Water, I Have Missed You!

Oh, the weather has been so horrible this winter.  There has been so much snow, it has been so cold, and every time I want to travel anywhere there is a blizzard, freezing rain, blowing and drifting, or all three at once.  There has been a reprieve, because in Bis it has been in the 40's the last few days...yes, 45 degrees above zero! 

I have always been fascinated with the way that temperatures feel so different depending on the context.  In October 40 degrees feels freezing cold and is accompanied by people getting out winter coats, warming up their vehicles before driving, and sending little kids to school with full winter outfits including boots and hats.  After a few months of snow, single digit and negative temperatures and blizzards 40 degrees feels so good!  Good enough to go to the Y with a sweatshirt instead of a coat and good enough to sit on the front stoop for a few minutes and enjoy the sun beating down on the warm bricks. 

Also, the sound of running water from melting snow is so invigorating, as is the sight and smell of exposed grass and pavement.  It is hard not to be in a good mood when snow is melting!

I took this photo of the little pool of runoff in our backyard on Friday.  It is much larger now.  I was going to take some more photos but I didn't want people seeing me taking closeup pictures of puddles of water and snowbanks.  It must look really strange!

I see some rocks showing through!  This was on Friday and they can really be seen now.

When we moved here, one thing I looked forward to was less snow and more moderate winters.  In my experience prior to moving here, Central and Western ND always had much better weather and warmer temps thand Eastern ND.  When my family would head to Montana to ski every year, usually in March or at the end of February, Bismarck was already snow free while at home the snow was still in place and it was still frigid and miserable.  Since we moved here this hasn't been the case and there as been record amounds of snow for the last few years.  I have been kind of dissapointed!

As you can see, there is still alot of melting to be done.  I have to mention that the snowbank in the front yard is kind of decieving.  Our lots are so narrow that it all has to be piled in a small area so there are massive piles of snow in everyone's yards from snow cleared from the driveways.

I wish it Spring was here!  However, I know better.  All I have to do is remember the April blizzard that made my junior prom a miserable cold evening that required me to wear a winter coat over my dress and suffer with freezing feet on the way to the dance.  Oh, and there was the time I graduated from law school on May 10 and woke up to a fresh dusting of snow on the ground.  Or my college graduation in May where the temp hovered near freezing and Roommate and I ran from the parking lot to the ceremony with our robes wrapped around us like coats because we both were wearing summery sun dresses and hadn't wanted to deal with keeping track of a coat. And who could forget the many Easter Sundays that were too cold to wear spring dresses and sandals and caused me to go to church in boring old dress pants and a sweater (and, most likely, some chunky and unflattering doc marten sandals with socks.  Shudder).  And there were the spring track meets and baseball games in high school where everyone wore winter coats and gloves. Oh, yeah, we have alot of cold left before spring really comes. 

Also with springtime comes the approach of the Lent season.  I never gave anything up although my friends always tried and often faltered to give up fast food, beer (but not hard alcohol) snacking, and most commonly soda.  I can't believe I am saying this, but I am thinking about cutting WAY back on my soda consumption, and not because of Lent approaching.  I saw on the news about a study that indicated that people who drank diet soda had a 61% greater chance of having vascular issues like a stroke.  Yikes.  I usually completely blow of any study that says that using or consuming something fun (cell phones, alcohol) or delicious (fried food, salt) shows some small percentage of an increase in cancer, strokes, heart disease, etc.  But usually the percentage is pretty small and 61% is not a small percentange.  It has really got me thinking about if I really need to drink so much Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper.  I think both are delicious but do I really need a can each day?  Do I need a 20 oz. bottle every time I am on a car trip?  I don't know...this is tough...I love pop!  So I thought I would not give it up completely but just see how it felt to go a day or two without.  I had none yesterday and I haven't had any today...yet...wish me luck!

Allan says he hopes everyone has a good weekend. 

