Let's see...where did we last leave off in our little adventure? Oh right, I think they had opened schools on Thursday and them promptly panicked when they saw snow falling and immediately closed them again. Sigh. Well, the snow eventually subsided and the roads were FINE on Thursday. Really, I can't even remember now what we ended up doing that day to pass the time, but I'm sure it had something to do with either Ian or I (or both of us) pulling out every last strand of our hair at some point. Now, I know wha
t you are wondering: Is it possible to have too much togetherness with a two/almost three-year-old? Well, I'm here to tell you that the answer to that question is most definitely, yes. Not that I don't think my little angel is the most wonderful thing put on this earth, but hey, we all need a break every now and then.
So anyhooskie, let me tell you that when that alarm went off Friday morning, I floated down the stairs with glee because I was just 110% positive that school would be open and I would have a few free hours to get myself back on track. But oh, silly me for getting my hopes up. I mean, why would they want to open schools for just one day of the week? Okay, well maybe we did have some sort of precipitation on Thursday night that had iced up the roads again making it supposedly dangerous for school buses to navigate their way around Portland, but is that really a reason to close school for the fifth day in a row? I mean, can't all these kids just walk?? (Okay, just kidding. I wouldn't want to put any little ones in danger.) More sighing. Well, all I have to say is thank God for
OMSI. I packed up Ian and we headed over to the east side for a morning of good times at the museum. And while I was positive that it would be packed, it actually was not at all. In fact, just the opposite - there was hardly anyone there. Bonus.
On Friday afternoon Jeff came home from work a bit early which allowed me to join the rest of the greater Portland metro area at the mall late Friday afternoon to wrap up some last minute shopping. I mean, I'm positive that absolutely everyone who lives within a 50 mile radius was at Washington Square that day. And, by the way, don't you think it's strange that the second you walk into a mall that the entire world's population changes into only teenagers? Hmm...very odd. Anyway, by Friday eve they (and by they, I mean those weather people on TV) were busy talking about more bad weather again. You know, that whole Phase 3 thing I referenced in an earlier post. Yeah, that one. Well, they kept saying that this one was going to be the real deal. Lots of snow, ice, freezing rain, hurricanes, tornadoes, you name it - all rolled up into one big weather system expected to hit about mid-day on Saturday (at least accordingly to Doppler Radar - and we all know that the good ole' DR doesn't lie). Okay fine, we'll see.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early (like I really need to point that out since I haven't "slept in" in about four years now) to find that we already had a dusting of snow and it was continuing to fall lightly but consistently. Well, I wasn't even
going to make an attempt to find out if perhaps there was some smidgen of a chance that our Parents' Day Out was still happening. Clearly it was not. (I do believe that was Anticipated Bummer Moment #6 becoming Actual Bummer Moment #6.) So the three of us piled into the car headed out to pick up goodies for the holiday dinner we were hosting for the Hyders that evening (which I'll just mention we had scheduled about three weeks prior and were of course looking forward to). Even as we were out and about on Saturday morning, things were looking a bit ominous. We saw several cars struggling to make it up slight hills even on main thoroughfares as a now moderate snow continued falling. Hmm. By the time we got home midday with enough food and drink to feed an army, I must say the white stuff was really starting to come down. By about 2pm, it was becoming painfully clear that we were about to add Bummer Moment #8 to the list: our holiday dinner was not happening. (Those people said that the snow was only expected to worsen throughout the day/night - not get better.)
So, phone calls were exchanged, (and once again this week) plans were canceled and then we did the only thing we could do: bundled up Ian and headed outside to enjoy the snowfall. We had purchased a couple of small sleds when we had the bit of snow the previous Sunday which we expected to use on a still TBD trip up to the mountains this winter - but luckily they ended up coming in handy y
esterday. Ian was beside himself with excitement at the opportunity to do a little sidewalk/street sledding with Dad. Much to Ian's disappointment, we weren't able to stay outside too long because well, it was snowing hard and FREEZING outside, but I believe a good time was had by all anyway. Last night we made our holiday dinner anyway sans our guests (it was yummy - sorry you weren't here Z&B!) and continued to watch the snow along with the Godfather 2.
By this morning the precipitation had ended and all told I think our area ended up with about eight inches of snow along with a good sheet of ice on top of that - helping make this the snowiest December in Portland in more than 10 years. The mountains have gotten well more than two feet, I believe (not counting all the stuff from earlier this week) and the highway in the Columbia River Gorge just east of Portland has been closed to traffic due to blizzard conditions out there right now. We did some Sunday morning snow frolicking and then decided to venture out to Costco midday. With chains on (required on all roads in the
area right now) we fared just fine on the roads - though I have to say that the MDX has proven to be a real trooper in bad weather. With temps only in the mid-20s today, we've seen more bands of snow and freezing rain coming through and apparently have another chance of some snow accumulation tonight (two to six inches). The latest we are hearing is that this unusually cold air in the valley is going to keep hanging on for about another week or so before finally pulling out sometime around next Saturday. Hopefully we'll all still like each other by then.
So, that's the latest weather report from the Pacific Northwest. Even though all Portland Public Schools are now officially closed for holiday vacation anyway, Ian's preschool was scheduled to still be open tomorrow and half day on Wednesday. Which brings me to Anticipated Bummer Moment #9....
Until I write again.
We received several more inches of snow overnight and this morning, making our current total somewhere around 14 inches and breaking 40-plus year records for Portland snowfall, according to our local NBC affiliate.
as been since Friday morning. So, at this point I am not counting on anything reaching us (that isn't already here) by package delivery before Christmas. More sighs. 
as been since Friday morning. So, at this point I am not counting on anything reaching us (that isn't already here) by package delivery before Christmas. More sighs. 
