Christmas Day Dinner- Chinese style

The family went out to dinner on Christmas Day.  The requirements: Chinese, Seafood.  No surprise that the restaurant was packed with lines through the door.  They even had chairs outside for the grandma and grandpas to sit down and wait.

It was worth the wait.  Delicious food.

Christmas Eve in Los Angeles.

Well, after a slow drive to the airport through 6 inches of snow, finding a parking spot for the car (in the open, under the snow fall. sorry mom and dad who will have to dig the car out.), a tug to push the slipping tug that pushes the plane away from the gate, 15 snow plows in line to clear the tarmac, a quick de-icing of the wings, we lifted off the ground and arrived in LA 10 minutes early.  Phew.  Once landed, the storm quickly escaped my memory and I was enjoying the sun in Beverly Hills with Warren, Wendy, Tim, Mandy and baby Sara. 

I can't believe I'm obsessing about the weather.

Winter storm warning.
http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/USMN0503?phenomena=WS&significance=W&areaid=MNZ060&office=KMPX&etn=0008

I tried to change my 730am flight tomorrow to leave tonight (this took place this morning).  Too late.  Unless I physically go to the airport to try and get a seat, all flights booked for today already.  Ugh.  Well, I'm still hopeful the plane will take off in the morning.  It has to.  I have plans!  Can't wait to see my old college friends- in LA.

Countdown

After this past weekend's snow storm out East, I'm hoping for the best that I get out of MN early early Christmas eve morning.  The talk of the town is the upcoming Christmas storm and rumor is that it may be starting already tonight.  Flurries outside.  Please pray that I am able to get off the ground and escape this tundra in sunny California!

Invictus

I highly recommend going to see Invictus.  South Africa, post-apartheid, Mandela, rugby, politics, sport.  A good story.  Movie well done.  (I hear that it's a pretty good representation of what was happening during that time in history.)

Snowshoeing

We had a warm spell last weekend after the storm (a balmy 25F!). It was a great change from the negative temps we were experiencing during the week. Seriously, one day it was 11F with a windchill of -17F making the temperature outside feeling like -6F. Why did I move to MN?!


What better thing to do in "warm" winter weather than to go snowshoeing! Really, I went snowshoeing. My first time since grade school. It was great. Good outside exercise. My goal is to go more often this season. It may even be worth it to invest in a pair of snowshoes!

Next day results

7.5" of snow, -19degF windchill, strongs winds, very cold.  i ended up working at home the day after the storm.  was going to brave it to work but decided to be a bit sensible and avoid the disasters on the road so worked from home.  the plowing guys didn't arrive until 1030am.  no worries though, i knew my new rav4 would be able to get through the snow accumulation.  overall, we were lucky.  southern minnesota got over a foot of snow.  it's still really cold here.  i admit i'm a wimp.  i'm dreaming of 2 weeks from now when i'll be in california.

The first Snow Storm of the season

So we made it to the 2nd week of December before the first major storm of the season.  This is how the day started:  No snow.  Not even any sign of snow.  But the rumor was that we would get 18-36 inches.  The snow starts around noon and continues to fall.  By 5:30, we have about an inch.  The roads are terribly congested.  We'll see what happens overnight.  I'm just thankful my dad had foresight to pre-pay for the snow removal service to shovel the driveway before 7am so I don't have to do it!  (Yes.  I'm still living at home.)