Well, the weather outside is frightful...

It truly has been frightful lately. Once the arctic snap ended, we got our classic Portland winter rain and standard low 40's temperatures. Pretty manageable. But then the rain stopped, the thermometer eased its way down a bit, and the winds picked up. Just so you know, we get some wicked winds here in December and January. Gusts can reach the 50 mph mark easily. So, the thermometer might say it's 32, but the wind chill brings it down into the 20's. And it sounds like a banshee is wailing outside the house. That's what we've had going on here for the past week or so. It's funny, but even after living here for 10+ years, I still can't get used to seeing fir tree detritus in the yard and gutters after a wind storm. I grew up with leaves, so it still takes me aback a little.



Today, I got up and noted that the wind had stopped, and the weather seemed to be changing. I think my observations jinxed us. The girls and I left the house to get our H1N1 vaccinations and to run errands. Famished after waiting two hours for our shots, we decided to get some lunch. In the middle of our meal, Emily suddenly said, "Oh, my gosh, it's snowing!" And was it ever. Not forecasted, it caught us completely off guard. It was coming down hard and fast, and that meant we needed to forego our errands and make our way home quickly. If you've ever visited us, you know that you have to climb a rather impressive hill to get to our neighborhood. And, when it snows and the streets get covered, we can get snowed in - or need to chain up the tires to go anywhere. The fear is that we'll get caught downhill and won't be able to make it up to our house (nearly happened to Larry once...).

We made it home just in time because we ended up getting nearly 4 inches within 3 hours. We built a fire in the fireplace and sat next to it playing games in the light of the Christmas tree with snow gently falling just outside the living room window. Very peaceful and cozy.

Darkness has come upon us quickly and the opportunity for pictures is rather limited...



Emily is out playing in it now - because it's supposed to warm up and rain tonight. Her masterpiece is a Dr. Who-inspired Weeping Angel snow sculpture. No mere snowman for her!



By morning, it may be washed away completely. I hope so, since I have two doctor's appointments, the girls are both due at the dentist for a cleaning, and I have a party to attend tomorrow night - our busiest winter break day yet!

In the meantime, Larry has to go in to work tonight, so he's putting chains on his tires in an effort to get there in one piece. Poor baby...



We'll see how it looks in the morning, and whether we can make it to any of our appointments! In the meantime, it is pretty...