It’s been a bit crazy the past couple of days.  I’ve been getting a little cabin fever.  I was able to go out yesterday and do some running around… thank god.  Today I was stuck inside.  Which was probably good because I had some laundry and housework to do before heading back east.

I decided to get out and get some fresh air and get a latte over at the cafe.  The cafe and PCC were the only things that have been open in the neighborhood… thankfully.

Snow on the Strip.

Before I headed down to the cafe my upstairs neighbor told me I had to check out the fort the kids down the street built.

Front door of the snow fort

The view from the street

Fort guard

Well… We could not be out done.  So by the time I got back my neighbor had already built a snow bunny.  And then we started on our own fort.

We’re not done.  But it seems like we’ll have plenty of time to work on it tomorrow considering no one was driving and the buses in my neighborhood weren’t running. But we’ll see.  Tomorrow could be completely different in terms of weather.

The beginnings of the Fortress of Solitude

The fortress and guard bunny

I’ve been knitting like a fiend because of the storm.  I started my airplane/airport project and I have a feeling I’ll be half way done with it by the time I’m suppose to be getting on a plane!

I ventured out of the neighborhood today.  And it wasn’t by foot!  It was by car.  Getting out of the neighborhood was a bit tricky.  But once I got to Renton, the roads weren’t too bad.  A few times the ice under the tires made it feel like  I was driving on a cobblestone road.  And on the way home, on a road that was a solid sheet of ice, I was driving around 20 miles an hour.  Which I thought was a good speed for such bad road conditions.  Then some ass came up behind me and passed me as we were going up hill.  And he was in a minivan… not any better at handling ice than my car.  I saw him try and pass 3 SUV/trucks right before my house.  I’m sure, by now, he’s wrapped his minivan around a telephone pole.

After that wild little trip, I’m now bunkered in waiting for the next storm.  So far they’ve told us that we should expect power outtages and snow between a dusting and 5 – 8 inches.  So I’ve got my candles, blankets, reading material and whatever else at the ready.  But for now, I’ve only seen a small flurry of flakes and I’ve watched Gosford Park and am getting ready to start knitting the Cabaret Raglan Sweater with some yarn from my stash.  I figure it’ll be my airplane project.  But before I start that, I’m going to make some cookies for our office Christmas party before the power goes out.  And maybe I’ll be able to watch another movie or two.

We officially got snow dumped on our house yesterday afternoon. I was starting to think it was not going to happen even though every place around us had it. But alas, we were not left out.

After waking up and turning on the morning news this morning we decided that we were not going to venture out into that forsaken mess on the roads. Especially after talking to co-workers who had a normal half hour commute taking three hours the night before. Since both of us can work remotely we decided to do just that and play it safe. I have a feeling that we may be in the same situation tomorrow if the snow desides to stick around a little longer.

We did get a chance to play in the snow for a short period of time since we were all a little cabin crazy. However we didn’t technically have the right outfits for Ethan that were completely waterproof. Ethan seemed to have a great time but then decided that he had enough snow for one day and made a beeline for the house.

Yea, it’s snowing in Seattle.  This is about what happens during this season in the Seattle area.  We get a few inches of snow and the commute goes crazy.  Brenda has been doing a great job navigating the snow.  This shot is of Maple Valley Highway on my way into the office today.  Not too bad, although right after I shot this picture….it started snowing pretty heavy and covering the road.  So I had to put down the iPhone and be more careful.  Kids out of school another day?  Whatever.  As much as I don’t like having to drive around people in the snow (I’m fine with my driving….just don’t like theirs) I do think it’s beautiful.

Did a bunch of doughnuts in the church parking lot on arrival.  Now that was fun.

What’s it look like in your neck of the woods?

Beautiful and somewhat unexpected. Just lovely I say!

I am sitting here at our dining room table looking out on a cold crisp Seattle morning.  The Olympics are covered with snow, the sun ois shining and I have a pot of soup cooking on the stove.  What more could one ask for on a beautiful winter’s day like this.

For some reason the beautiful morning reminded me of the Christmas carol It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Here are a couple of You Tube renditions of the carol that give very different but equally moving images -

one of ancient images from the life of Christ,played by Leigh Nash and Sixpence None Richer

the other with modern images taken from Grey’s Anatomy.

To be honest, maybe because I am a doctor by training, I found the images from Grey’s anatomy far more compelling.  Anyway both of these videos really gave me a sense of the Advent of Christ this morning

That’s right, last night it snowed.  I got up and did some running around before the snow came.  I got back with minutes to spare.  Which sounds crazy, since there was only an inch or so of snow in my neighborhood.  But it’s Seattle.  We’re used to rain, not snow.  I don’t think a whole lot of people here have snow tires.

I spent the rest of the day watching the snow, bad tv, and making ornaments.  I also put up my tree.  I wasn’t going to get a tree but then I thought of all the times I’ve had a tree.  I always had a tree when I had a boyfriend.  So I decided this year, I’m going to make new Christmas tree memories.  So I went out friday night and got a tree.  I went to the Dunshee House up on Capitol Hill.  I wasn’t really going to buy a tree, but all the money went to the Dunshee House and that makes me feel like I’m doing some good in the world.

I decided to try my hand at making origami cranes to decorate the tree.  So far I’ve only ruined several sheets of paper instead of the ream that I planned on.  Kink decided she wanted to venture out in the snow, and I snapped a couple of  photos of her.  She didn’t really know what to do with it.  Jimbo wanted nothing to do with the snow.  He stayed inside and slept.

I also reverted back to my preschool days and made some salt dough to make more ornaments with. So we’ll see how that goes.  Other than that, I’ve been making some Christmas presents, and drooling over my next project – The Cables and Chain Wrap Jacket by Just call me Ruby.  I love this pattern.  I just need to find suitable yarn for it.  I’m not sure if I have the right yarn for it and I don’t want to spend (and can’t spend) a ton of money on yarn for it.