Snow-maggedon2008 2.0

So we are at 16 fresh inches on top of the consolidated 5 inches that are now a solid sheet of ice. Jonathan is checking the level with the 24 inch measuring level.

In the last 48 hours we have had 21 inches of snowfall. And yet the kids were out sledding in the arctic tundra risking their lives with my permission, what a bad dad. I wonder if the Seattle schools were out today?

I enjoyed a life-threating 3 mile run on our trails in knee deep powder. It was a great time.

The woods were a quiet wonderland of snow and trails. It was great.

Tonight I was scheduled to be on shift at the Fire Department. Here we go with a great example of why... well just look at the Honda Civic Snow Plow...

I spent 45 minutes gaining 100 or so feet of my own driveway. It was amazing. The whole back and forth thing could have been out of an America's Funniest Videos. After securely anchoring the Civic in a frozen hole I contacted the department letting them know it was becoming evident I may not make it in. They filled the shift quickly with a local volunteer. Then I switched to the wife's car...

As you can imagine that didn't go so well either. We spent a large portion of last night getting Cheryl and here car home, finally deciding to park it in the neighbors driveway because we could not get into our own. As I made some very husbandly attempts to free her vehicle from the glacier, I, uh, well. The wonderfully secure cable chains were quickly entangled in the front axle after a few well practiced "back-and-forths" and a good rear ending of the neighbors shrubs. I called the department and confirmed I would not be in tonight, they understood. Cheryl and the boys were excited to have me home for the night.

Tony

Snow-mageddon 2008!!!

A local radio personality is doing a hearty tongue in cheek broadcast on the day's snowfall, highlighting the tremendous and utterly ridiculous media coverage of what has become another bust of a forecast. The people of Seattle are speaking out from their fully automated and stocked bunkers, from their Honda's with chains on the rear wheels, from their child filled homes due to school closures, and from places of employment with stories of commutes taking an amazing and ridiculous 30 to 45 SECONDS longer than normal. Mass hysteria has gripped the area...I am so glad we are better people than our parents. We look back on the snow days of the past with fond memories of hours of freezing fantastic fun, when in fact, according to today's safety procedures and warnings our parents would be locked up for endangerment!! How dare you allow your children to frolic in such a dangerous environment!! How dare you allow them to lose a glove or a boot, For the LOVE OF...DUCT TAPE IT ON!! Better yet don't let them go outside it's practically 34 degrees outside. We should declare an environmental and geographical emergency!! Where is global warming when we need it? (I think I'm gonna hyperventilate...where's my paper bag?)

Jonathan made a Calvin and Hobbes-esque snowman eating a carrot. Thankfully his frostbite was minimal and he will recover quickly, phew, potential disaster averted all in the name of snow sculpting. I've downloaded the latest legal description of jumps on sledding runs and have found out maximum height limits have again, for the safety of all children young and old, been reduced from a bone breaking height of 1.5 inches to a much safer politically correct 1/2 of and inch. I am so thankful we are safer now. No more bruised buns or jumping over dad, there will be none of that 'round here. A kid down the street was just arrested for using a...SLED, gasp!

Not to be out done and in a effort to utilize his school sponsored snowman building kit Gabe crafted a well rounded second to his brother's snowman. It was a test of endurance to brave the ever endangering temps hovering at a water freezing 32 degrees with wind chills dropping the temp to a freeze drying 31 degrees. The brave and intrepid artist pushed himself past the limits of most human endeavors to get the corncob pipe placed with incredible accuracy just in time to retreat to prevent hallucinations due to his hypothermia.

Oh, Mac&Cheese and hot cocoa have never saved a better pair of explorers. Later today, per or insurance carrier, we will have safety fencing and flood lights installed to prevent anyone from be placed in a dangerous situation while viewing the statues.

I hear rumors of an underground movement to actually build an illegal sledding run in the neighbors back yard, the jumps will be well over 3 inches high. I must do my part to squash any such action......or at least test the thing out!! WooHOO!! Were off again!!

Tony

P.S. The Psycho Cookies are on Cheryl's camera...I'll get them posted soon.

Interuptions...

