A Howling Good Time

You know, from my past postings, that I do hate the snow right now...this has NOT changed...especially when I got home last night...

It had snowed all morning but the afternoon was clear...luckily for the Hillclimbers and their machines (Word Championship Hill Climb...snowmobiles and slednecks...gotta love 'em)...unfortunately that didn't mean that anyone had bothered to help clear the path to my cabin...I of course was told that they were going to get the snow blower out...

Yes, they have a snow blower!...I too was shocked to learn about it...having not seen it all winter and having to shovel the length of a football field with a PLASTIC shovel...yes PLASTIC (those who have lived in the far north know that for any sort of heavy snow removal a plastic shovel will not do)...but alas...when I got home last night my path was gone....COMPLETELY blown in....If I hadn't known any better I would never have know that there had ever been a path....

What happened to the for mentioned snow blower?...apparently everybody on campus...including the snow blower...went to a concert...so when I got home at 9PM not only was campus completely void of paths it was also completely void of lights...now, I'm not a pansy but trying to struggle through waist-deep snow in the pitch black is not my idea of a good time....

I of course tried to make it (They won't beat ME!)...but, being the incredibly coordinated person that I am...I stepped wrong and sunk....that's when true anger (and perhaps a little fear) came in... of course my overactive imagination didn't help...visions of wolves and snow goblins ran through my mind...I know wolves won't attack but those snow goblins can't be trusted...so after a little, less-than-ladylike language...I hauled myself out of the drift and got back in my car...

Unlike my path the roads were completely dry...COMPLETELY DRY....so I drove 50 miles to my sister's house and slept on their futon...that was much easier...and gave me plenty of time to calm down and curse like a trucker....(no offense to all you truckers out there but you do swear a lot)

On a happier and much cooler note...I got to spend 1 1/2 hours watching a pack of wolves sleep...no not while I was stuck in the snow...luckily...

No, they were on a butte about 1 mile away and looked remarkably like rocks...

Yes I'm sure they were wolves...we got a spotting scope out...

It was VERY COOL...

So not everything about the program sucks...but that doesn't mean that I want to shovel anymore...

I REALLY wish I was...

So, for the last three...no four...days it has been snowing...yes snowing...I really wish I was joking...but I'm not...now don't get me wrong I like snow...but not a blizzard on March 27th that requires me to put snowshoes on my Mom just so she can get to my cabin... (I was also on snowshoes but am used to it...kinda...and for those of you who know her it was quite entertaining but a pain the you-know-what)...

Now many of you know that this program has been pushing me nearer the proverbial edge for a while now...well since the beginning really...and although I have come close a couple of times to flipping out and joining the circus...I have managed to calm down and re-assess...

Well NO more...

I really think that I would be a good elephant trainer...I too hate mice (as you know)...and have a good memory (I remember really random crap sometimes)...and I often feel as if I could go nutzo and trample a bunch of people who kept pushing me to eat peanuts (or other nutty things)...we would have a lot in common...me and my elephant...

I think I'll name him Moose...

A Yearly Gift...

So it's that time of year again where the Calendar tells you it's Spring but the Weather refuses to cooperate...consequently it is also the time of year in which I am reminded that I am getting older...and it is also when my Mother calls me to remind me that labor is not fun and I nearly killed her...a fun reminder at six in the morning...
Yup you guessed it..It's my birthday!...And this year it looks as if the Weather is giving me its traditional gift...snow. It has snowed every year on my Birthday...

EVERY YEAR...it has even snowed when it wasn't predicted...it's like this one day, the entire Cosmos get together to play a little joke on me...I've given up planning outdoor birthday parties...and I think that I will be truly shocked if I were to wake up and see the sun...

EVERY YEAR...I think it would snow even if I were to move to the desert...Weather people would call it a fluke...they wouldn't know what to blame...I alone would know...

It's because on this day I came into the world in all sorts of bluster and noise and so I must remember that...EVERY YEAR...but hey, at least I always know what the day will be like if not the year in between...

So wish me luck and help me gather some snowballs...

Yup...

Have you ever woke up and thought "This is going to be an interesting day!"...You're not sure why you think that...so you get out of bed and get ready for your day...only to realize that your day is going to bite you in the @!s the first moment it can. I got bit in the shower when sudsy shampoo got in my eye...I hate it when that happens...it makes me feel like a little kid who hasn't figured out the tilted head technique...then I couldn't find matching socks...maybe because of a blurry eye...stupid soap...and then I locked my keys in my car...while it was running....#^*&#@! &(*#%&@!!!!!

YES folks, it was running and NO, I don't have a spare hidden anywhere...

"Why Not?"

...Well that's because I had to give it to the snowplowing guy on campus so he could move my car to plow the lot...and NO I didn't get another made because...I forgot...and YES, I will make sure to unlock my door when the car is running...and YES I will get another spare made...and YES I know it was a pretty bone-headed thing to do...and NO I am not going to talk about it anymore...

Luckily my B-in-law knows how to break into cars...not by breaking the window...even I can do that...

NO he's not a criminal...

but YES... he did work for a towing company and they taught him all sorts of tricks....Yeah for Tricks!

It only took him like ten minutes...which on a Saturday, with a full day of fun planned would be a good thing...but alas I had to go to work so I was a bit disappointed...note to self...call in sick when get initial "This is going to be an interesting day" feeling...nothing can get you if you stay in bed...scratch that...karma can always find a way to get even...even when you don't deserve it...

Dirt, Food, Games...and Goats?

Well...March has been a bit of a lion here in the northern woods...it snowed another 6 inches...as I had predicted...jinxed myself with that one...but at least I know that April is coming and that means Spring for sure...oops...that means Spring is likely. Let's not tempt fate again...Fate doesn't like me. In school this week we have been re-visiting students that we taught in the Fall to see what they have remembered from their time here...Here's what we learned: 1.) Lunches outside are good as long as there are no bugs; 2.) Games involving hiding from your teacher are really awesome; and most important 3.) I am the coolest teacher ever! A quote "You are still the coolest teacher ever!"...and we all know that kids don't lie. I like these kids...they remember the important stuff. Apparently to achieve coolness in the fifth grade as a teacher you have to let them roll around in the dirt and let them eat their lunches outside...oh and make them not realize the fact that the games you let them play actually teach them about prey hiding techniques...as for rolling around in the dirt, they will never forget the term Bison Wallow...so there you go...the keys to coolness...dirt, food, and games. Gotta love 'em!

On a stranger note...I saw a lady walking her goats today...yes goats...at first I though they were Impalas...African Antelope for those who have never watched Cheetahs chase them on the Nature channels...but then I thought "Hey! It doesn't snow on the Serengeti..." So I took a second look and realized that she just had really tall goats...she had a dog with her too...but still strange...the dog was even on a leash...I wonder if there are leash laws for goats? If there are I need to report a violation...