home again, home again...

…Jiggity Jig! After 15 days, 9 states, and 4328 miles, we are finally home. Although we spent 5 days in El Paso and another 5 days in Denver, it felt as if we spent the entire 15 days in a vehicle. We were always on the go, doing this and that, meeting up with people. The driving to and fro was never ending. We had a very low key time in Denver. It was a week that was all about Husband. We made sure that he got to see the people that mean the most to him. We had dinner one night with his doubles volleyball partner and her fiancé, and another night he got to play with his sand volleyball team. He had a lot of fun that night. It also made his realize just how much he missed his life in Colorado. We got to experience typical spring time Colorado weather. March is typically Colorado’s snowiest month…and it did not disappoint. The last day we had some business to take care of in the morning and some happy hour action planned for the evening. We set out that morning in heavy snow fall with a nice side of fog. We were on our way home from our morning meeting when while going about 60 on the highway my engine quits. QUITS! I get pulled over to the side of the road and Husband and I sit there looking at each other. Never have I been more thankful for a cell phone with 3G service. I get started on finding a tow truck to pick us up is a snow storm and Husband starts calling nearby repair shops. Now while breaking down is not lucky, we were able to get a tow in under 45 minutes, which in a snow storm is lucky. He happened to be close by, otherwise it would have been a 6 hour wait. The bad news was that my fuel pump had gone out and it was looking like we were not going to be on the road at 6 am the next morning. The repair shop wanted to get us the truck back that night, but as the day progressed it became clear that just wasn't going to happen. Good news is that my winter driving skills are still intact and with the use of my mom's car I got us to happy hour on time. Also...I did some name dropping and was able to get a discount on the repairs. We got on the road 6 hours late, but managed to make good time and got home exactly when we thought we would. Don’t get me wrong, I love being on vacation, but I love coming home more. Man it is going to feel so good to sleep in our own bed tonight.

blustery

I used to really like that word. It is a word that Winnie the Pooh would use if he were to write a weather report. Now it is a word I heard everyday from the King5 weatherman. In the true sense of the word most days are blustery up here. Wind and rain are big news this time of year. The blustery weather is wreaking havoc on old trees and old power lines. City crews are working around the clock to cut down the old trees and sure up the 65 year old poles that hold up the power lines. It is a good thing because a little gust of wind seems to send both toppling over onto houses. If a little bit of rain causes so much damage…I am terrified of what happens in the event of snow. The city has a small fleet of snow plows and they have been practicing plowing and snow removal. From what I saw on the news “practicing” equals driving around at night in the plow trucks. I am confident that all that practice will pay off when and if we get another storm like last year (wink wink). I am hoping we do get some snow though. While looking for something under the bed in spare bedroom I found my snow boots. They looked lonely and sad. Had we still been in Colorado I would have already had two big snowstorms to stomp around in. Who knows…maybe I will get to wear them.

sunny

With the vibrant colored fall leaves and the plethora of spring flowers one is tricked into thinking there are four seasons here. But it is exactly that...A TRICK! There are three beautiful months known as summer and nine long, dreary, wet months known as rain. And right on cue with the time change it appears that my Seasonal Affective Disorder has kicked in. WOOHOO! The last week or so I have been out of sorts and a little hard to be around. Stressed out, depressed, and short tempered is not a good mix. Lucky for me husband is very patient and is not yet to the point of wanting to smother me in my sleep. Last spring he bought me this little Swarovski Crystal bear as a little bit of sunshine on rainy days. A little bit on “sunshine” is exactly what I could use right now.

the differrence a few miles can make

We were in Bellevue on Monday afternoon. It was gorgeous...the sun was out and it was warm. Then we drive the few miles south and return home to this... It was foggy like this for about 4 days. It was a spooky Stephen King "The Mist" kind of fog. At times visibility was down to less than 200 feet...and let me tell you that makes for fun driving. In the end I will take fog over freezing rain.