January in West Michigan

We have been getting lots of snow and have had our share of cold weather here. So far this month, we have had 13 days in a row with recordable snow fall. We have had 95 inches of snow this season and the average for a whole year is 80. We also went through a week that was very cold, with low temps below 0 degrees and high temps not above 10.
These are pictures I've taken around our house and at work. You can see the bank on our driveway. Right now we have about 15 inches of snow in our yard, so we're having to throw the snow high, to get it off the driveway. The bottom right corner shows the parking lot at our grocery store. It is bordered by piles of snow and if we get much more, I don't know where they will put it! I added the picture of Andy's truck so he can see it covered in snow.
Although I've seen enough snow for a while, I must admit that it looks pretty!

A message from Japan

I got an e-mail from my blogging friend Jennifer who lives in Japan. She has a message she wanted me to share with my fellow Michigan residents. To see what she says, click here. Thanks Jennifer - you're pretty funny!

Old man winter hits again

Here's what's happening again in Michigan! I must say, I have seen enough snow for this year. This is supposed to continue until about 1 am. This doesn't bode well for the drive to work tomorrow!

Winter strikes back!

Winter has struck Michigan again! Yesterday we were having rain and our high temp was 49 degrees. Last night the temperature dropped rapidly, (the weathermen called it a flash freeze) and we had near blizzard conditions all night. This morning when I took this picture the temperature was 6 degrees.This is a picture taken out of our garage this morning. Yesterday there was no snow in the driveway, today - things have changed!

I was very lucky today in the fact that it was my day off and I didn't have to drive through this weather to work like my friend Nancy, or daughter Laura.

Actually Bob also had the day off and college classes where even cancelled for Heather!

Since we were all home, I thought it would be a good day to start on a little challenge from Girlymom of The Red Door. She challenged us yesterday to do a few fun things from her list of 100 things. Her idea is that a lot of people have been sick, blue, tired of winter... and if we all did something like this we would see the lighter side of life. So - here are our 5 things from the list.

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#8 - learn a new word. Our word for today was:

Flaneur - a person who strolls aimlessly, a lounger, a loafer. We said that this kind of described Bob today. He is never really content to just sit around but because of the weather today he was trapped in the house, and was bored.

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#34 - make funny faces:

Here are Bob and Heather, doing their part in this little challenge!
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#29 - take an upside down picture
My camera doesn't believe in upside down. No matter how I turned it, the picture turned out sideways. As you can see Cleo is thrilled to be taking part in this challenge!
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#19 - do a puzzle
Heather and I worked on a puzzle that is still not finished. It's a gumball machine, and it is quite difficult.
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#28 - make a new recipe
I made this Bean soup with ham for supper and it was so good - just right for a cold winter night! If you want the recipe, go here.
That's my 5 things. If you are interested in joining this challenge, visit Girlymom here.

Winter - then and now

Here are a few pictures I took this morning out the side door at work. It was nice to look out and not have snow falling. It has been quite a wintry week here in Michigan. Snow has been falling in fairly large amounts every day. (and our snow blower decided to take a rest!) It has also been very cold. While I enjoy the changing seasons, I think I have had enough of winter for a while!

Yesterday, the local news was talking about this winter being bad and then started talking about the blizzard we had in 1978. This was one of the worst blizzards on record for Michigan. I am now going to date myself and tell you I was a senior in high school that year. It was quite a storm! My Dad worked for the Road commission and was working (attempting to plow roads) with just a few rest breaks for about 5 days. For about 1 day, they gave up and only made runs to get people out in case of an emergency. Much of the state lost power, including us and my family all stayed in our family room to keep warm by the fireplace, for a few days until the power was restored. The roads and highways were closed down. After about 5 days, someone came down our street on a snowmobile and got a few groceries for people. Our school was cancelled for a week and because of the week it fell, we ended up not having exams that winter. When the blizzard finally passed, people were putting tennis balls on the antenna's of their cars, because the snowbanks were so high, you couldn't see the cars coming without them. It was a tough week for the adults, but for those of us lucky enough to still be in school it was fun. We played lots of games that week and did a lot of reading. It isn't often that a family spends that much time together in one room!

Compared to that, I guess I can't really complain about this winter! Do any of you have winter memories? I'd like to hear them.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Here's a few pictures of our back front and side yard here in West Michigan. We are having some cold weather. When I took these pictures around 4:30 on Saturday our thermometer said it was 6 degrees! Because we live near Lake Michigan we often fall victim to lake effect snow. This happen when cold air moves over the warmer lake, causing clouds to build over the lake and snow falls when the clouds reach the land. What this means to us is - it is cold here and it's been snowing all day! This is predicted to continue for the next few days. In this weather I certainly am thankful for things like a home and a furnace!