On the Sofa

It happens nearly every evening about 9:15 pm.

As we begin the process of winding down from the activities of the day we move to the sofa and a chair next to the sofa to read, talk, catch up on Facebook, maybe drink some wine and otherwise relax.

Well--it seems we have begun to do this a lot, because Chris and I are not the only ones who take the cue to wind down from the sofa time. The other night, in addition to Chris on the sofa, there also was Louis the cat, Zachery the yorkie, and Makayla the keeshond joining her.

It was pretty funny to see them all spread out in their spaces filling up the sofa as we began the process of preparing for bed.

I could say the whole family was together and at peace.

And I guess we were. We just noticed it for what it was the other night. Our multi-species family all gathered together to enjoy each other and relax before going to bed.

I could almost hear the ending for the Waltons in the background.

The New Cat in the House

So my mid-life crisis finally got the better of me and I decided to get a new pet. I kind of let the "cat" out of the bag in yesterday's blog; so I figured I should probably let everyone in on the secret.

This cat can be very mean--and is very fast. It is sleek and black for navigating the night. And it has a deep roar.

Right now--I have to keep it in the garage until I get it trained and house broken.

I guess I do crazy things when I get snowbound.

But I have been seriously looking for a car like this for months (bordering on years) now--and I finally found one that met all of my specifications and was a good deal too.

Chris and I are excited about driving it to Florida this summer! I'm just excited about driving it--once the snow melts and the temperature gets about 60 degrees. Is that ever going to happen?

Every time I drove it through a puddle while we were bringing it home the other night--I cringed! I drove it to church on Sunday just to get it out on I-95 and it got stuck in the parking lot leaving the church,. Not real good on snow and ice on a hill. But I knew that.

Ethan really enjoyed it when I put the top down on Sunday. He was a bit worried that it was going to hit him on the head though when I put it back in place. Everyone in the family wants to go for a drive--but they are going to have to wait until the weather gets a bit better.

So here is the problem--I don't know what to call it. I already have a Kitty--so that is out. And I could tell that Kitty was jealous sitting under the pile of snow she is currently stuck in. Cleopatra has been proposed--and it a good name, but, not too sure that I want to call my car that. Any ideas would be appreciated.

We will have to see what happens to Kitty--I'm not sure I have enough time (or money) to feed and maintain two big cats!

Valentine's Day movie review

On the day after Valentine's Day, Chris persuaded, cajoled, and even asked me to see the movie Valentine's Day with her.

This movie is a must miss! If you are a guy and cannot get out of going to this movie with the one you love, at least extract something significant in exchange--like a new car or a trip around the world. (OK--so I got a new car)

There are lots of stars in this movie and you might be drawn into it because of them--but beware, most of them are short appearances in an uninspiring, predictable, and often boring script.

If you saw the trailer--you saw every highlight from the movie. The best performance was from Bryce Robinson--who plays Edison. And he plays a fifth grader. Everyone else is going through the paces to get a paycheck to cover their mortgages this month.

I really couldn't tell if the movie was a comedy or a tragedy. The true tragedy was that I spent money to see it.

RECOMMENDATION: Avoid this movie. It is not even worth a rental.

Out of the Winter

We sang a great praise song in church on Sunday which was really appropriate for the disaster that we are still recovering from. The song was "Blessed Be Your Name" written by Matt Redman and interestingly, it is the only praise song that I know from the book of Job in the bible.

I have always really enjoyed this song and when I was a praise leader for my old church--we had a drummer who also really liked this song and I would schedule this song sometimes just to brighten his week. So I have a bit of history with this song.

But as I was singing on Sunday and reflecting upon the snow storms of the past weeks, the hurt and mess they have caused this region came to mind and I was really struck by these words from the song:

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

It is easy to praise God when everything is going well--but in the midst of crisis and disaster, when we are asking the question--"Why Me?" it is not so easy to praise--yet in the song we are encouraged to praise God in while we are traveling the road marked with suffering.

Out of the suffering that we were all experiencing during the past weeks, there have been many blessings--as families got closer and communities pulled together to clear snow from each others houses. And we became more concerned about our neighbors.

We hosted the best Super Bowl Party ever in the midst of the snow--with just our neighbors who were also snow bound. And we got to know them better and appreciate them.

Redman exhorts us to do the following in the song:

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

And I rediscovered during the past weeks--that no matter where I am or no matter what I am experiencing I need to Bless the Name of the Lord--because I am in His hands. And He has richly blessed me in more ways than I can comprehend.

BTW--that doesn't mean I have to like snow!

Monday Musings - February 15, 2010

1. The post-Valentines Day haze when combined with President's Day has finally hit me. It's Monday somewhere right?

2. I looked out the window and there was still a lot of snow out there. I don't understand why it takes longer for it to go away than it did for it to arrive.

3. The roads still are dangerous--they change from two to one lane without warning.

4. I have learned that Makayla is very creative about doing her business in the snow. She can urinate while standing up against a snowbank. She looks like a guy doing it in a bad place when he's had too much to drink.

