So...

I haven’t used these in 5 days…



Not since we left sunny 40 degree temps in Atlanta, where we had a fabulous time with the Legal Dude’s family and ate tons and tons of sushi.

Then we flew into this...



Chicago in winter...



where it was wet, windy, cold and icy almost everyday with a blah, grey sky.

But we had a lovely time with my family and had more great food!

The Legal Dude and I kept saying...“Give us Wyoming weather.

It may snow...it may be cold...and it will definitely be windy.

But the sun is almost always shinning and the air is dry!”

That is, until we came home to this…



Yep…I shoveled that 6' high, 10' wide mound of snow when I got home this afternoon.



Okay…I embellish.

This is what I actually shoveled.



A path to the gas grill! (We stopped in at Whole Foods in Ft Collins on our way home.)

It snowed in Laramie on Christmas Day.

We've heard just 2" fell from the sky…the rest blew in from the plains and down off the mountains and created havoc in town leaving 2...3...and 4 foot snowdrifts everywhere, including around our house.

The grad student looking in on the house shoveled our driveway!

He was worried we wouldn’t be able to get into the garage with all the snow drifts.

So he shoveled.

Nice guy!

He said the drifts were pretty high on the street in front of our house and cars were getting stuck, thus this…



It’s on the NW corner of our lot, where the sidewalk curves into the cul-du sac.

I saw it from w—aaa—y across on the other side of the Junior High, on 22nd Street as we were driving home.



Not sure what we’re going to do with it…




A Belated Merry Christmas…

Had my message all sent up to go…then I didn’t have easy access to a computer.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, with lots of joy…good food…and fun family time.

The Legal Dude who came in from the...

Legal Dude was on one of the first flights out of National yesterday.

He arrived in Atlanta last evening.

Good thing he was on an afternoon flight.

National didn’t open until 12:30 p.m.

Had we been able to get him a seat on an earlier flight…

Well, I’d rather not think about that.

Didn’t think I’d be posting over Winter Break.

But…here I am.

Sitting with my SIL’s laptop in Atlanta, posting away.

I hear tell that a winter storm is on its way to Chicago, which is our next stop.

Lordy! Lordy!

Winter does happen outside of Wyoming…

Hope everyone gets to where they want to be… when they want to be there!

Ironic

Legal Dude has been in D.C. this past week.

He’s supposed to fly back West Saturday morning.

Doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.

Frontier Airlines cancelled Saturday’s flights Friday afternoon…before the snow even started to fall.

Legal Dude was scheduled to meet us at DIA Saturday evening and then fly together to points south and then north again.

Frontier says the earliest they can get him to Denver is possibly Monday evening…depending on what happens at the airports.

If he’s a no show for the first leg of our trip out of Denver on Saturday, the rest of his ticket/trip is cancelled, which means we have to buy him all new tickets.

I expected this to happen here in Wyoming…not D.C.

Hope you D.C. people stay safe, are able to get to your destinations and that you enjoy the snow!

Have I mentioned lately...

That despite all the (boring) weather reports...

I actually like living here?!

I can’t tell you “why.”

I just do...

Go figure.

Just saying...

[Of course, check back with me after I’ve spent a few days in warmer climes and in a large metropolis...]

Not a weather post…

I got stuck trying to get into the garage this morning after dropping the teenager off at school.

The driveway hasn’t been shoveled since about 3 snows ago.

Too large...it’s about the size of a half-court.

Well...almost.

These are lousy photos. My hands we’re cold after shoveling, and I could only capture portions of it…





There was a big “hump” of snow just in front of the garage door.

The wind blows the drifts against that side of the house…garage.

That’s where I got stuck.

It took a good 2 to 3 minutes to get un-stuck.

Seemed like forever.

I was too close to the door frame to gun it...didn’t want to damage the car or the garage!

So this is what I did with my trusty Wyoming shovel...



We haven’t seen concrete on this part of the property since...I don’t remember.

This is what I unwittingly created...



A deep ditch for the tires to get stuck...



That’s solid ice.

We left our “ice pick” in VA, for the renters.

What did we know?

The garage is on the North side of the house and this part of the driveway obscured by the garage.

Keeping my fingers crossed, though, that the warm(er) temps will soften that block of ice and I can shovel it away.

I guess it’ll be good experience.

With the Legal Dude out-of-town, I’ve got just me...

Frontier Woman.

Airports, airplanes and all things weather…

I know.

I’ve been going on and on and on about the weather as of late.

So, I’ll make this my last weather-related post…for the year.

First, though…it’s snowing again.

It was threatening most of the day and around 4 pm we had what looked like little, teeny tiny snowballs falling from the sky…I guess you could call it hail.

The Legal Dude has an early flight out of Denver tomorrow morning.

With snow in the forecast, he wanted to make sure he didn’t run into blowing snow, fog, or closed roads.

So he left this afternoon.

For an 11 am flight…tomorrow.

Don’t like this aspect of living here…in this season.

Although this evening, I heard from a long-time resident that dense fog is frequently an early morning factor to contend with between here and Colorado.

This is also the first trip the Legal Dude has taken since we’ve moved here.

I’ve gotten used to having him around all the time.

New house…new town…new weather patterns…and the legal dude is gone for a spell.

I’m feeling just a teeny, tiny bit blue here.

On a brighter note…the frigid temps have left, for the moment.

Where’s the Matzo?

I went in search of Matzo meal today…for the potato latkes.

Seems the Kosher food section at the local Safeway has shrunk.

I couldn’t find Matzo meal…even after walking the aisles several times and eliciting the services of several…very, very helpful…Safeway employees.

“Everyone” is so nice and helpful here…even if they don’t know what the heck you’re talking about!

I know Matzo meal exists here…I saw it on Friday night at the family Hanukkah party.

I’ll just have to hit Albertsons or Wal-Mart tomorrow, or one of the other little specialty shops around town.

With the exception of a few items, I’m finding one can “usually” find what one wants…or a variation of it…if one looks hard enough.

As long as one is willing to give up their Whole Foods addiction…