3 days of snowfall?

This is day one of supposedly three straight days of snowfall.  We've already had 2 snowfalls this week - wet, heavy snow - causing two delayed openings at the school and snow to be piled high.  School has been cancelled today.  


And of course this week my snow removal machine is in the UK!  We have an endless driveway (at least it seems that way when shoveling) and the shoveling I did this morning is already completely filled in.  Don did suggest I call a snowplow service if we get the full 18" to 24" predicted.  Most of our neighbors have snowplow contracts for the winter season.  This year I hear some have already paid over $1000 for snow removal!  Yikes, that's airfare to Europe!  We actually enjoy getting out to shovel ... but it does get a little old by the end of February!

On the plus side it is really beautiful!  When you don't have to be anywhere and everyone is safe, its enjoyable.  Nothing to do but relax, read, blog, surf the internet and get ready for the women's Olympic hockey final tonight.  Go Canada!  

A day in State College PA

Last Thursday I rode up to State College with my neighbor who also has a child at PSU.  She dropped me off at Bryan's and we had several hours to eat, walk and talk.  One of the things we did was to take pictures in front of the famous Nittany Lion shrine on campus.  During weekends when there is a football game or homecoming, there is a line-up to take a photo with this statue.  Being a normal day of classes no one was around as we posed.  

Here's the PSU Nittany Lion mascot on the football field.  "Roar!"

It was a fun day!  And next year we may have two kids at PSU since Carolyn got an offer and is 99% leaning towards accepting. 

Latest "epic" storm

Yes, they go overboard describing the weather these days, but thought you might be wondering how we're doing here in northern NJ.  We didn't get a single flake from the last "epic" snowstorm that really hit the mid-Atlantic this past weekend.  It missed us by about 30 miles to the south.  But we did see flakes, many flakes today.  

This picture is not very clear since I took it just now (at night) but if you scroll down a bit and compare it with an earlier shot of same area, you'll see the difference in snowfall.  That's the same bench in the  middle of this photo.  Looks like we got about 12" to 18" as predicted. We had a snow day today but expect to be back into our usual routine tomorrow unless we get a lot more snow tonight.  It was nice to have an unexpected lazy day.


Hope you've all fared well in this nor'easter. I know my Baltimore area friend (Anne) is buried, although they've all been out on foot (with dog, Bonnie) enjoying the neighborhood camaraderie!  Always a bright side (as long as you have power)!

Vodkamom

This is a blog I've been enjoying lately. Honest and very funny! Check it out next time you are surfin': Vodkamom



By the way, I have noticed that the best bloggers seem to be the ones who pour their hearts and personal details into their posts. I can't write those kinds of things about my family and friends - partly because I would never want to inadvertently hurt their feelings or embarrass them.  Here's a blog that always amazes me with its honesty: Dooce. The woman will write anything! She is one of the original bloggers. Her daughters are going to kill her in about 5 years!!! Until then she is fun to read!

Snow on Groundhog Day night

It hasn't been a snowy winter so far - just freezing cold - but we got a bit last night that made everything look beautiful this morning.

After hearing we're in for 6 more weeks of winter, mother nature just had to confirm the forecast.

But tulips are available in the stores so we can brighten up our kitchens!

NYSE Tour

On New Year's Eve we won a door prize at a party that included a tour of the New York Stock Exchange and lunch at Bobby Van's Steakhouse in the Wall St. area. We decided to enjoy our prize one Friday in January.

The visitor's gallery is now closed and the public can no longer enter the NYSE unescorted. We had taken our kids to the visitor's gallery in 1997, and I had been a long time ago with my parents. Now that the NYSE is virtually paperless it is a less exciting scene to behold. The trades occur electronically and the number of staff on the floor is down by over 75% from what it was pre-electronic trading. Still it was very exciting for us.

We had to wait outside the building for our escorts. Across the street facing the NYSE were pairs of SWAT guys very seriously scanning the streets. No vehicles are permitted in this area. The good guys at Dru-Stock got us signed in and gave us a great tour. We're wearing two different visitor badges (above). They told us about the history of the rooms, introduced us to the different areas for different types of trading and services, demonstrated their hand-held trading/communication devices, and walked us by the on-site media offices, like CNN's, where we saw reporters preparing to go on air.

Lunch was delicious and a wonderful finish to a fascinating day. A great door prize!