5. The driveway is clear of snow and much of our street is clear now too. It must be time for more snow to fall--like the 1-3 inches expected tonight.

6. The Olympics is providing a great diversion for everyone. Go USA.

7. What is being missed by many as they watch the news and the Olympics is the major offensive underway in Afghanistan. I wish they would cover it a bit more.

8. Pitchers and catchers report Wednesday! Come on springtime, baseball is almost back.

Valentine Happiness and Ramblings

It is Valentine's Day--hopefully you didn't forget.

Even with all of the snow and yuk here, we remembered to celebrate this mid-winter celebration.

AND--the weather forecasters are giving us a break--the Monday evening storm is expected to mostly miss us. YAY!!!!

So, Happy Presidents Day to all of us.

The return to normalcy continues as the region continues to dig out. We spent the afternoon at a local wine store doing tastings of some Spanish and French wines--they were good and we bought a few. I really enjoy tasting the wines before we buy them.

All to enjoy with the Valentine in my life.

The In Between Time

The panic has started already, even though the weather forecasters are playing it down. Another storm is on the map with its sights set on Maryland.

Ugh!

Does it really matter if we get 10 or 20 or even 30 inches more of snow?

I need to wade out to the diving board to get a good masurement of how much of the white stuff is on the ground.

But Monday night they are talking about snowfall of about 8 inches.

Today, however, is Saturday and the entire region will be out. Including us. There is pent up energy and the malls should look like Christmas shopping season. Of course Valentines Day is tomorrow! And guess what most of us haven't done?

Last evening--the condition of the roads contributed so some of the worst gridlock I have ever witnessed. I-95 was not moving in both directions which backed up MD100 which affected the Parkway and US1. We went to a friends house and a normal 10 minute drive took 30 minutes.

And it is because the roads randomly go from two to one lanes in really bad places.

Monday is a holiday--maybe the roads will be ready for the morning rush on Tuesday, unless everything is paralyzed once again by snow!

Snowpocalypse 2010 - A Return to Normalcy

Well the snow has stopped for over 24 hours now.

The roads are pretty clear outside of the neighborhoods--in the neighborhood, I'll still not sure that my truck is going to be able to climb the hill in front of the house due to the snow and ice--but we're going to give it a shot in a couple of minutes.

I have already been told, officially, that parking at work today will be a free-for-all and on a first-come-first-served basis! Should be fun.

The snow began melting yesterday--which is good; but it started lots of pools of standing water which became ice overnight--and that is bad.

I had a very good day yesterday and was busy all day working on a project with Chris which I will write about when I can get some pictures together. Suffice it to say, I put a real dent in my mid-life crisis and have some new wheels to drive to Florida this summer!

It is funny to be going to work today knowing that I will be leaving on a three-day weekend at the end of the day. Like we can go anywhere while hoping that the snow storm hitting the south does not decide to drop by for a visit with us.

There is going to be a lot of clean-up work once the snow melts--downed trees and limbs.

I wonder if the snow will ever melt! Maybe instead of Global Warming we are entering another Ice Age? Although I was thinking it would be cool to have a snowmobile. With all of the snow we have not seen even one of those awesome northern machines!

Well, in our return to more normal endeavors, we are planning to go with friends to Annapolis to do some wine shopping tomorrow! That will get us off on the right foot of trying to get back to doing normal stuff.

Snowpocalypse 2010. Although the snowing has stopped the snow remains and the memory will last for a very long time here in Maryland.

Snowpocalypse 2010 Round 2 - The Clean-up after the Storms

Well, round 2 was certainly interesting with the blowing snow. It was reminiscent of blizzards I remember when I was a kid.

The whiteout conditions that existed looking towards the end of the driveway. I took this about 4 PM yesterday (10 Feb) as I was talking myself out of shoveling the driveway.

And in the aftermath of the storm, we find blue skies. And snow. It almost seems pretty. Pretty cold!

The two blobs are the Patrick's broken Honda on the left and my beloved Kitty on the right. We may not find them again until summer at this rate.

We did lose a tree--one of the Junipers couldn't take the weight of the snow and wind and gave it up. Funny thing is, the top of this tree was broken a few years ago and I successfully put it back on--but now, the tree is a total loss.

But life goes on and we'll plant something there to replace it. And, I get to use my chainsaw!

New Olympic Sports from Snowpocalypse 2010

Well, it has come to this.

As we all sit around watching the nothingness which is television, our minds begin to wander to sports and the Winter Olympics which start in two days.

Here are some new sports which are being talked about on Facebook:

Poo patrol...This is where you have to get your dog to poo in a blizzard in the quickest amount of time. It involves shoveling out a large area and path and then having to rescue your dog when he deviates from the path and gets stuck in 4' of snow. The 300' X 30' driveway shovel should be kick ass... The 5' (snowplow just went by) mailbox dig... great stuff.... I'm darn sure we have a better luge on my street than they do in Vancouver! "Find the Fire Hydrant" event and don't forget the ever popular Dig the car out of the ice mound without getting killed by on-coming traffic event (I mean it has to be better than curling)