Hi VP's...well our dear, dear friend Vic from the cold, cold Pittsburgh area, came out for her annual "Arizona Spring Break" trip and she just couldn't have timed it any better. We basked in the warm, bright Arizona sun while the mid-Atlantic states suffered through one of the biggest snow storms on record. I think Vic said that the accumulations back home were something like 26" or so inches. YIKES. Most things were closed and it's taken almost a week to get the streets plowed...just in time for another blast over the next couple of days that could dump another 10 plus inches. OH! I remember those days living back in the Midwest and praying that school would be closed!! I loved the snowfall but hated the slop and the cold. The cold (??) of Arizona is what we love now!
We shoveled lots of sunshine as Cal continued to give us updates on the weather back east. I even caught Vic out in the backyard in her shirt sleeves catching some rays in one of our lounge chairs. When Vic got home, she went and stood in her front yard...with the snow up to her knees (and Vic is a very tall woman!) so we could get some perspective on the big storm they had! Then I just had to put up a picture of her out in the backyard in her shirtsleeves. As she put it..."what a difference a day makes."
We had a wonderful visit. We went out to eat, we all went shopping for new purses at Macy's, we watched movies, Vic brought her wonderful brownies AND her famous nut roll. She also cooked up some goodies for Bren...her ham and potato soup was really, really tasty. Thanks Vic for the wonderful visit and for showing me the technique to stretch out Bren's neck and shoulders.
Bren was having some sleepless nights over the last week, which was really playing havoc with her energy, but she tweaked some meds and now is sleeping soundly. In fact she was out for a good 10 hours last night. When she gets her good sleep it's like she's a new person...she has energy to do some things and she looks better...her mouth moves better and her eyes are brighter.
Things are good here in the Mesa-hood. Brenda and I have worked on taxes and those are almost done. I've also included a picture of our favorite tax-payer with her piles of medical data that she was calculating for the dear ole tax man. It's supposed to rain tonight or maybe tomorrow. Vic...I don't think it will be enough to enter any "flooding data" into my official weather report! HA!
So folks back east...hope you have fuel for your snow blowers, and I'll get the sunscreen lotion out for the weekend here...it's supposed to be around 70.
Smiles from the sunny southwest.
Dee & Brenda
Hey chemo sabe can I borrow that hat? I could use it while I'm shoveling snow.
ReplyDeleteAs for the brownies, it's a secret family recipe and I'll never tell ! They always make it through TSA though.
Let me explain to the bloggers about Dee Dee or as we now call her, "Weaver the weather watcher." She is an official community weather watcher and has a rain gauge in her backyard. Most days it's a very boring job, however there was rain and she recorded 0.14 inches of it while I was there. She was about to add "mild flooding" to the notes section until I guilted her out of it. She had a couple little puddles in the yard and she felt that constituted mild flooding. I told her it's not a flood if it doesn't come in the house. They get excited about water out there.
Looking forward to spring break two in May and a celebration of the end of your long nightmare.
Love you both,
Vic
Okay, this is what wise Michele would say: "Since 1 inch of rain equals roughly 10 inches of snow, your .14 inches of rain could have been almost 2 inches of extra fluffy snow! And if I'm not mistaken 2 inches of snow in your neck of the woods would be pretty extraordinary and considered a 'snow storm'...so really, you got about the same weather as we have here?" If only it was a little bit colder over there, ha! (that was a 'Dee') Oh well, misery likes company. (back to me)
ReplyDeleteI'm loopy from all this blinding snow....The only sunshine I've seen lately is seeing the smiles on your faces in these pictures and the sun's reflection on Vic's northern skin.
Keep getting better Brendita, may good night sleeps and joyful energy be with you through these last few doorways to renewed wellness!
Dorita
I HATE the SNOW!!! Let me rephrase that - I hate moving snow. Yesterday northern NJ accumulated 20" of the white stuff. It is very lovely when it is snowing and just makes you feel warm inside when you see the scenery just blanketed with pristine white stuff - it is a breathtaking moment.
