Our dear sister, Annette, lost her father earlier this week. Please lift her and her family up in your prayers as they both mourn and rejoice over his homecoming.

I don't think I'll miss winter...

It looks like a tornado came through...

Currently, 100,000 homes are without power. They are estimating 7 to 10 days before everything is back on line. 54 schools are also without power so classes have been cancelled for the rest of the week. We currently have 5800 downed power lines and expect more in the days ahead. This is the second largest power outage in Kentucky's history. The number one outage was four months ago with Hurricane Ike.


Evening driving can be treacherous because you come upon things like this. A tree that is no longer where it is supposed to be. With street lights and traffic lights out, it makes it harder to see stuff like this. (and some silly people who stop the car to take pictures might happen to find their tires spinning when they try to drive off because that part of the street has not been treated. Silly people. Who probably won't do that again.) Josh and I will be venturing out this evening to pick Jessi up from work. They are keeping the libraries open regular hours to allow people without power a place to go til nine. Which is a great, compassionate idea. Unless you are a mom of a library employee. Who worries about her daughter driving in these conditions after dark.

For some reason, this photo fascinates me. I think it's because this little weed thing is determined to survive, no matter what nature throws it's way. Either that or there's a tiny alien trapped under the snow with only his dealy-bobbers sticking out.

(or perhaps the weather is beginning to affect my brain.)

We are surviving the "white blanket of death."

Unfortunately, quite a bit of Louisville is out of power with more expected to lose power throughout the day.

At this point, it appears that we are trapped in our subdivision because of the number of trees that are down. (Josh says that it looks worse than Hurricane Ike.) Every time I walk outside, the silence is broken by the sound of trees crashing to the ground. It's very eerie.

I will be trying to go to work later today assuming I can tunnel my way out of here so any and all prayers would be appreciated.

This just in...

You have to appreciate the glistening effect the ice gives the snow. The sparkling "white blanket of death" looks so inviting.

I'm wondering how long icicles can get before they break off. I guess I'll check again in the morning. Assuming my door doesn't ice shut.

These magnolia leaves are not normally here. They are supposed to be up there. Not so low to the ground. Sadly, not long after I took this picture, they snapped off the top of the tree and are now dog toys in the backyard. Interestingly enough, this particular magnolia is very resilient. Fifteen years ago we had a huge ice/snow storm (22 inches of snow plus ice on top of that) that shut down our city for a week. At the time we had a different basset hound that felt his mission in life was to eat every tree we had in our backyard. He had stripped this poor little magnolia of all it's leaves except the very top couple of feet which he could not reach.

Until it snowed 22 inches and then put a hard layer of ice on top.

A hard layer of ice that enabled him to use the snow as a step ladder and snatch the remaining leaves off the tree.

When spring came, Josh planted the magnolia "stick" on the side of the house and it has grown into a towering two story tall work of art.

Until tonight.

However, I'll be reminding it of it's amazing powers of recovery. (that storm was also responsible for me breaking my elbow. I'm hoping we don't have a repeat performance. I don't think I'm as resilient as I used to be.)

a breath of spring air...

Well, it snowed. And sleeted. And freezing rained. And now, after a brief interlude, we will get to do it all over again. At least the freezing rain and sleet part. The weathermen are threatening us with a major ice storm. Assuming of course that the moon lines up with Venus, we all lean to the left while sticking our tongues in our right cheek, and Don Ho sings "Tiny Bubbles" on the radio. In other words, we'll see. Actually, this is one of the few times where we can actually say that something is coming. We're not quite sure what that something is going to be when it gets here, but something is coming for dinner.

School is out today. On any other school day, Jonathan could sleep til two and still be tired. Today, he was up at 6:40 a.m. As in, the morning. Without complaining, grumping or being disagreeable. (He was actually quite perky. Which was a tad bit disconcerting.) I also did not have to go into work. However, Josh and Jessi both had to go to work today. Josh made it to work without much trouble and I braved the elements to drive her to work. I will say that the roads are mostly icky. With a factor of yuck thrown in. The city has done it's best to plow and salt and so forth, but when it is sleeting nonstop, it's kind of hard to keep up. Fortunately, we made it back and forth safely. Now we just have to go back out and pick her up and then we will be staying home for the rest of the day.

The biggest concern we have right now is the upcoming "ice-capades". Unfortunately, ice usually means downed trees and power lines. Which means cold houses. So, we are hopeful that we get just enough ice to be beautiful, but not enough to cause any issues. Because we don't like issues.

There is, however, under all the snow, sleet and ice, a touch of spring. Josh brought me a potted hyacinth a couple of days ago and it is blooming all over itself. Every time I walk in the kitchen, I am treated to a reminder that spring will come. Someday. Until then, I'll be layered up and hunkered down. Waiting.

the british are coming, the british are coming!

Oh my goodness, great Aunt Betsy! It's going to snow! Batten down the hatches! No, wait, dash to the grocery for milk and bread, then batten down the hatches!

The all knowing, all seeing weather man has declared a snow emergency. We MIGHT get upwards of six to ten inches of snow BEFORE we get some ice. (sort of like "icing" on the cake?)

Of course, anyone who is familiar with Louisville knows that all weather is subject to the rules of the Ohio Valley bubble. In other words, the entire world might get snow but as soon as it approaches our side of the river, the magical bubble automatically shields the city from any precipitation. Which is really kind of disappointing for any child hoping for a snow day. (Or any adult that is hoping for a snow day from work for that matter.)

Anyway, the great snowfest of January 2009 isn't supposed to start until tomorrow evening, leaving the paranoid with plenty of time to fret and obsess about our impending snow-doom. However, I hereby pledge to keep you all informed about the progress of the approaching snow-venture. (and those of you who live in real snow areas, please don't laugh. We really are snow wimps.)

My baby...

She makes me proud....

(It still seems weird to me that she has grown into an adult with like opinions of her own and everything.)