I seem to have misplaced my camera and therefor I will delay the Psycho Cookie posting... On to other topics... It seems some of you have an opinion regarding the amount of life miles I have recorded. Well if you think I have an issue with running let me refer you to the Running Streak List for a dose of real fanaticism. These folks are a bit, well let's just say the are serious about running. I have found counting miles to be a bit more manageable than a running streak. Even with my meager collection of miles I don't even come close to the all time cumulative miles list. It seems I'm just an average Joe Runner. I feel so much better now. And yet I did pull off a 3.5 mile ice/snow run yesterday. Next topic... Our Christmas tree is up and twinkling. The boys, with help from a couple friends, decorated the side of the tree they could reach and in time, when the weight of all those trinkets reached a dangerous level, the tree came down. Yes we had a "TIMBER" moment in the living room. We have since recovered from the trauma and the tree is connected to the wall via super strong stealth string and a drywall screw. Last year's cookie caper has been repeated although to a smaller scale. Last year around this time, Sodhi, our 60 lb Goldendoodle, escaped (in the middle of the night) and decimated our collection of Christmas cookies, including the espresso laden biscotti. Fast forward to yesterday, and he managed to take advantage of the Buckeyes cooling on the back porch. Buckeyes are basically a frozen ball of peanut butter, powdered sugar and real butter dipped in chocolate, the perfect 15,000 calorie snack in a neat and tasty package. So they get dunked and need to cool for the chocolate shell to harden for freezer storage. I fill the chest freezer in the garage and having run out of available room, put the last tray of 20 or so balls of goodness on the back porch (It's 20 some degrees outside). He found them. I hear an odd sound of cookie sheet on ice with the added accent of wax paper crumpling and happy dog noises. My brain instantly remembers leaving the cookies on the back porch and I know exactly what the noises mean COOKIE THIEF!! Sprinting to the location of the crime I arrive in time to rescue about 25% of the valued morsels. The dog, caught re-pawed, quickly retreats to the 5" of crusty snow in the yard knowing I would not initiate a barefoot chase. I figured he'll get his when the pound or so of peanut butter and chocolate start to digest. Last night he didn't eat dinner and WOW did he have gas! Usually such an act of disrespectful behaviour would generate a stern, "BAD DOG!!" But in this case it might need to be, "BAD HUMAN!!" for leaving the cookies out in the open. Psycho Cookie photos and stories to come, I promise. Tony

Updates

Hello from Monroe where it is snowing and cold. We have about 2" of white stuff on our back porch from last night's dumping. Currently the temps are dropping and we are expecting more snowfall tonight , WooHoo

Thanks to all of you who have asked about the job search. Things are going as well as expected in the first two weeks of unemployment. I have submitted the paperwork to update my teaching certificate and have apps. pending in Monroe and Sultan School Districts. we'll see what comes up. I am also going to pursue full time firefighting in that I will be testing soon,and applying with many fire districts around the Puget Sound region.

On to the snow. We have a wonderful lace-leaf maple outside our living room window. It has a full canopy of leaves in the summer and a wonderful blaze of fall color. But not anymore. he heavy wet snow overloaded the branches and over night the tree split perfectly down the center in three equal sections. The maple is no more.

Tonight is the 8th (or 9th) annual PSYCHO COOKIE night. I will update with many photos later. Our friends from the Graham area driving up for the night. I will encourage Steve to swim down the Puyallup river to Puget Sound, head north to the mouth of the Snohomish River and head upstream to the fork of the Snoqualmie and the Skykomish rivers, left turn Clyde. Proceede up the Skykomish river to the Lewis Street bridge and then another left turn will send up Woods Creek to the Bollenbaugh Hill bridge. Exit the stream and the transition to the run portion of the journey to our home. Although today if may be a cross-country ski leg instead.

See ya in a few hours with cookie photos.....

Tony

Updates

That whooshing sound you ask.....no it wasn't Superman, it was November.

The month of November 2008 has come and gone and with it a few life changes and updates.

Gabriel still fits in the dryer and has yet to produce two new teeth to replace his missing from chompers. He starts winter Basketball season tonight.

Jonathan just finished a fun soccer season, making new friends along the way. The team had a great time improving their skills and working together.

Cheryl and I have now reached 12 years of marriage. We celebrated with a relaxing "boy-less" dinner out.

I am now unemployed. The last month was a challenging time for me professionally and personally. It became apparent my current job did not have the ability to meet some basic family priorities. I fought with this realization for a time and in doing so learned a lot about myself and my behavior patterns. Cheryl and I have begun a new marriage chapter (#12) as we work hard to become a stronger couple, better parents and attain our family goals. We are both very excited about the future for the four of us resting in the knowledge that God has everything under control and we only need to know the next few steps. We have been very blessed over the past 12 years and know that the path we have chosen remains the same. It will be an interesting month of December and 2009. We love you all very much and appreciate your support.

I can' quite find the words to describe what Gabe's sketch stirs deep in me but I know I will do whatever I can to keep holding his (and Jonathan's) hand.

Tony

P.S. Anyone hiring?