New Year's S&%!storm 2010/11

In general, I don't think snowstorms are worth mentioning.  Like we all haven't seen the results before!  However, this New Year's Eve weekend was such a disaster I had to record it. There were two serious blizzards in two days.  When the bad weather started some freezing rain fell so there was (and still is) a lethal coat of ice all over everything.  My car is still a block of ice because of it.  My side mirrors are coated with ice that is so thick that I cant't penetrate it with a scraper without worrying about breaking the glass.  There is no where to bring my car that is warm.  So...I have been driving around with a limited rear view.  Also, there has been so much snow that the streets are getting narrow and what is usually three lanes is now two and you just have to drive wherever the person in front of you is driving.  No one knows where the lanes really are.  And the snow drifts are so high you can't see around corners to see if another car is there.  It's a huge mess and accidents are rampant. 

All of this snow and drifting happened on the 30th and 31st.  On New Year's Eve the interstates were closed so Justin couldn't make it here.  He tried and had to turn back.  The mall closed and many bars were closed!  That means it was serious!  It was the most dull and anticlimactic New Year's Eve I have had since I was a teenager.  Sigh...

Kirk had to remove snow from the first blizzard on Friday and the second one on Saturday.  I'm glad I didn't have to help.  I loathe snow removal.

The snow fills in their front walkway in a very extreme way.  Yikes.  He had to deal with this two days in a row. 

Snow inflitrated the dog door in the garage and left this lovely surprise.

 In the back yard the snow drifted as high as the fence, which is about 8 feet high.  Kirk had to dig a trench near the top so Jake wouldn't jump over the fence!  The sun looks pretty amazing in this photo!

This the drifting that accumulated on one side of the house. 

At least someone had fun!

Happy New Year everyone!  It was a memorable one!

Oooh I Forgot About This...

I was in Bismarck this weekend and it snowed all day and all night on Saturday. Justin went hunting early on Saturday morning. When he got up he looked out the window and said that there was snow on the ground. I haven't seen serious snow this year...wherever it happens I am conveniently somewhere else! I decided I wasn't going to shovel on Saturday because I knew it was going to keep snowing. On Saturday night it really picked. I went out for a few hours and when I left the bar there was considerable accumulation on my car! It was light and fluffy and went up my sleeves when I was brushing it off...brrrr!

On Sunday morning there was no avoiding it...I had to try to remove the snow from the driveway. Oh, how I loath shoveling snow. I have spent most of my life living in a place where my dad takes care of high volumes of snow with large machinery and shovels are rarely needed. I wouldn't mind a stoop or a sidewalk but clearing our whole driveway is a time consuming and tiring ordeal. Our driveway is so long! I got started but after about 20 minutes and not much progress I went inside and called Justin and told him I wasn't going to shovel anymore and he could use the snowblower when he got home.

I was sitting in the living room, with the TV up loud so I could hear over the sound of snowblowers running at my neighbors' houses, when I saw snow swirling nd flying out the window. My neigbor was clearing our driveway with this snowblower! He has a habit of going up and down the block and clearing the sidewalks and he must have seen my poor attempts and shoveling and taken pity.  Very nice!

I put up the Christmas tree...I will do a post about it later but here are a few pictures as a preview...

What's this?

Hmmm....looks fun!

Ooooh, my little Christmas kitten!

We Have a Snow Issue!

I was at my parents' house recently and there is so much snow around there that I can't believe it. We moved to the farm right after I turned 8 and now I am almost 27 and I have never seen snow like that in my life. My mom remembers it being like that in 1997, but I don't. (Probably because I was in 8th grade and not driving and worrying about its removal yet!)

This is a photo of the North side of the farm and a notorious drifting area. Usually my dad ends up clearing it himself because it takes so long for the county to attend to it and it becomes impassable. On the left is a very deep ditch that has a very slanted shoulder. If you stand in it with no snow you can't see over the road. It is filled completely with snow and the snow is higher than the road. The passage is so wide because of the rare appearance of a bulldozer clearing the way for the school bus. I can't wait to see what a mess this will turn into in a few weeks!
The snow situation is getting pretty crazy in Bismarck as well, although it is not as bad as in Eastern ND. Our front yard has snow piled waist high, and our neigbor has a snow pile in front of his house that is about as tall as his house! Our lots are pretty narrow, so there aren't alot of places to put it! The yard looks really bad because the Christmas decorations are still up and the ornaments are looking faded and rejected. The tree is not accessible at the moment, thought, so they will have to stay until the snow melts!
Justin started a new project yesterday. Its a workbench in the basement! He says he needs to reinforce it more and add a shelf above and below. I wonder what he will be working on down there?

