- Blogging on my life events & whatever that comes to my mind!
Disgusting day out. It wasn’t this bad yesterday night when I left my 2nd job for home. This morning when I was out walking the dogs at 4:30, I could hardly see anything. Driving to work was bad but at least I tailed behind a car but I still almost missed the exit ramp I need to take. This picture was taken at work at 9:30 am, nothing changed except it is not dark! Blah!
Yes, I’m crazy, I am waiting for old man winter to arrive. We had the very very cold temperatures the past few days and I really didn’t mind it. Yes, it’s cold but I was still outside with Chase for more than an hour. And now it’s snowing. It’s sure is nice to walk around in the snow. On the other hand, driving on the snow covered streets and freeways is a pain. There were so many accidents on Saturday morning and I’m sure there lots of calls for roadside assistance. I went for my Zumba class at 11 am, the roads were not that great either. People need to drive slower. I have a lead foot but I slowed down tremendously knowing the roads are slippery!
The snow finally came on Saturday. All good 3 inches, and that was all. It’s actually disappointing for me! I was hoping for more. I was out and about on Saturday meeting up with my ex co-worker at Panera Bread. When I left the house at noon it was just sleeting. Traffic on the freeway was not bad at all, smooth. However, 3 hours after, the snow plows were out and I was stucked at County Road 42 for 1 hours 50 minutes just to get home. It was a parking lot!
This is what it looks like while getting off the ramp to 35E/W. The roads were very icy, a lot of cars spunned out and accidents all over. I suppose since it was the first snow fall of the season, every one has to learn how to drive in the snow again!
This is where Ranger lays all the time. He is guarding the door just in case any intruders barge in! LOL!!! I think Ranger missed me when I’m at work. We think he lays there because it’s very cool and dark by the door to the garage amongst my shoes.
The weather has been super duper roasting hot and humid. The humidity was like Amazon humid! Today is the only day so far of a relieve with low humidity. Forecasters said the humidity will return tomorrow!!! Can’t wait for fall and winter!
We had snow storm watch blasted on the TV since Tuesday, Dec 7 or it could be on Monday. The snow storm started on Friday afternoon and it got worse and worse all the way through Saturday night.
Here’s a pic taken on Saturday afternoon. I was so bored, can’t go out for too long coz of the gale force winds plus snow. Frigging hurts the face with that kind of winds. So i was staring out of the window upstairs while working on my sister’s Cafe World, and I saw the 3 cars went right to the ditch on the freeway.
There were hardly any traffic on the freeway and actually the entire freeway which goes all the way to Texas was close due to a blizzard – blowing snow that makes visiblity to zip. Here’s a short little video I took of the wind blowing the snow around.
The next morning, Sunday, that’s what I see out the same window I took the previous pic. The wind created a snow drift, couldn’t see the driveway. Nice blue skies though. I didn’t go to church that morning.
It was cold out (-2F), so I really dressed up but over dressed. I was drenched in sweat after the walks with the dogs. A pic of how high the snow banks are at our house after the plows came by.
The street was not plowed well and none of the side walks were cleared. So the boys and I had to walk on the street and thank goodness there were hardly any traffic that day.
Cooper
The sidewalks are covered but too deep for me and the boys to trudge through.
The dog digging his own grave! 
Hahahah just kidding. Ranger smelled some thing and had to see what it was on the way back from our walk.
And here he is not happy to go home.
Picture of the two nutheads Cooper and Chase outside the garage around 6:30 p.m. (Sunday), trying to see who gets the frisbee first.
The two C’s playing tugged of war with the hole-in-the-frisbee. Actually Chase had it but Cooper wanted it too. Here ‘s vid and also a pic of them taken with my cellphone on Monday, Dec 13.
The 2F degrees (-17C) does not bother them at all. Nice to have that thick heavy coat they have on, playing happily, panting away and whines and whines when i shooed them in to the garage/house. Good thing is they cool off so much faster after so much playing during winter. Spring, summer, and fall it will take them hours to finally quit panting.
First day of winter, or winter solstice is not even officially here yet and we are already getting hammered. Hundreds of flights were cancelled in Minneapolis and Chicago. Tons of accidents and so many residents in other areas lost power and so many have to dig their cars out from the snow storm. Schools in the cities were closed on Monday and some on Tuesday too. Well, I had to go to work on Monday and the roads are not too bad. The Dept of Transportation plows definitely were working hard to make the freeways clear and free of snow and ice except for some spots – shiny spots = ice.
Another round of snow is here starting this evening will drop 2-3 inches. Hooray! Good thing I’m taking time off starting tomorrow and through the weekend.
I’m enjoying my walks on the snow. I guess I’m nuts to like the snow. However when it comes to driving with snow on the ground, I detest it big time. The dogs love the snow. Tried to take pictures of them out in the snow but is so hard. They move a lot and too fast for me.
We had a foot of snow fall from Friday through Saturday.
Friday afternoon (3:45 pm) outing. Windy and snow was coming down good. I was the only pyscho one walking that afternoon.
