Neither rain nor hail...

Some of you are beginning to think that this just simply a place for us to bitch about the cold Iowa winter. In some cases you are correct, but contrary to what you might have thought this particular posting has nothing to do with the weather outside today (which by the way is a sunny 17 degrees right now!).



I have all the respect in the world for our Postal brethren...especially after they keep delivering my mail even when I "forget" to shovel the walk. But, I was on my way to an appointment this morning and as usual I was running about 5 minutes later than I should have been. When I finally did make it out to my vehicle this is what I found!!

Now it might be a bit hard to tell from the angle of my photo but I literally had about six inches between my door and the mail truck.

I trust you are familiar with that oft-heard quote from the U.S. Postal Service that goes like this:

"Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds."

I think maybe it should be adjusted to:

"Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night nor limited availability of parking spots shall keep this carrier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds."

Karma sucks. I guess I better go get the shovel out and take care of my front walk!

Almost Super Bowl Bound

So after nearly 5 years of wedded bliss I finally succeeded in getting Brandy to wear a Vikings jersey. Yes folks...she knows my Vikings pride runs deep and she FINALLY decided to humor me during the big Vikings vs. Cowboys playoff game.

Although the Vikes didn't get all the way to the big dance this photo (and my winning bet with Ramiro to help finish my basement) is my consolation prize. Never, never bet on the Cowboys when they are playing Minnesota.

Pardon cell phone pic quality!

Christmas Recap!

Yes, I know that it's February. But it's still white outside (as evidenced by nearly every entry in 2010) and I'm still playing Christmas carols inside, so it's only appropriate that I share my Christmas highlights with you now. We celebrated our first Christmas in our new house this year with just a small group of family and friends, but it was nice and casual and low-key, like all great holidays should be (except for Valentine's day and Anniversaries, of course- those should have all the bells and whistles...hint, hint, hint!).

In addition to a great Christmas, we were blessed with receiving many fabulous gifts! Here's a recap of my top 5 favorite gifts:

1) AAA Membership from my dad - we've already used it three times this past month! Twice for my car and once for the discount on a car rental. As a side note, this is the best "practical" gift I think we've every gotten and although it's not very glamorous, it's fabulous to know that we have it for the next year, especially with all my trips back and forth to Denver. I think the story about me running out of gas on the interstate in the middle of nowhere Nebraska this last year helped dad to put this at the top of the list!

2) A dual controlled heating blanket from Donna and Bernardo - how did we EVER live without this? Ahhh.... just thinking about it almost makes up for the piles of snow outside of my window. Do you know how much a difference a toasty bed makes to get into every night?

3) Our annual Swarovski Christmas Ornament from Marty and Patti - this was a tradition they started our first year of marriage and it's a wonderful tradition and so much fun to open and put on our tree each year! We now have 5 beautiful crystal ornaments and they catch the twinkle lights just right on the tree!

4) A Story People sculpture from my mom - Lawrence and I have always loved Story People and I got my mom hooked on them, too. The artist is originally from Iowa and is super quirky with fun, childish drawings and random, wise sayings. The even better part? The sculpture fits perfectly in our little hallway niche that I was stressed about finding something for. And I can see it from my desk right now. It's like it was made for our little house.

5) A carton of mandarin oranges from my Aunt Janet- this was actually our first Christmas gift and it arrived in early December and what a lovely little gift of California sunshine it was. Doesn't this just look like a tasty box of happy?

Okay, I know I just said five but I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention the fabulous Smash T-shirt I got from Lawrence, the amazing printer from my dad and Sarina (it prints wirelessly AND double-sided... be still my heart!), and the generous check from my mom to go towards our basement remodel. More than any gift, we are fortunate to have so many family and friends who love us and who we are able to love and share the holidays with, both near and far. Just one more reason why I love Christmas!

PS- there are 316 days until Christmas 2010... Just in case you were wondering! Let the paper chains begin!

Surprise, surprise.

There's snow in the forecast. Again. We got a light dusting of 11 inches on Monday, so why not bookend the end of the week with a few more inches? That'd be really great. Thanks.

Have I mentioned that I keep my thermostat at a balmy 62 degrees in the winter? And that I work from home? Just so you get the full picture of my suffering this winter.

Spring? Spring?!? Where are you? Please come quickly! I don't think my spirit can take much more of this white stuff.

Some days?

Some days do you just feel like you're frantically paddling just to stay afloat and you're not getting ANYWHERE? Yeah, me too.

Sunny Days are (NOT) here again!

This just in... we have a new record here in Iowa! 55 consecutive days with 4+ inches of snow on the ground. I'm starting to think we live in the U.P. Awesome. And just in case you were wondering, the 10 day forecast is calling for more snow. And no temps higher than 33. I'm thinking we're setting another record tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that. Probably up through Easter Memorial Day.

Home, sweet Iowa. Oh, how I didn't miss your dreary dismal winters when I lived in Denver. Thanks for the constant reminder of what the color gray looks like. I had almost forgotten, that is until the last 55 days came.

Okay, I'm off to refill my Seasonal Affect Disorder prescription, buy a sun lamp, and scope out Internet sales to warm, tropical climates. Who's with me?

PS- I'd post a picture, but it would look something like this:

Snow Day?

Today is the fourth day in the past two weeks that the DM area schools have had a late start/early dismissal/cancellation due to the weather. Last week it was super icy, today it's blizzardly. And so windy I swear our holiday wreaths on the window are going to come crashing right through the panes with the very next gust. (No, there's no need to chastise me on still having our Christmas wreaths up outside! I REALIZE they should come down, but in case you didn't pay attention to my first sentence, it's been CRAZY COLD her the last two weeks and they've been packed with snow and ice. Plus, that's outside stuff. And LC is in charge of outside stuff.) I feel a bit like Winnie the Pooh did when he sang Blustery Day, provided it was 10 degrees outside when was singing and not just a beautiful spring day with a bit of a breeze. Oh, what I would do right now for a beautiful spring day.

And here's my other thing about snow days- I DON'T GET THEM. Ah, yes, yet another "advantage" to working from home. My office closes when the local school district closes. They were closed two days the past two months for bad weather. Our local school system here has been closed 6 days so far this year due to weather. But here at Casa de Cunningham, I keep plugging away. It's never too bad outside for me to not be able to make it work from my bedroom upstairs to my office downstairs. Great. That's just great. Not that I don't love my job, but ever since those of us north of the Mason Dixon line were five it's been ingrained in our heads that on really crappy days you shouldn't be asked to produce anything at all, minus a cup of hot chocolate. So I can't really be expected to retrain my brain now after 25 years of alternative thinking to be productive when the outside world shuts down, can I? And please don't give me that "but you get to wear your slippers to work" line- I wear my slippers at my office in Denver, too. Ask my coworkers- I keep a pair under my desk. I know I should just be happy to have a job. And our health. And our safety that we've made it through all these crazy winter storms. But is it too much to ask for a snow day (or two!) also? Yes, I think that would be nice.