Parking can't really be that difficult,can it?

You know, we do live in a snowy region. We are guaranteed to have snow, and lots of it, every single winter. It is why I bought the big beast of a four wheel drive Expedition, after all! Any day it is snowing when it is time for me to leave for work; or the forecasters predict snow before the end of the day, I drive the big beast instead of my little car. Not because I think the roads will be impassable without four wheel drive (although that is often the case). No... it is so that I can park once I get to school!

You see, I am probably the last teacher to arrive. I am not full time. My contract works out to 3/4 time. I arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m. The other teachers all arrive at 7:30 a.m. On normal days, this causes no problem because there is plenty of parking at my beautiful, new school. On normal days.

On snowy days, everyone guestimates where the parking stalls ought to be, with big margins for error. The cars are spaced so far apart that you could fit a 1/2 car in between them. 1/2 a car, not a whole car, of course! I am left with two options. Park across and down the street in the park, or ramp my car up on the old snow plowed into piles here and there in the parking lot eating up parking stalls!

I drive the 4X4 so that I can ramp up onto snow piles without sustaining damage. This picture is from yesterday. The snow piles have shrunk considerably. It has rained for several days, reducing the snow drastically. I could probably just about ramp the little car onto the pile at this point. However, they used to be huge! Just a week or two ago, my car looked like a commercial for rugged off-roading adventure and I was literally CLIMBING into and out of it!

You know, the people who complain about SUVs and trucks and their 'eco footprint' have probably never lived though a mountain winter. I am very grateful for the traction I get out of the four wheel drive and tonnage.

Bill's 'snow blower'

I forgot to blog this at the time, but during the last snow storm, Bill brought home a small excavator and cleared out our driveway. The drive is gravel, and longish...so I am very grateful whenever he decides to do this!

That snow is all now mostly melted with just shrinking dirty piles where it had been plowed. The ground has that spongy, bog-like feel and is very muddy!

Bill came home early the other day and cleared out all the gunk and chunks of ice in the rain gutters. I really appreciate all he does for us. I can always count on him to do the messiest jobs around the house without being asked, and without a single complaint.

Teasing Pepper

Helena was teasing Pepper with a piece of beef jerky. This was the result.

Here is an update on Helena's portrait...

I have been able to work on this slowly during my sixth grade classes, since they are working on a smaller version of the same thing. I was also able to work on it during parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday. I had the parents of 114 of my students come see me over those two evenings! I offer a raffle drawing to students who bring their parents to meet me, so I have a very good turnout. The music teacher only had a handful come to see her. I could gets lots done if not for the raffle, but I think it makes the principal happy because it is good pr, you know?


Here is the photo that was used for the reference for this artwork...

How old is he, anyway?!

Bill bought a giant jawbreaker for each of the kids. While playing games last night, Will sucked on his. This is the result. And, yes, I would love it if he got a haircut, but the length is his choice. I am going to ambush him and take him down to SportClips to at least have it shaped better than this!

Camcorder frustrations

This is what my new camcorder looks like.


It is a Sanyo Xacti (E2). It is supposed to be waterproof, meaning that you can take it underwater (up to 1.5 m.) and record video and/or still pictures! I am just glad that it means I don't have to worry about it getting wet in the snow or next to the pool.

I'd like to tell you that I am happily learning how to use it, but, unfortunately...

It is missing its charger! I opened the box and carefully inspected all the parts and the charger is not here!

Fortunately, I ordered it from Amazon. I contacted them tonight. They are shipping a replacement and e-mailing me a pre-paid return postage to place on the box to return the incomplete set.

Of course, this means I have to wait another week or two before I can actually play with my new toy. Amazon was very easy to deal with over this issue, so I suppose it could be much worse.

Here's a blast from the recent past!

So, I decided it would be fun to post some older videos on my blog. This is from a family get together in my backyard during the summer of 2007. The big yellow thing is a 'game' my daughter received from a friend for her birthday. The concept is demonstrated in the video. It is great fun for big kids and adults, but near suicide for little kids! My nephew, Kris, ending up breaking something (his arm? his collarbone?) while playing with this thing!

Testing the video feature...

I uploaded this video of Bill's idea of funny...(Pepper and Demi tied to each other)... to test out the video feature of blogging. Mom, let me know if it runs smoothly for you because...

I ordered a new camcorder! Bill gave me the money for it for Christmas. He flat out told me that I find the most amazing deals he's ever seen, so he prefers to give me the money and let me do the shopping. I found one at 55% discount on amazon.com and it should be arriving within the week! Hopefully I'll be able to upload videos of the kids soon!

In the meantime, enjoy the video of the dogs and cat!

The best nap spot in the house!

This is Pepper...

This is MY BED!

My bed is the illegal favorite napping spot for both cats. They both know it is off limits. They both sneak in whenever they can, anyway! They only sleep on MY side of the bed, too (because my side is softer than Bill's side).

Of course, what could be better than napping on the softest spot in the house while it is also the sun spot?!?

I think we can all see why I sometimes have difficulty breathing at night and why I have to wash my bedding so frequently!




Photo courtesy of Helena :)

Helena stretching...

Here is another photo that Helena took. This is a reflection in her barre mirror. She makes it look so easy!

Kitty naps and blogging go together...

You should know that for the past week, every time I sit down to blog and/or journal on the computer, my kitty, Pepper, comes and climbs in my lap for a siesta!

EVERY TIME!

Yes, he is in my lap now. I think it is funny and very sweet. He doesn't do this to anyone else. Just me. I think he loves me best! :)

The Klondike!

Bill and Will got home from the Klondike around 5 p.m. yesterday.

On a side note, when I write 'Will and Bill' it looks so goofy that I want to write 'Bill 1 and Bill 2! :)

They both were smoky and wind burned, but still full of energy and good spirits. They said it went very well.

Here is a photo of Will (far right) with his troop.

When they got home, they immediately unpacked and cleaned up. The tent got set up in my family room to let it 'air out' ... meaning ..... let's make the whole basement smell like a camp out! I am still trying to get the sleeping bags processed through the wash along with the rest of the laundry.