January 31, 2011

Inclement Weather Ahead

When I put "Diving into 2011" as my previous post's title, I didn't think mounds of snow would be what I'm diving into.  *laughs*

As I'm sure y'all know by now (why do we put an aggregate assumption of the populace as an introduction for a topic?? anyway...), IL in addition to other areas of central US is in for a boatload of snow the next few days:  they're predicting up to 17 inches of sleet/snow for our locale, not including ice.  More snow and less ice up northern-ways.

Meanwhile, today was prep day.  This afternoon I went around getting the generators ready for a power-outage...walking around outside in sandals resulted in numb toes, but at least I wore a coat this time around.  Grocery stores are running out of basic necessities...Mom couldn't find milk at Kroger...sugar, potatoes, and other staples are getting low.  Gas sky-rocketed 30¢ to 3.29$...Dad was the only one at the gas station this evening to fill up all our gas containers, of which two one-gallons he bought on the way home from work (sold out of 5-gallon containers).  A neighbor was testing his generator to make sure all is well.



And then you have the weather...the precursor began around noon today with at least 1/2" accumulation of sleet in certain places.  The above is around 5:30 this evening...even after various broomings to reduce the excitement of a slippery fall.  Emil mentioned during dinner that on his way home from work a truck with a 9' trailer had turned upside-down on the interstate.  However, the big stuff is supposed to start tomorrow afternoon...we'll see what happens...

But overall, God is in control.  And call me crazy, but I'm kinda looking forward to seeing what He's gonna do with all that fluffy stuff.  The awesome power of a silent fury such as snow and the resulting vastness of a white expanse...guess it deals with being born in January or something.  And if the power's out, I'll still have internet access if a picture catches my blog-post-inclined fancy.

And that internet also will be good if the power goes out...because my courses with Thomas Edison State College start tomorrow.  :P

Ciao.

January 7, 2011

Diving into 2011

Hello, blogging world!  I thought I'd drop in and say a quick hello, then...

a good-bye for now.

...

Naw, just kidding.

A day before my 22nd year commences and it's been almost two months since my last post.  Definitely too long of a waiting period, in my opinion.  Since then, the remodeling has come along beautifully, school's back in session after a few weeks break (worked full-time), and Apple is still the best computer around.


Here's the current remodeled state, as of a couple weeks ago.  We changed things up again and are now putting in a nice-sized pantry at the south of of the great room...the right side of the picture for those lacking in bearings.  It took a few minutes to get used to the face that we're losing space, but all's well that ends well.


Also, this past weekend our family and almost everyone else from Dad's side of the immediate fam (near 30 people) surprised my aunt for her [insert important year] birthday in Indiana.  Above is the morning sky before we took off...1/1/11.  So...we all loaded up into a local hotel and spent an awesome weekend together.  Here's my cousin's daughter after Sunday lunch...I think she likes the outfit...


Business Ethics in Society is currently on my plate for studies...seems like a relatively easy test, as it builds upon previous tests I've taken and covers the type of material I enjoy delving into.  88 credits so far...only 5 more CLEP/DSST's after Business Ethics...and my two Thomas Edison courses start in February.  One of those five CLEP/DSST's includes Money and Banking...one of the hardest tests out there...we'll see how that goes.  [God's in control!]  Then, 3 TECEP's and that's it!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!  That takes care of the major holidays since November 8th.

Laters.