Thankful Thursday

This week I have been incredibly thankful for two things:

1. That I live close enough to work that I can walk
2. That I didn't lose electricity

We are experiencing a "snow event" here in the northwest.  Typically we see snow a handful of times a year.  Generally it's an inch or two, and it doesn't REALLY stick around.  It may screw up rush up traffic for a day, but usually there's not even enough to close schools.

However, this week Western Washington saw a TON of snow.  My neighborhood had, at one point, around 3 inches (based on my non-scientific estimation).  This IS a lot of snow for where I live, but it didn't feel like a lot to me because other people had SOOOOO much more!!!  A co-worker of mine had about 10 inches of snow in her driveway.  Olympia had around 14 inches at one point.  We are DEFINITELY not used to snow at these amounts.

This brings us to TT #1.  Remember, I live in a city of hills.  It does not take very much to screw up traffic on these hills.  When so many buses are out of service and roads are shut down, it's reassuring to know that I will never be stuck at home or at work because of snow and ice.  My bus routes were actually running pretty well throughout the week, but I did walk a couple of times.  (It's good to have options!)

After our first big day of snow, the temperature dropped and we ended up covered in ice.  Tree snapped and broke from the weight of the ice and fell on power lines - lots of them.  I think at one point there were over 350,000 people without power and lots of people won't have electricity back until this weekend.  Remember, it's REALLY cold, so I'm super thankful that I have not had to deal with losing power this week.

Good night!

Photo Friday

Photo Friday time!  This is where I post random, unedited pics from my cell phone.

First up - in honor of Friday the 13th:

This is a pin I bought at Disneyland when we were there in May.  I've purchased pins while traveling for a LOT longer than Disney has been on the whole pin trading band wagon.  I'm not into trading, but I like that there are always so many for me to pick from while I'm there.  I like to pick up one or two per trip, so it was fun to come across this limited edition Friday the 13th pin! (I believe Jill and I bought the last two in the store!)

January 7th was Russian Christmas and Erik always hosts a Russian Christmas party that includes a white elephant gift exchange.  My first gift, a Lego torch (as in, flashlight) was stolen, so I brought home this little cactus from Arizona/California instead. (Grown in AZ, purchased in CA.)  It is now living at work.  I'm actually surprised at how "well" this picture turned out.  Pretty vibrant colors for a quick shot  in Erik's living room.

On the day of the Spring Awakening preview, I lost my bus pass.  It's the first time that's ever happened - I used it to go to work, and then when I went home it was gone!  Of course on a night where I was rushing and trying to make it to the preview in time.  I figured the best thing to do was order a replacement right away so I wasn't stuck using REAL MONEY for the bus for very long.  Well, when I ordered my replacement card on that Friday, I was told it could take up to a week to receive it...and it arrived on Monday!!  (Ummm, in case it's not obvious - that's what this picture is - my replacement bus pass.)

There you have it!  You were blown away by these amazing photos, right??  You can't WAIT until next Friday???  Yeah....good luck with that. :-)