White Out

Whew! It's been a crazy week. After getting snowed in and finally making it home, I was stuck in bed all day fighting off a sinus infection. Thankfully I got lots of rest today and I think I'll be back to normal tomorrow.

I had such a fun time on Nebo this week. It was the most gorgeous snow I've ever seen. Enjoy all the pics from the big snow storm.

The Great Mount Nebo Blizzard of '10

I made it safely to Nebo and had a blast watching the Super Bowl. But now I'm snowed in. We just returned from sledding and are now awaiting Alisa's soup and cornbread for lunch.

Hey... if you gotta be stranded, I picked a great place. Plenty of food, beverages, and friends to last for days!

Snow, ice and arctic temps

In a week where the weather guys break in to report "really cold," it's been easy to huddle under the covers and avoid productivity. I've spent three days this week working from home, two of which I never took a shower and spent the day in my pajamas.

How do I make this a permanent gig? I'd save so much money on shampoo and cute clothes.

Tomorrow I will have to leave the house since I have multiple meetings on campus, but at least I don't have to drive very far, and my weekend plans consist of watching football and eating leftovers. I did receive an e-mail that my treadmill has shipped, so next week I have to get back into the swing of things with exercise and less gluttony, or stretchy pants will be all that will fit.

So I guess my year of taking chances starts next week. Right now I want to crawl back under the covers and watch Alabama continue to thrash Texas.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I'm not quite sure why I bother to update this thing anymore, sporadic though it may be. According to my trusty web stats, I have fewer readers than ever. I've always known my life was dull, but evidently others are starting to figure it out as well.

My holiday plans have been hijacked by the possibility of winter weather. I mean, I'm all about a white Christmas, but can't it just be pretty on the trees and grass and leave the roads alone? I totally wanted tomorrow to just veg and finish last-minute tasks. Tonight I went to four stores in search of canned pumpkin so that I could make a cheesecake for Friday. I just hope it turns out okay after all of that schlepping around and heavy-duty mixing.

So, to the three of you who still read this thing, I am announcing a possible hiatus. Tomorrow afternoon/early evening I'll be headed south (so Memaw, if you're reading this, keep the couch warm for me), then Friday includes spending the morning with the kids and Vickie and then heading back to Memaw's for the traditional Hester Christmas fish fry. Saturday plans are still tentative, but Sunday I'm headed back to Texas, so I'll be out of pocket until the first of the year.

Hmmm... if I'm out of town for 10 days, are 37 outfits enough to pack? I'm sure I'll be throwing stuff in the car at the last minute since I'm headed out earlier than planned.

Just in case: Merry Christmas, everyone! Fleas on your dog. I leave you with a pic of Hope and me, at the Plunkett festivities last night.

Joy and pain

It's official. I cursed myself. After bragging about my fitness prowess, I totally pulled a muscle in my back. I did nothing all weekend except pop pain pills, rub biofreeze on my shoulder, and lie motionless. The good news is that I finally cleared off my DVR. The bad news is that my 5K training has come to a screeching halt. Not that it was going so well in the first place...

It snowed all day yesterday. Big, beautiful flakes of snow. This morning? Not a trace.

I did manage to take a shower and head to church this morning, even though I had to go to the late service since I overslept. But I'm really glad I went. The church I attend does a lot of worship choruses and new songs, so it's rare for us to sing a hymn. I suppose it's just as well since a lot of those songs I know so well that I start to sing them absently, not paying attention to the lyrics. But this morning we did "Blessed Assurance," and it was like I was hearing the song for the first time (granted, there was an accordion, so perhaps that was the difference?). What a blessing... for I am sure that Jesus is mine.

We've been studying the book of I Thessalonians for a couple of months. This morning the pastor talked about the difference between happiness and joy. God never promised us a lifetime of happiness. But He did promise us joy in Him. We can't always praise Him for the circumstance, but we can praise Him in it. Even when it's hard.

This was a really random post. I'm blaming the pain pills.

Losing sleep, counting sheep

For more than a week, I've been having trouble sleeping. I can usually go to sleep fine, but I wake up in the middle of the night with my mind racing and am unable to go back to sleep. The good news is that I've been able to exercise twice a day these past few days. I may be sleep deprived, but at least I can look good walking around like a zombie.

My dinner in Fort Smith tonight was canceled, so I'm able to go to bed early and not brave the winter precipitation. Bring on the snow!

Let it wintry mix

I've officially been a resident of northwest Arkansas for 10 months now. The other day, one of my friends accused me of becoming a "northwest Arkansas snob," calling me "one of those people who think NWA is the end-all, be-all place." Guilty as charged. I always thought I'd want to end up here someday, but someday came much sooner than expected, and residing in the state's most extreme northwest county is even better than I expected. Great shopping, good dining (although neither in my actual town), and beautiful scenery.

My first autumn wasn't as gorgeous as I expected it to be (of course, to be fair, I did go to Boston this fall and that's kind of hard to beat). Last January, on my first night in the new house, we had a big snowfall. I love snow and was excited to see a lot of white stuff. There wasn't much.

Today marks the first snow of this winter. Granted, it's more of a wintry mix and heavy on the rain, but still... it's SNOWING. And I'm sitting in my warm house, watching the Christmas tree lights blink and drinking coffee.

Three days ago I was in Texas and it was 80 degrees. I love northwest Arkansas. So sue me.

Where's the snow?

It was supposed to start snowing here early this afternoon. Dad called at 1 p.m. and reported heavy snowfall in Midland. Estella texted me around 6 p.m. and said there were "blizzard-like snowflakes" in Mountain Home. We've got nada. Nothing. Not a flake of snow, not a drop of sleet, not a sign of rain.

What's up with that? How am I going to get snowed out of work tomorrow if we don't get any?

Snow way, snow how

What a difference a few hours make. Two of my Russellville pals reported 11" and 12" of snow in their backyards this morning, but it was all melted by the time I drove through this afternoon. My car was completely covered when I walked out of the hotel this morning, but it didn't last long.

I'm finally back in my own bed for the first time in a week. And I'm pooped.

Evening update

Just got back from a trip to Maumelle/Conway/Maumelle/Little Rock/North Little Rock. I met Joe at his place, and we had an awesome meal at Michelangelo's. We started with a cheese pizza, which had Gorgonzola on it and was fantastic, then I had some great shrimp pasta, and we shared a tirimasu for dessert. Yum!

After dinner I stopped at the Hester Zoo to see Lon, Jen, Huey, Dewie and Louie. Those boys are always so thrilled to see me {sense the sarcasm}. Peyton says repeatedly "Hi, fart blossom" and "Bye, fart blossom" every time I arrive and leave. Jen suggested I write, "I stopped to see the coolest family I know." So there ya go.

Now I'm back in the ol' hotel, waiting on the snow. It's supposed to snow 4-6" in Siloam. Wonder if I can get home tomorrow.

Let it snow!

One of the most exciting things about living in Benton County is that we get more snow per capita than just about anyplace else in Arkansas. Unfortunately, most of today's precipitation began much too late in the day to be of any consequence, but it was pretty to open the blinds in my office and watch the big fat flakes come down. This is my house right after work today.

Estella e-mailed around lunchtime and said they had four inches of snow in Baxter County. Obviously we didn't get that much.