ReplyDeleteIn NJ it is breathtaking, literally for one moment in time and then the madness starts. New Jerseyans have their own set of rules. For example, if your car is in need of tires because the threads are bare, that is when you just have to head out in the snow to go to the store. Not the food store or something urgent, rather to the swim shop or something equally as ridiculous. Oh and while you are driving, please do continue to disobey all speed laws and rules of the road. The only constant is the infamous NJ one finger salute persists.
Another "beauty" of NJ snowfall is when you have to clear your driveway and walkways. Now I love the exercise related to shoveling snow, don't get me wrong, but I have my limits. So, you might be asking yourself why is that particular to NJ? Well be patient and I shall explain.
After hours of snow moving, the requisite snow plows showed up and pleasantly moved the snow that accumulated on the street onto our driveway apron and even the sidewalk. I swear I saw an evil smile on the drivers face as he roared up our block.
That meant we had to revisit snow moving. Goodness I needed a Gatorade after that workout. Who knew that was just a warmup and apparently just a 'lull' in the blizzard. You got it, it started snowing very heavily, 2" an hour heavy. Now this is a long story so I will shorten it to reduce the boredom. So just start at the beginning and repeat the process until 11PM and then one more round this morning.
For those of you that know me well know that I hate wasting my time doing the same thing over and over again and ending up at the same place I started. So I watched the sadistic plow driver and noticed the last few times he plowed, he always passed my block heading east. Ah ha. I got him. The last time I moved snow, I put it on the east side of our property. On his last pass, he actually looked puzzled. What a lovely sight to see the The Abominable snowman at that exact moment when he realized he lost!!!!
Finally, that heart warming moment I mentioned earlier, well when it snows it means the temperature is usually below 32 degrees F. That is cold, not warm. Snow is wet, not a blanket. And the last insult is for 24 hours we and the news referred to this storm as "The Blizzard of 2010." Well this morning the news reported that apparently our winds did not achieve the requisite 35 MPH strength to officially be called the "Blizzard of 2010". Needless to say, I was dejected, but the newscaster was a bit more creative and immediately changed the wording to "The Unofficial Blizzard of 2010". Not as cool but I am on board.
Hey Dee, was the .14 inches of rain cumulative for the year or a one day event? Why didn't it evaporate? At first I thought Vic might be nodding in the backyard - you know the brownies (wink wink). Now I know she had to be exhausted from laughing at the rain ranger! Not sure why you took on such the demanding task of finding rain in the desert as a hobby so I'll will assume you got a kick-ass uniform :) Dori is way to polite .14 inches of rain, is just that .14 inches of rain. I perspired more than that in the aforementioned snow ballet with the plowman.
Brenda - you look great my friend, even doing your taxes. That is one nIce hat. I particularly love the ear flaps. It is hard to tell, does it come with a chin strap?? Besides the inside joke associated with chin straps, I am sure you could use the extra support keeping that puppy on when the winds kick up in the desert to say, oh a mile an hour or maybe even two.
Great to hear you had a nice visit with Vic. Friends have to make even what you are experiencing a bit better.
Love to you both.
A heartfelt hello and virtual hug from Illinois! Our white landscape continues, but it's all good...just makes spring that much more welcome (well, if you believe that we have some cotton balls to sell you). What a blessing to hear all of the positive feedback and fabulous news about Brenda's progress. Brenda's personal beauty and the heartfelt love of friends is the true meaning of Valentine's Day. Enjoy the love!
ReplyDeleteWe're off to pick up Vickie Shaw and Lori in a few hours for a weekend of shows that Vickie is performing in our area. They have their granddaughter, Sophia, with them (long story), so this will be fun. About all we have for entertaining a 15 month old are cotton balls. Wonder if she'll like them?
Love,
Bonnie and Jackie