going to be snowed in all weekend!

This weekend was going to be nutty.  Cliff was supposed to have a soccer game last night.  I was supposed to have the Christmas Parade this morning followed by going to a friend's open house in the afternoon and Cliff's work holiday party in the evening.  Tomorrow is another open house hosted by my boss.  In actuality last night ended up as us watching Battlestar Galactica until we traded it in for hot cocoa and Elf.  Today we made homemade pizza and walked to our friend's party (as we are within walking distance!).  Even at 3pm in the afternoon the road conditions hadn't changed and we felt walking was the safest way to go.  Just packed, icy snow roads.  I'm thinking we will probably be homebound again tomorrow.  Oh darn! (Note: that is said with sarcasm).

P.S. did I mention that Rudy doesn't like the cold but loves the snow?  See...snow is great!

O Tannenbaum

To help set the mood, I would like you to know that as I type this post I am listening to the Vince Guaraldi Trio's version on O Tannenbaum (Charlie Brown music) and looking out the window at 7-8 inches of beautiful fluffy snow on the ground.  We are snowed in and I am happy.  So get ready for multiple possible posts today.

Last weekend Cliff and I had a really festive Saturday.  We donated food to the local Mission, bought Christmas presents to support Small Business Saturday, and went to Northern Lights Tree Farm to cut down our Christmas tree.  This is our third visit to the farm but only our second tree purchase (as we couldn't fit a tree in our original Springfield dwelling back in 2007).

Tree prices ranged from $4.50/foot - $7.50/foot.  In the past, we have always selected the cheapest as we are pretty frugal people.  This year, we decided to go fancy.  We opted for a $7.50/food Nordman Fur as we were told that they were the best at holding heavy ornaments.  Plus they are beautiful.  They look like how Christmas trees are supposed to look.  Their color is nice and mossy green and their undersides are white with green lines.  Pretty cool.

I always forget how difficult it is to select a tree at a tree farm.  You walk down rows of trees upon trees.  They all look ok and it is hard to compare.  You size up the tree, note the pros and cons and then walk to the next trying your best to remember which one was more awesome.  In the end, I always feel bad when we select a tree as that means we are going to cut it down from its home.  That sounds a little Eugene crunchy...but it is true...I get a little emotional and feel guilty.  We counted the rings and our tree was (is) nine years old.

This year we picked a winner.  Fun Fact: Nordman Firs take a long time to cut down.  In the past it has been a two minute process and we are on our way.  This year it was like five-seven minutes of sawing away.  Also, we always forget to bring something to kneel on so Cliff always has to get his pants dirty.

 Once back at the barn, we asked them to shake the tree and bail it.  We normally don't opt for the $3 bailing service but this year like I said...we went fancy.  Plus we knew it would help us get the tree in the Honda Fit.

Which brings me to the fact that I love our car.  We picked a winner.  We fit a 6ft Christmas tree in it! The seats all fold independently so the tree got the right side of the car and Cliff and I got the left.  Oh and we buckled it up for safety.

We learned a very important lesson this year.  Always know the size of your tree stand before you leave the tree farm.  When we got home we found that our tree trunk grew slightly curved and it was too fat in some areas.  It didn't fit.  We currently do not own a saw so Cliff had to use a serrated kitchen knife to trim it up.  It took us, no kidding, 45 minutes to get the tree to fit and stand kinda straight.  We got the tree up and I decorated it while Cliff rowed (holiday challenge).  It looks beautiful.  However, it is a pain to water.  It is still really round so it is pretty difficult to find an area that allows for water to flow down into the well.  It requires two people and a flashlight.

The house is now decorated and it looks like Christmas threw up all over.  I am particularly happy this year as I found the red, green, and white warm round lights that we used to have when I was a kid.  I loved them and have been looking for years.  I bought them at Walmart the day after Halloween (yes, I was that girl).  Oh man, I love Christmas decorations.  Love.  Love. Love.

Thanksgiving in Springfield

Happy Thanksgiving!  This year we hosted our first Thanksgiving not cramped in a tiny kitchen or shameless using our landlord's full size oven to cook a bird.  It was excellent.

Turkey Day started at 4:30am for Cliff and me.  I was off to work by 5:00am for the Turkey Stuffer 5K.  Cliff was awesome and got up with me to help load boxes upon boxes of bananas and pointsettas as I didn't want to leave them in the car overnight for fear that they would freeze.  After I left, Cliff rowed for an hour (as Thanksgiving is the first day of the Holiday Challenge!).  While I was at work signing in volunteers, setting up canopies, pumping water, cheering on runners, and doing other random stuff; Cliff was cooking a turkey, two pies, and generally making the house smell and feel cozy.

Despite the larger venue we had a small crew again this year.  Kathy and Jill went back east this year to hang out with family.  At this point, we have spent quite a few Friendsgivings with them so it was odd not to have Jill taking photos of food preparation and Kathy laughing at stupid things I say.  We missed them! With this said,  they were there in spirit as Cliff made Jill's famous chocolate pie.  There is no turning back for us.  Every Thanksgiving from here on out will include Jill's chocolate pie. 

We were happy as Brie made the journey down from Portland.  She brought a really amazing salad.  It consisted of roasted butternut squash over mixed field greens with tahini dressing.  It was awesome.  She also brought her newest craft items and we got to see her do some pretty cool needle felting. I think she could sell her creations at Saturday market.  I would buy one!  It is really wonderful to have family near and it is always fun to hang out with Brie! 

My rockin' coworker, Jana,  also came as all her family is back in Indiana.  She outdid herself. Despite working the crazy morning shift for the Turkey Stuffer she also managed to make a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and crescent rolls.  What?!  I don't know how she did it.  Several folks at work commended me on hosting Thanksgiving and cooking a turkey despite working that morning.  I corrected each of them and and told them that Cliff is the master cook/baker in our house.  We are all much happier because of it too.  I  pick the menu.  I buy the groceries.  Cliff does all the hard stuff.  I eat happily.  We are a great team.  

All and all we had the following: turkey with gravy, Cliff's homemade cranberry sauce, the squash and greens salad, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, wine, cider, sweet potato pie, and Jill's chocolate pie.  It was a feast.

Rudy also had a great time.  There were more people to pay attention to him and more food being dropped on the kitchen floor.  This photo shows his excitement.  Now just imagine him butt swishing and prancing like a show pony all around the house.  So good. 

After eating we chatted about family holiday traditions, looked at Black Friday coupons, and watched Wings on Netflix.  It was quite.  it was relaxing.  It was just awesome.  

The following morning Cliff and Brie went on a 7.5 mile run/hike up and around Mt. Pisgah.  I tried to take left over race food to a local food bank.  In that process I also found myself in Target finally getting my hands on a $6 copy of Pitch Perfect.  Victory. 

Gotta love Thanksgiving.