Happy Holidays!

We had an unusual Christmas this year. We still managed to get to Miller and Estelline, but our stay in Miller was cut a bit short because of an impending storm of doom. So, we headed over to Estelline on Tuesday afternoon to avoid nasty driving. The storm stalled out a bit and didn't really hit until Christmas Eve, but it was foggy and drizzley on the 23rd so we were glad we were in Estelline and didn't have to worry about driving. Stephanie managed to get out of work on the 23rd so she could leave early to get to Estelline. Kristopher and Marie did not make it home because they wouldn't have been able to leave until Christmas Eve. Once the snow started...it snowed steadily for 3 days. They cancelled church on Christmas Eve and closed the interstates for 2 days. Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time playing board games and we even managed to watch a couple of movies.

I am glad that we didn't have to try to get on the road until Sunday. I-29 in South Dakota was still quite slippery...but once we made it to Sioux City, the roads were much better and we arrived home safely last night.

Despite the nasty weather, we did have a lovely Christmas. I got some great gifts. Rob spoiled me a bit this year and got me both a new DS and an Ipod Touch (he did promise me that he got great deals on both of them though :). Rob also gave me a Royal Blue Snuggie. It was mostly for the laugh, but I tried it out last night and am a bit ashamed to admit that it's dang cozy.

Photos from this Christmas:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjanesetnes/sets/72157623087276698/

Bacon!

Snow!

When all was said and done, we ended up with about 16 inches of snow. It fell steadily over a 36 hour time period and was accompanied by strong winds (regularly gusting around 40 mph). DMACC let out early on Tuesday, cancelled all classes on Wednesday, and started late on Thursday. Because of my end of the semester schedule, I ended up home for all three days.

Today I am doing laundry and wrapping Christmas presents. Yesterday I made some Christmas cookies. Rob ventured in to work and found himself one of 11 employees who managed to make it in. The numbers grew slightly as the day went on, but management decided to let everyone go at 1pm. They even went to the nearby HyVee and picked up lasagna for everyone who made it in. Rob said that the roads were the worst he’s seen in town since we’ve moved here.

Our entryway/parking lot/ roadway here at the apartments is still full of snow. They’ve carved out passage ways, but many of the cars are still buried in drifts which make it difficult to get in and out of parking spots.

Today we started out very cold. It got down to about -10 last night. But the sun is out so we have warmed up to about 10 above zero. I bundled up and took the trash out and took the Christmas cards (which have been sitting ready to go since it started snowing) out to the central mailbox. I couldn’t stop smiling. Perhaps it was all of the fluffy white snow, or the strange feeling of being comfortable—at home—in this cold snow-packed weather. I’m sure that will wear off as soon as I have to drive in it. But for now, my car is still entrenched in a large snow bank. I cleared off all of the windows of snow to let sun do its work, but I still have an awful lot of snow moving to do to get my car free tomorrow.

Photos of the snow:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahjanesetnes/sets/72157622845734983/

Blizzard

It's snowing steadily and supposed to intensify this afternoon and evening--and then the wind is supposed to pick up. All told they are forecasting about a foot of snow here in the Des Moines Metro.

Fortunately I have a working day scheduled for my students today, so I didn't have to agonize over my commute. Which is good, because DMACC isn't closing until 2:30, and the roads are really nasty right now and only getting worse.

Because I am home today, I am taking the opportunity to get caught up on my gradebook and do laundry. I am even baking some pumpkin bread. Later I hope to get started on present wrapping.

We got a little bit of snow on Sunday night, here is a photo from our balcony on Monday (12/7) Morning:

Here are some photos from noon today (12/8):