More pictures of the snow.

Here are more pictures of the snow. We had an official report of 6 inches of snow. I think it is closer to 10 around us. The street is now frozen mush and really going to be a mess for a while. Other roads are mostly clear. Shelby is thrilled with the snow. He loves to go for a walk in it. He puts his nose down and starts running....like a mini snow plow. Kat on the other hand does not like it at all. She doesn't like cold at all. And won't get off the porch till most of the snow is gone. She tried it out yesterday, but literally, turned around in her tracks to get back to the porch .
Tom went to work yesterday but went a little latter so that he could see the road. Without the streets being plowed, you could not see where the road changed to the yard. Unfortunately, the CTMC stays open with the ER no matter what.
I spent the day watching the birds come and go from the feeder on the deck. Most of the day it was full of the little birds. Purple finches, chickadees, sparrows, and lots of gold finches. There are four blue jays that come in a pack and disrupt everything. All the other birds clear out when they arrive. There is now a bunch of woodpeckers (several kinds~ woodpeckers, sap-suckers, and nuthatches) that have been coming to get the suet and sunflower seeds. We have cardinals all the time and a couple of blue birds visit the feeders in the front. And there are a couple of morning doves that usually leave for the winter but for some reason were here until the snow. No squirrel (tree rats!) or chipmunks (ground squirrel) yet. But they are out there somewhere. There were plenty of nuts this year so maybe they also are waiting till the snow is gone.
I have more pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/tlhume Take a look!

SNOW at last...

We finally got snow! Under 6-10 inches of snow is 2 inches of sleet. We were really very lucky in that we got sleet which does not stick to the trees and power lines. Farther south they got the freezing rain. In 2007, we had the same problem. This time we missed it! (The picture to the left is of our front yard. Trail shows what happens when Shelby made his 'one' pass through early in the morning. He did not stay out too long and did not have lots to sniff. Even the critters were not out last night. The one on the right is the pile of snow on the green truck just before Tom left for work. Even though he shoveled part of the drive....there was still 2 inches of frozen sleet.)

Tom went to work yesterday and said that most of the roads were drivable if you went a little slower. Today he waited until it was lighter to be able to see the road. (Today the GLWACH is officially closed....yesterday.....they just did not show up! But that does not include the ER nor the TMC.) Our road from the house to Highway 28 was plowed just once or twice. But was plowed. From there on it was much better but was still bad. "Just go slow" and don't make any quick moves. (Of course, that is assuming that I am going to drive somewhere.)

Here are a few pictures on our deck from early this morning. Notice that the pile up of snow still leaves the slats in the table. In a while the birds will be showing up to take advantage of the bird feeders and the seed I'll throw out on the ground for them.

Snow is beautiful to take pictures of. So I will be sharing some of those latter. Shelby and I will be out and about the yard in a couple of hours. After I get into my Nanook of the North clothes.

Bad weather is here.

We have been warned for a couple of days and it is finally here. It is now sleeting. For about an hour it was sleeting really heavy but has finally slowed up. Earlier I went out and filled all the bird feeders. With the bad weather coming, I wanted to make sure that they had plenty of food for the next couple of days and did not want to be going out unless I really have too.
We are expecting lots of sleet, ice, or snow depending on the temperature and the swing of the weather. It seems that all the weather travels right up I-44. Right now the weather extends from Texas thru Oklahoma to Indiana and will take a while to get away from us. That means that there is a lot of time to leave us with a lot of precipitation. There is no telling what it will look like in the morning. We are all hoping that it does not get so bad that it takes out the electric lines. We have already filled the tanks in the 5th wheel. If we have to we can go out there for heat. It has the heat and stove are gas and the refrigerator is dual. So we can get by for a while if we have too. If it gets really bad....we are off to a friend's that has generators and wood heat!!

Just another one of those days....

