A Brief Wintry Wonderland

Yes, it's true.  Tonight, I'm sitting on the couch with the patio door open, enjoying a day that was 75 degrees.  Last week, though was a different story.  On Wednesday, we had an ice storm, when I saw no less than 6 accidents on my way to work.  I woke up Wednesday morning at 5:30 like I always do, and checked the outside temperature because it had been raining all night.  At that point, it was still 48 degrees.  By the time I left for school at 6:30, it was 32, and by the time my car slid into the school parking lot, it was down to 19 (and still raining).  Crazy weather.

The weekend before that, we actually had an ice storm which turned into a real, live, school-canceling, work-canceling, SNOW DAY!!!!  IN CENTRAL TEXAS!!!!!!!!!  I was ecstatic about this, because I do occasionally miss those northern blizzards.  This was the first time that Miss Lady was able to play in the snow, and she didn't really know what to make of it.  She walked outside the apartment the first thing that morning, went down the first two steps, and then just stopped and stared at the white stuff on the ground, and looked back at us, as if to say "Well, now what're you going to do about this?  This is not a part of my morning routine."

Here's a few pictures from that morning...not real exciting, but at least they do prove that the snow actually existed:

And now, ten days later, I'm going to go find my bathing suit so that I can go for a swim tomorrow after work!  Ok...not really, because being inside all winter has not helped my pasty-whiteness, but maybe once a I gain a little color back I'll hit the pool.  We'll see...

Life is a Highway, or RASCAL FLATTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday night I went to a Rascal Flatts concert with my friend Kelly. I've always wanted to see them, and when we found out they were coming a couple of months ago, we snatched up tickets. Chris Young and Luke Bryan opened for them, and then they came out with a bang:

Sorry the video is so bad...I may or may not have danced my way through the entire concert. Also, sorry if you hear a random shriek halfway through the video...I may or may not have screamed incessantly through a good portion of the concert. I can neither confirm nor deny these rumors...

I decided not to take my DSLR camera, because it's just so big. Instead, I brought a small digital camera and my Flip video camera. Unfortunately, when I pulled the digital camera out of my purse at the concert, I discovered that the batteries were dad. Needless to say, the Flip camera was going to have to suffice for both video and still shots.

When we left the concert, it had started to sleet, but that's a story for a different day....

snOMG

The heat is cranked up. The dog and I share several blankets on the couch. All of the plants are inside, safe and sound, viewing the patio from my bookcase. I have a roaring fire in the fireplace. I'm about to start a pot of chili and make a vat of hot apple cider. All of this, in preparation for what has been termed the "Storm of the Century" or "Snomaggedon".

Keep in mind, though, that I live in central Texas, and, while it is frigidly windy and cold, the chances of it snowing at all -- let alone a blizzard -- are almost null. We won't get the several feet of snow that much of the country is expected to get, but that doesn't lesson the fact that it's wicked cold out there! I woke up in the middle of the night last night, startled by the sound of what were supposedly 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts.

Most ironic of all, though, is that yesterday our temps were actually in the 70s. On Sunday, Dutch Boy and I took Miss Lady for a serious hike at the creek, and she even went swimming. Some pictures from the weekend, pre-Ice Age:

And, since it's February, I guess I need to declare my February resolution to the masses: This month, I will spend 10 or 15 minutes straightening up every night, in order to lessen the need for cleaning on the weekends (because nothing ruins a weekend like decluttering).