Ranger says, “What are we waiting for?”
Came home, it’s frisbee time for Chase. This pic was taken after 20 minutes of fetching. I took a break and brought the camera out to take some pictures. This fella was patiently waiting, tail wagging but was whining up a storm: “Stop taking pictures/videos and toss the frisbee NOW!”
I was out on Saturday morning, the plows already came and did the driveways and streets but now the sidewalks.
Icing on the truck!
That’s how much snow on the sidewalks. Had to bring out the hardy old Sorel boots to trudge through the snow. The snow that felled is those dry and light ones…easier to walk on. Crazy as it is, this is my 11th winter in this country I still have not bought a pair of snow pants. Yeah call me cheapo. I wear my regular sweatpants (the plastic-ky ones) over another fleece one.
Fresh untouched snow
The “path” the 3 of us made – me, Cooper and Chase. Cooper walked away from me as soon as I took the camera out.
…and Chase said I need a pit stop in the middle of the “path”. Watch out for yellow snow, people. :)
The weather this past weekend was so crappy. It was raining and it turned to freezing rain which means ice on the wind shield and worse is on the roads and I was out in the evening on Friday. I was all over the place trying not to slid and slide onto other cars or cross the other side of the road. Damn scary. Was go glad to get into the garage without sliding right into the refrigerator!!! The same thing on Sunday morning. Obviously this time, I stayed home. Didn’t attempt to go to church. The weather finally let up albeit super cloudy later in the morning, no more ice but wet roads.
This Turkey Day weather is turning horrid…..super windy, blustery cold starting Wednesday and turning to ice and snow on Thursday, 15F (-9 C) for the high according to the weather folks. So the man might not want to drive 1.5 hours to his bro’s for turkey dinner. Oh well, we shall see how it turns out on Thursday, 25. We may have to cook our own turkey and do our own turkey dinner.
Winter finally hit us on Friday night. During the day on Friday, it was just gloomy, typical of a November day in boring Minnesota.
I had Chase fetching his frisbee and he was loving it. The temp was still in the 40′s but a drastic drop from upper 60′s F to 40′s F. I think on Monday last week the temperature went up to 70 something. Crazy indeed. Can see the trees and the “jungle” is so bare and can even see the freeway. Also, with the leaves all gone, the traffic noise is actually louder.
Saturday morning woke up to at least 4 inches of snow on the ground and it snowed throughout the whole day. I took the dogs out for their walks and took this picture of Chase’s favorite place. The snow was those wet heavy fluffy type where people here call it “heart attack” snow because it’s so full of moisture and when you shovel it, you may get a heart attack if you are unfit. The snow is damn heavy for shovelling. We don’t have to shovel any on our driveway. The association has the snow plows to do it for us. The only thing we need to shovel is the cement path to the front door.
It was still snowing on Sunday but very light. Overall we had about 10 inches of snow in our area. Although a lot of snow had melted due to warm grounds and upper 30′s temperature, a lot of snow is still on the grass. Don’t think it will go anywhere now. Winter has finally set in. We have been spoiled by the warm/cool weather and now we are paying for it.
We finally had our first frost on Sunday. The more frost days, cooler nights, mornings, the better. The cold will kill all those damn bugs. Can’t wait to get rid of them. The skeeters are still out in the evenings – in full force.
Back to the Sunday morning, I knew the temps will drop to the 30′s over night and weather forecasters said there will be frost and warn home owners to cover up their plants. I grabbed my camera before I left the house for the first walk of the day with the two C’s to take some morning fall pics. It was cool alright, was able to see our breaths.
Cooper…this guy is turning so white now.
Somewhere along our regular stomping path.
Lonesome bird against the clear blue sky – love the blue sky a lot.
On my second walk of the day, walk with Ranger. It’s the lake that I have taking pictures of lately.
And my friend asked where’s my picture…so here it is…my shadow!
Ranger CSI-ing. Notice the white cloths on that homeowner’s house plants.
Ranger, when he insist to get to what he smelled, he WILL go….no care for me.
And the last picture I took before we reached home….a bright red shrub to brighten the day.
The above picture was taken last Friday. The dogs were bored to DEATH!!!! It was thundering and lightning majorly. I usually walk them after our dinner but that evening was not the case. Mother nature was having a fit! And it was a bad one too. I don’t mind walking if there’s thunder but then the man forbid me to go out at all. He is the kind that if it thundering and lightning out, no going outside and no using the shower.
In the picture below, we are in the central part where it says Twin Cities (the box towards the right), if you can read it. Sorry for the blur picture. I set the camera mode to something besides Auto. Didn’t check it before taking the pictures.
There were thunderstorm and tornado warnings. There was actually tornado touch downs but far from us. The picture I took from the news on TV shows where the tornados are – the 2 big red round dots. Needless to say, DB was glued to the TV watching out for the storm. There was one bad storm over our head the next night. Super heavy rain, thunder, lightning right before we head to bed (10 pm). DB stayed up till the storm passed by which was about 30+ minutes later.
