Storm...My Boy...Storm... Zoo Lights...Nutcracker...Storm...HOME!

Storm:
Dec.16, Tuesday- Seattle News......."Arctic Blast"......my father panic's, calls me and he says "a storm is coming you need to leave now so you don't want to get caught in the storm." So I leave at 10:00pm and drive to Sandy, OR and stay at my brother's (Matt & Beth's). Roads were good and I got there safe.

My Boy:
Wednesday, was a mixture of snow, rain, cold, but nothing to bad it would rain and go away. At 10am I get a call my little boy blue (car) is done and I can pick him up. Matt and the family take me to get my car about 4pm, on our way to the Zoo to see the Portland lights. The car looked good and for 7,000 for fixtures I hope he will continue to be a great car.

Storm:
We left and went to the Zoo, which is up on a hill. It is snowing hard and harder as we get to the Zoo. I stressed because I just picked up my car and I don't want anything to happen to it now. Though, I trust my driving it is others I don't trust in OR. We make it to the Zoo just fine with a good 3 in of snow on the ground.

Zoo Lights:
We get to the Zoo and everyone had to get dressed for the weather. (It reminded me of when dad would take us skiing) Put your ski pants on, get your warm boots on put your gloves on etc...
Hayden didn't like having to put so much clothing on, but I do have to say Matt dressed him up like the kid brother in the "Christmas Story" who couldn't put his arms down. All you could see of Paige were her eyes in the stroller. Bailey was very sad that there were no walrus's the only animals they got to see were the elephants and insects. They had all kinds of zoo animal figure lite up, it was done very well. I recommend going. Going through the Portland Zoo in the snow was the best part, something you don't get to do every year. IT WAS A BLAST. Then we all went to Sheri's for hot coco and dinner. It was a great time and I got to be a part of it.

Nutcracker:
That night putting the kids to bed I started watching the end of the Nutcracker and Bailey was very upset that she could not watch it. So I said (to get her into bed) "if the Nutcracker is on in the morning we will watch then"(know it would not be) so she went to be.

Thursday morning I woke up to check on the weather and Bailey came out and said "remember you said if the Nutcracker was on we could watch it" ( Oh the memory of Babes) She climbed into bed with me and I flipped through the channels. "I said Bailey, I don't think it is on. She was very sad. I kept flipping then a channel we came to was on the history of the Nutcracker and I said this is on the History of the Nutcracker but I don't think it will be on. She said ok. We watched about 15 min of it and the next thing the lady said was we will know be watching the San Francisco Ballet of the Nutcracker. Bailey looked at me and was so excited and I looked at Beth and we couldn't believe it. One by one the kids crawled in bed with me and we watched the Nutcracker on TV it was a very fun morning. Watching the Nutcracker by the fire with the kids as it snowed outside.

Storm:
I awoke to snow on the ground but was not concerned as I watched the Nutcracker with the kids but by 10am it was snowing hard with big flakes. Since I was leaving for Eugene I decided I better leave before it got any worse. The snow was sticking to the roads and so I decided to be safe (with my new fixed up car) and put my snow chains on....ok Matt put my chains on (he can be a good brother) And he said "those chains were really easy to put on"). I got on the road and drove slow and safely to the main road. I drove down the road for awhile , but soon it had very little snow on the road. I was embarrassed so about 45 min out and several pullovers (to let others go by). I pulled over and tried to take off the chains. It was at this very moment. I had a break down of frustration and wished I was married. Why do I have to do this alone I thought. As I tried to find the hook at the back of the tire to remove them. It was cold, dirty and frustrating. Then I do what I always do at these moments...say to myself buck-up and get the job done. So after about 30 min of trying to get the chains off, a few tears, I did it muddy, dirty, grease snow and all. And only after I got them off did I realize the company put long sleeve plastic gloves in the box so you wouldn't get dirty taking them off..... ahg! But then I got a call for a job interview with a company that was to call me back right after Thanksgiving...I guess they are a little slow in calling. But my interview will be Friday.

HOME:
The drive from Matt and Beth's was really good and I got home safe. Walked in the door and felt like HOME....It is GREAT BEING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!