Stargazer

Elementary, my dear Watson

Let's simplify this description of our winter weather; it sucks. It started in mid-December with bitter cold and ferocious snow storms, ice and not very typical conditions in our marine (or some prefer Mediterranean) climate. We usually have a couple of days of half-hearted snow which quickly melts.(very enjoyable and not too disruptive) And yes, we do whine about a couple of inches of snow, so what? We live on the frigging West Coast! Naturally since we were getting hammered with snow, the mountains were inundated with it. But our relief about the return of our normal warm and wet weather changed to horror when it started to rain continually (not a complaint, just a statement of fact), and all the mountain snow began to melt and slide into the rivers and onto the roads that lead from West to East in my state. So...

• the downtown of my town is being flooded, as are many of the roads, even up on the hill where I live. District events and sports were cancelled across my district and we were even rushed out of our staff meeting with the admonition, "Get home while you still can!"
• several adjoining towns who share the same river, the same mountain snow melt runoff and the incessant falling rain have been evacuated.
• all, every single one of our mountain passes are closed. In fact, a whole mountain of snow slid off at one ski resort, taking out a couple of lifts and a house.
• Many local roads are closed, leading to strange and scary detours, but the big news is that they've closed or are closing several sections of Interstate 5.(for those of you who don't know, I-5 is our biggest, most important freeway, and is critical to commerce and to the sanity of drivers trying to go north or south)
• And it continues to pour...when is it time for spring?

Cosmic joke

Yesterday when I happened to glance out the window and saw it snowing, I just about lost it. Much as I've loved my 2 1/2 weeks of vacation, and in spite of all my whining about going back to work, it was definitely time to get back into the routine. Thankfully, the snow melted away, Younger Daughter arrived safely in Bellingham and Older Daughter came back to spend the night, which is always a treat. Naturally, I slept poorly and felt extremely grouchy, thus my horoscope made me cringe laugh.
Your charm is bubbling out of you like vintage champagne today, and it will enable you to have a good time doing just about anything today! This kind of can-do positive energy will help you attract a lot of diverse people who will keep your day interesting and your problems small. Keep things light, and you'll stay bright today... Well, this doesn't exactly describe how I've been feeling or acting. But Saturday sure was a blast; our gymnastics group of friends got together for dinner and to play games. It was interesting to discover what we all thought of each other when we first met. S. thought I would be prim and proper (HA HA), P. always had perfect hair, and S knew everything in existence about gymnastics. Then we spent lots of time in airports, in rental cars, rooming with each other and became close friends. We've had(and I hope will continue to have) great times together, including...
the gymnast buddies, when they're normal AND...
 when they're being weird. I'm glad that college and high school kids can still act silly!
Although we don't get to travel together anymore for sports*sniff*, I guess we can still eat, drink and be merry.
Our hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Bubba sure know how to put on a partay! By the way, for any computer experts(like the Bubbas), Big Blue, my beloved 10 year computer has been having some scary screens, running slowly and now half the screen is darker than the other. Is it time to look at a new laptop? Should I get another desktop? Is there any way to back up e-mail messages on my external hard drive? I hate making decisions...especially when I don't know what in the HECK I'm doing. Help!

Post-holiday chic

Younger Daughter is soaking up every moment with friends before she goes back to college on Sunday (translation: I hardly ever see her!); she even went to gym today ("I can still do giants, and double backs on bars, plus front handsprings on beam--thank god for muscle memory"). Me, I'm busy pissing her off making her angry by commenting occasionally on her clothing and *items* showing, harassing her to write thank you notes and taking craft stuff upstairs when she leaves it downstairs, and then LEAVES. Since the day was free and the surprising (d*amn it!) snowstorm melted away, I had time to go out shopping with my mother. Get to the stores now, if you can stomach it. There are lots of great bargains, plus you'll be helping the economy! Just don't browse with my mother who knows everyone and talks about anything; she is delightful, but only in small doses. Trust me. My kids will now chime in with--but Mom, you're just like her. *grinding teeth*
Mom was really sick of my brown shoes (to the right); they're old, but cozy to wear, and have a heel that accommodates my longest pair of jeans. (and as an official old lady, my orthotics fit into them really well) Mom insisted on buying me the Doc Martens to the left; by the way, am I too old at 52 to wear this brand? All I know is that I like them, and they're comfortable.
Then we were walking out of the Mall when I happened to spot this; it doesn't photograph well, but was quite beautiful in its red and black splendor. I admired it, Mom grabbed it in my size, and before I knew it, she was buying a $64 blouse for $20*. And it does look amazing on me, so why complain? * I really did try to pay for it, but have you ever met my mother? I think not.