It has been raining every week, at least 3 – 4 days a week. The ground is so saturated it’s no joke. Walk on it and it’s “squish, squish”. There’s water running off the grass onto the sidewalks and roads even the day after.
There is more rain forecasted for this weekend….storms. Whoopee doo! “Love summer weather!” 
It’s been awhile I actually posted something. “I am thankful posts” are not even up. I have to be honest though, some days it’s hard to be thankful but nevertheless, I’m still thankful for a job as there are some lay offs going on in some departments. Thankful I still have a roof over our heads at this moment. We have no news from the bank yet. I’m thankful for having wheels to take us around, thankful that SD is doing better now after her Gamma Knife on the tumor in her brain. I’m pretty much thankful for all the things I have now.
Now to the happier things……the signs of warm weather…..dog(s) out getting some Vitamin D. For this case is Chase. He can lay out on the cement patio sleeping for a few hours and when he comes back in, he will be panting up a storm.
The temperature is nice these days….temps in the 60′s is just perfect….not too hot, just cool and nice but of course that’s me!
But I know is warm enough for the fury ones to lay on the tile floors and where Cooper is laying here in this picture is where the vent is directly facing him if the air is on. Obviously the air is not on yet but I guess he knows if it’s on, he got the right spot.
And the “angel” amongst the three, Ranger. He is content laying where he is ever since he got home from his walk – the entrance to the garage. He is getting super mellow and mellower every day, the “I don’t give a hood” kinda attitude which is good to a point.
Picture of our backyard taken on Sunday. It was a nice day with clear blue skies. It’s actually a good day to go pick up dog poop! DB did the dirty job and I went out to meet up with a friend whom we knew since Standard 1 at the Mall of America.
Today is the last day of winter. Tomorrow is the official first day of spring. We had such mild weather lately, albeit the sun was warm. I actually had a tan from all the after work walks with the boys. All the snow is gone from our yard and majority of the areas in our state. Of course there are still some in the shaded areas but winter is over. I find that this winter went by super fast. I think it could be from the late snow fall (in early December) and I was so busy when DB left for TX. I’m now back to walking the boys on the sidewalks, walking quicker with them too….works like fat burner pills to me. Seriously, I feel my pants are loser. Also thanks to not snacking anymore in between meals. That I know is a big plus.
Picture taken in the morning while it was still snowing lightly. I didn’t go in to work coz of my sickening throat. Took the picture to see where the grill is….so much for trying to get some grilling in!
This was taken right after the snow stopped. We went out to take pictures and walk on the fresh snow!
And so happen it was also trash and recycle day.
Yep that’s DB standing there…looks like he is supervising those recycle guys but he was not. He was trying to shovel a path for me.
Front of the house
Side of the house by the garage.
Nice untouched snow till……
…this fella found a stick.
Doesn’t care how deep the snow is, he still wants to fetch!
At least the boys didn’t venture over here…..nice and smooth, somewhat.
Cooper wants Chase’s stick but he is getting slower now. Heart is willing but legs are not.
This is Ranger’s walking route. He so want to climb up the snow banks and snoop near the woods. I don’t let him coz of his bad leg.
The snow is piling high on the patio. Snow started on Monday late morning and didn’t stop till Wednesday noon.
As soon as the snow stopped, I went out with the boys, Cooper and Chase to the park. Ranger I had to walk him separately from the other 2. The weather was nice in the 20′s F. Snow on the streets was melting after the plows went through. This was taken about 2 hours after the plows came by. Can see black on the roads!
The elementary school field
Fresh snow this kid was sledding right after school.
In the trails, just beautiful…untouched till me and the two boys came along!
Tried getting a picture of the two together…but Cooper is too damn camera shy! Notice Chase’s missing teeth? One big empty gap with missing tooth and a fang? It’s the same on the other side. But he still could chew his rawhides down in seconds.
Finally, he looked over and stayed put!
It’s slowly warming up. Temps for this week is going up to the 30′s. Woohoo….it will be slushy and wet out which I hate when walking the dogs….coz I hate wiping them down. I know part of the parcel of owning dogs but I just hate doing it…usually will have the man do it.
The two paths created by the boys in our backyard. The above picture was taken early January where temp was still in single digits or lower. Nice clear skies but damn deceiving tho. The dogs will create paths after the big snowfall in December and after each snowfall, they will still go back to the paths to go do their business. Under those snow, it some ice too, thanks to the Christmas above freezing temperature, 36 F. Then over night it freezes when temp drops to the teens and then the Arctic temps creeped in in January. Lovely!
The man said he is going to clear the snow on the patio! Why bother i said. They are hard like a rock. Let the new owners take care of it!!! Tho we have not heard back from the stupid bank, we don’t know when we need to close on the house, I just assume if we move out in end of February or March, the snow will not go anywhere. Snow loves Minnesota. It will hang around till mid-April or May!