A stressful Chistmas Eve but all turned out good

I do not think that I ever had such stressful Christmas Eve in all of my life. Tara and Kelly came over about noon and Kelly shoveled a walk way in my driveway so I could get to their vehicle. We drove about 20 miles to Beavercreek  on  pretty horrendous streets. We saw several trucks and SUVs sideways on the side of the highway or street and one truck in a huge ditch. It took probably three times longer than normal to drive to Cindy and Randy’s house for their early Christmas Eve dinner. It was well worth it though because the prime rib was great not as awesome as last year but really great. The grilled bacon wrapped asparagus was absolutely fabulous.

The temperature got up to about 36 so the precipitation was pretty much rain for an hour or so. The drive home was much better until we got close to home and off of the main roads. Kelly had to put the vehicle back into 4 wheel drive. The low tonight is supposed to be below freezing so there will be a nice sheet of ice on the streets tomorrow.

pc240001

pc240004

Yum O!!!!!!!!

pc240006

Tara’s French boots

pc240010

I am sick of this crappy weather!

It snowed on and off most of the day. Then late afternoon the temperature did actually get above freezing and the precipitation was just rain. However, the weather forecast for tonight calls for below freezing temps and more snow through Thursday. That is to be followed by snow this coming weekend. I heard on the local evening news that this will be the longest cold spell on record for Portland since 1978. Below freezing temps are forecasted through at least Christmas Day. I better be able to get to the airport the day after Christmas for my 6:00 AM flight to Cancun!

Thank goodness I brought my work laptop home last Friday so I can work virtually via VPN and have all of the amenities of being on the corporate LAN. I have a feature on my work voicemail box that I can program for callers to push one to be redirected to a number where I can be reached. That along with my cell and Instant Messaging it is just like I am sitting at my desk in my office 8 miles away. 6 of the 8 sales teams that I support are remote anyway. They are located anywhere from 13 miles away to Idaho, Utah and Montana. So it is no big deal that I am not in the office downtown Portland.

I am not taking any chances with walking on icy pavement and ending up falling and re-injuring my knee. My daughter Tara called me last night to see if I wanted to go out to dinner with her and Kelly. I said no because I did not want to walk down my icy driveway and maneuver through an icy restaurant parking lot. Tara said that she thought she should call me and ask since she had just heard a new’s story about Loaves and Fishes and how their need increases with the elderly during bad weather. Yes, thanks a lot Tara! Anyway I gave her instructions to stop at one of my favorite Mexican places on the way home to pick me up a green chili burrito which actually will be my dinner tonight.  Tara did tell me that it was a good thing that I did not go with them since she nearly fell on her ass in the restaurant’s parking lot.

Another Portland blogger feels the same way I do. Yes, maybe we are wimps but we do not get this shit very often. The thing that alot of people do not realize is that Portland is situated at the foothills of a major mountain range, The Cascades. You could compare some of the hills in town to what you would see in places like San Franciso or Seattle. Many streets are closed becasue of safety issues.  A friend of mine from Iowa visited me last summer and was amazed that there were mountains in the city. Excuse me but those are only buttes or hills not mountains. Top that off with the fact then when we get snow it always freezes over. Tomorrow morning’s commute will be a nightmare.