Guess that I can report that it is just another one of those days. a couple of weeks ago I had one of those days that just tests your patience. I was trying to collect some property from the State Treasure's office. First you have to find the right item, fill out the form, print, and mail. There are no provisions for doing that on-line. Everything went well till I started to sign and mail. First let me explain that generally, I use my laptop upstairs and the printer is downstairs. Second,to be more ecological, I use both sides of paper. When you need something printed for a short time...then I re-use paper. (Usually, on-line orders or emails with phone numbers, addresses etc). Well....you can guess what is coming. I printed out two each of the forms and letters for two different item numbers. Went downstairs to fix the envelopes, sign the forms, attach everything needed and get them ready to send off. The first one I signed, and then realized it had to be notarized. Good thing that I had the second copy. The second item did not have to have a notarized form, so I signed it, got the envelope ready and went to fold the paper...... And.....it was printed on recycled paper! All of it was printed on recycled paper! I just sat there.....Not exactly the most professional way to send something to the State Treasure. I tried to copy the papers but the printing on the backs showed.....so I had to start all over by going back on the web site.....find the items....refill the forms....and reprint everything on brand new clean paper! And reprint the letters that I was sending with them. At least the second time around I remembered that one of them had to be notarized. Just another one of those things that should take a few minutes that turned into a lot more time and effort than planned on.
Now for that notarization. Normally, I just go to the bank get it notarized, fold, and mail. I had a list of other things to get done, so I worked my way from the house, through town, and to the bank.....thinking that I could continue my way onto post by the back (west) gate and make a big circle home. I should have known that somewhere along the way... I was going to get side-swiped......and did......at the bank. I was actually making my way fairly quickly though the list when.....No one at the bank branch to do notarization! You have got to be kidding me. There are at least 4 people there that notarize.....and all are gone. Now this means that I need to go to the other branch. That is almost back were I started! As I get into the car.....Shelby is glad to see me and really doesn't care if we are just about to start all over.....He loves to ride in the car and go.....even if it is just to the end of the driveway. This will be an extra treat. And it is a nice day for a ride....of course all of them are nice days for him!! I sit.....close my eyes.....take a deep breath......start the car and go back to the start of the circle. In going to the other branch, I do get to see one of the young ladies that I haven't seen for a long time. It was a nice break. I did get the letters, forms, etc off into the mail and on their way, and connect with someone not seen for a while. So not all was a loss. I did get my errands done....just not in the timely manner that I was looking for. As I was on post...I realized that I did not have the worksheet for the Thrift Store and could not turn in the stuff I was going to get rid of.....and because it was latter than I had planned on....it would have been after they usually take in stuff. So off to the commissary I went instead....after all I was already on post and did need to pick up a couple of things. Good thing! The commissary was having a sale on canned vegetables. A really good sale. (My father-in-law always said....if one is a good deal.....a case is better!) So several cases latter, I was out the door and on my way home. I did not have the time in the afternoon to get anything done at home that I had planned on. I also knew that with Tom off the next few days those things were not going to get done till the next week. I wonder why I have so much trouble getting things done in a hurry. Maybe it is just God's way to make me slow down. Or maybe the fates wanted me to connect with the lady at the bank or save a lot of money on vegetables or maybe just not be somewhere earlier in the day. I am sure that I will never know....but....I have always believed that all things happen for a reason, and I am just as sure that I will not ever know what all those reasons are.

Unlimited Choices

I recently had a conversation with a lady about all the choices that are available on things today. Years ago (really long years ago) kids had one choice of 'letter sweaters', senior pictures or class rings. And that was the way it was. Period. We were lucky enough to have the money to get one. Tom and I did get some choices in styles. Anyway, I did on class rings. They basically included the same elements, just in three different styles for females and I think two for males. We had the front of the school, year, school name etc. Senior pictures were all the same! Formal for males/with that drape for females, Suit and tie/Sunday Best, or shirt with collar and school clothes (girls did not wear t-shirts or jeans). This was decided by the class or officers of the class or by the school officials. But everyone did the same look.

Now......there are choices for absolutely everything. Senior pictures are any where and in any thing you want. Formal to super casual.....in the studio to out in a field.....with props to with nature. They are absolutely without limit and are beautiful reminders of the way you were!

We just finished with Mathew's letter jacket. (Which is why this conversation about unlimited variety was held.) And absolutely everything on it can be individualized. The large graphic on the back can be anything. (They had dozens of designs for Tigers.) The lettering style can be from several varieties of block to several of script. It can be straight to curved. And can say anything. School name, mascot name, city, your name, what ever. Then it is on to the front. Name, what you lettered in, and what ever else you want. And that is to say nothing of the size of everything. Letter, class, number....on which sleeve? It seemed that for every item that was decided.....there were at least two more. But after a large number of calls, emails, and faxes......it is finally done. His is very unique and individual. Just like him.

With the use of computers.....I can only imagine the number of things that can go into a class ring. Perhaps with the use of computers and the Internet.....things have gotten quicker, but you can certainly put in a good vote for things getting much more complicated. Makes you wonder.... in a world of unlimited choices and unlimited information, do some of the important things get left behind? By the looks of this face....maybe not.

How goes the weather?

My Grandfather always said how goes the first three days, tells the first three months.... if so, we are in for the some ups and downs in the temperatures and not much rain. The 1st had highs in the 40's and lows in the 20's and very windy. The 2nd it bounced into the mid 50's and down to the mid 20's and partially sunny. And the 3rd it jumped to the 70's and the low was only 42.
So if Grandpa Vonier is right..... We should have a normal January. Slightly warmer February. A really warmer March. Or because of the extremes of going from the 20's to the 70's and then two days latter on the 5th dropping to a high of only 32, it could jump from one extreme to the next. At least this year we did not have the tornado outbreak that we did this time last year. Violent changes....going from extreme highs....dropping to extreme lows in a matter of a few hours.... can only bring really bad weather.

The reality is that weather prediction is a guess at best. Even with all the technology, Mother Nature can be very unpredictable. We are lucky here in southern Missouri. We get occasional breaks in the winter weather with warm and sunny days which makes it a little easier to get through the long cold days.

As with all of life....you just have to take it one day at a time. It is a good guess that the only sure things are that the sun will rise and set.....death and if you make it and spend it.....someone will tax it coming and going.