January, Tedious January

Is it over yet? January is my least favorite month. Whatever gym I have ever belonged to has always been really busy and congested (but only for January, of course!) I want people to get healthy, but I also want them to give up already, because I know most will, so I can have my favorite equipment back and a close parking space! The weather is bad and cold (so cold!), and there isn't much to do except watch TV and clean.

There are some good aspects of January. My favorite aspect: Bargain shopping for wrapping paper and sweaters! Also, my brother, sister, and cousin all have birthdays one week apart on the 11, 18, and 25! Justin likes it because he can go ice fishing and there is always football on TV. We have more good aspects this year because a new baby joined the family on Friday the 8th! I'm not sure how to spell his name, so I'm not going to butcher it right now, but he is the son of Jenny and Cory and i can't wait to see him. Also, we are going to Mexico for a week at the end of the month for my cousin's wedding! I get to leave for one whole week of my least favorite month!

Here are some photos from the last week. . .

Justin loves a perfectly cleared driveway! Good thing one of us does! We have a lot of snow, and there are still 3 months left of possible snowfall! Blaahhhh!



The envelopes from our Christmas cards that I separated while I was organizing them. So many friends and relatives! I love hearing from everyone!

Yes, that is Allan on top of the fridge. I think we have a problem. He is constantly striving to find the highest surface possible. I think he found it! I will admit that he lookos very dignified. He's not a baby anymore!


A few days ago I was trying to put a dish away and one of the brackets in this cabinet broke and I caught it just in time before it collapsed and broke all of the dishes! Can you imagine the tragedy if all of this lovely Fiestaware broke! I can't think of it! It's fixed now, though. Sorry the photo is sideways. I forgot to rotate it!

Blizzard Alvin Sabotages Christmas

We just returned from Hatton after spending the night of the 24th and all day of the 25th and 26th sitting around in sweatpants at my parents' house watching every dvd anyone got for a gift and anything else that was on TV. None of our expected guests were able to come and it was pretty boring. We didn't get to do our "As Seen on TV" gift exchange game and my Grandma was stuck by herself in Red Lake Falls. There were no cousin antics or jokes about eating beans. I got alot of presents though! Including a new camera and computer! Here are some photos I took. . .







These three spend several hours of Christmas day playing "The Farming Game" (Which, if you didn't know, is a monopoly-esqe game involving crops, livestock and market fluctuations.) I don't think I've ever seen this game played in my life but it finally saw the light of day!

This was taken out the front door on Christmas night. It's hard to see, but it is still raging out there. I thought the little trees looked pretty.
On the 26th I put on some snowpants and went trudging around the yard while my dad was busy with his snowblower tractor attachment. (He also went to our neigbor's house because his snowblower was trapped in a garage with a huge drift in front of it and also out of gas! What a mess this whole weekend was!) Once it was possible to leave the yard, Justin and Pete ignored the "no travel advised" warnings and went to Grand Forks. On the way they pulled the same car out of snow drifts 5 times (for real!) Pictured above is the huge drift against our garage.

Pretty trees. . .
We left the farm early this afternoon. We drove through town and I can say that I have seen alot of blizzards in my life, but I've never seen such big snow drifts. The whole fronts of houses and buildings were blocked! Then we were on our way back to Bismarck where we came upon. . .

This! And. . .

THIS! Oh, what fun. . .This took Justin about 1.5 hours to clear with a snowblower. Some kind neigbor had cleared the way to our front door and the sidewalk in front of the house, but other than that. . .I hope it doesn't snow for a few weeks. Snow removal is not fun. I have shoveled that driveway once this year when it snowed 2 inches (Justin has more) and I don't like it. I haven't done much shoveling in my life due to living in apartments and before that due to my dad's previously mentioned snow removal equipment. A drawback of having a house, for sure, but it's still worth it!