Surprise Snow Day!

My alarm had already gone off and I was in bed, thinking about how I really didn't feel like getting up when the phone rang. The phone only rings that early in the morning at our house for one reason: Snow Day!!

Based on the weather reports last night, the freezing rain/sleet/snow wasn't supposed to hit 'til this afternoon. I was dreading the drive home today and halfway hoping that they'd call school off for tomorrow. Today, though, was a snow day that occurred without me actually NOT having to do the traditional "Snow Day Dance."

Unfortunately, the motions of "Snow Day Dance" are a secret, carefully guarded by a few teachers across the world, so I can't really divulge what that would look like. You'd be amazed at how similar it is to the "Rain Dance" that lifeguards often perform on cloudy days.

Anyway, after watching the news to verify that my district was indeed among the closed, I rolled over and went back to sleep. I am currently in the process of baking chocolate chip cookies, except I'm using M&M's because Walgreens doesn't carry chocolate chips. Bastards.

I did get to use my fancy-schmancy Kitchenaid Bowl Mixer for the first time to mix the dough; I got it for Christmas and haven't had the time/energy/motivation to bake anything that I would need it for until today. Let me just tell you: That mixer freakin' rocks.

Plans for the rest of the day include doing some scrapbooking, playing some Guitar Hero, taking a nap, getting take-out from Chevy's for dinner, and watching American Idol.

Life is good.

Signs of Spring

Remember this post about the new furniture that Dave and I had delivered last week?

Remember how I mentioned that I had to get used to having furniture in the room again?

Remember how my cell phone rang at 1:30 a.m. Saturday night so I went into the closet to go turn off the ringer, then on my way back to bed I ran face-first into the lingerie chest that is right outside the closet door?

Ouch...

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Spring is definitely on the way. Over the weekend, up at Bill's Garage, I was struck in the face by the first flying bug of the season. I flailed and squirmed trying to get the cooties off of me while the bug frantically tried to free itself from under the side of my glasses. Ewww....

While the whole "spring forward" thing is great and Dave and I were able to enjoy the first official BBQ of the season at Dr. Mike and Paula's last night with the extended daylight, it was very hard to try to wake up this morning and get ready for work in the dark again. For me, there is nothing worse than trying to get motivated to get out of bed when it is still nighttime outside.

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Every year when the weather begins to get warm, I begin looking forward to another birthday, which falls in the beginning of April. Dave and I are hoping to continue the tradition that we began last year by co-celebrating our birthdays with our friends, since his birthday is a few weeks after mine.

Last year, we got a group together to go to dinner and then a show at a comedy club. It was pretty successful, albiet the antics of a friend of a friend who came along and caused a scene. I mean, any birthday party where at least a few people end up on the East Side has got to be a success, right?

We are trying to come up with some fun ideas of things to do this year... We would love to get a party room to go to a Cardinals game, but it is already too late to make that happen. We've been talking about a few ideas and I have a call into a couple of places, but I am up for any suggestions that anyone might have... What do you think would be fun?

French Toast Day*

It started pouring down rain yesterday afternoon and the temperature hovered right below freezing, coating everything with a fragile and shimmering layer of ice.

Ice storms always intrigue me. They are so beautiful and, unlike a tornado or hurricane, their danger often underestimated. After stopping at the store to pick up some extra batteries and a DVD copy of "Happy Gilmore" (Dave's request), we made provisions for the night. We found the flashlight, got out the candles and lighters, and brought out the extra down comforter. We lost power from about 12:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m., but have had fully functional electricity since.

Early this morning, Dave and I decided to go out and take some pictures of the storm. After some bargaining, deal-making, and threatening, we worked out who could post which pictures on their blog.

Some type of bush with red berries:

The only thing that can really keep a BBQ-Master like Dave away from the grill is having it iced shut:
And a balancing act, like when you drop something and miraculously it lands without spilling, breaking, or being generally ruined:

* A "French Toast Day," for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a day when a winter storm comes through town, so everybody rushes to the store for French Toast ingredients: milk, bread, and eggs.

Where the Hell is the Rain?

Yesterday was one of the loooooongest days in my life.

I got up at 7 a.m. to go in to work at the pool. My throat was pretty sore (swollen glands, the whole deal) but I felt hopeful because the sky was cloud covered and gray when I left for work. The forecast said 80% chance of thunderstorms... which would mean that we would get to close the pool early.

I got to work and got out the vacuum and about twenty minutes into cleaning the pool, the clouds disappear and the sun begins fiercely shining. I shook my head and continued vacuuming.

As the day went on, my throat got worse, developing into congestion, followed by a headache, which was so bad, it was making me feel sick to my stomach. FYI - Running around in the heat and humidity is NO FUN when you feel like ass.

But, about every two hours or so, the clouds would roll in and the wind would pick up and tease me and the lifeguards into thinking that we would soon be clearing the pool for thunder. No such luck. I sat at the concession stand tables with my walkie-talkie and whistle on thunder patrol, only to watch the clouds disappate with no actual storm.

Fourteen hours later, I had no voice, but consoled myself that my twelve hour day today won't be so bad, because it is supposed to rain all day. I'm up now and the woke up to the freakin' sun shining in my eyes.

I guess I don't mind so much if it is sunny today, but if Mother Nature keeps teasing me like she did yesterday, I'm going to have to ask Dave to have words with her... Seriously.

Peace, love, and thunderstorms!