Snow tunnels, indoor style

When it's too cold outside to play in the snow, you can still make snow tunnels indoors. One of the few advantages to staying home this winter has been more time with our soon-to-be-five Emily. Today's excitement included throwing some blankets over the furniture and letting imagination do the rest. It's warming up this weekend. . . should get some melt. . . but then it is back to winter normal again.

Super Bowl site not so super

Lorlee's back yard today (She's still in slippers)

Lorlee's at home again today.
So, it is Friday and on top of the ice that hadn't melted, we have received about 3-4 inches of snow. My office is once again closed. We have no plows and I think we have used up our stockpile of sand. Temp hasn't been above 20 since Monday so this stuff isn't going anywhere.

Supposed to be in the 40's tomorrow and close to 50 on Sunday for the Super Bowl, though I am not counting on it.

On another note, Ann Marie Hiebel is working on the Dist 24 reunion. She is looking at July 31 -- I am waiting for confirmation from the Forada Supper Club that that date is available.

Lorlee -- once again ordered to stay home.

Wayne and MaryAnn in Mexico

Our International Falls friends have broken free and landed in Playa del something. Here is Wayne's note. Imagine a 64-year-old in spandex lolling beside a pool, tapping out messages:

Stan,
We managed to fly over the big storm to get to Playa. Our hotel is small with 33 rooms and very clean and quaint. We overlook the the beach a half block away. The booze and food is cheap and I won't even mention the 80 degree weather and such.
Gotta go, Mary Ann is up, the dog is at a sitter, and I have to check my lottery ticket to see if I can extend beyond two weeks.
Wayne

Not everyone sad to see News Council go

The Minnesota News Council has closed its doors, and though Stan's organization supported it financially for decades, he's not sad to see it go. Here's the MinnPost take on its passage. Our attorney, Mark Anfinson, is quoted in it and as usual his comments are most cogent. Click here for a good read.

Comfort at the clubhouse

Last night as fifteen neighbors gathered for the monthly Abbey Point night, most of us selected the "special" from the Family Night Feature they offer on Wednesdays. Perhaps the bitter weather and the friendly confines made everyone long for the comfort of old-fashioned food, as most of us ordered it without hesitation.
On came one big bowl of tossed salad to pass, baking powder biscuits, fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and vegetables, with a follow-on bowl of ice cream.
Somebody said this was the classic "Sunday Dinner" spread. We recalled that it was such fare that was built into long ago church contracts which specified that parishioners would take turns feeding the pastor's family a chicken dinner as part of his salary.
So then today we read in Bev Korkowski's blog about their family debate as to the best way of making hamburger gravy.
Here's her note:

Comfort food....
Last Saturday, while a bunch of the Korkowski women were talking about "comfort food", the topic of hamburger gravy came up, and it was surprising to hear of the different ways we all make it...some put flour in with the ground beef to thicken into gravy, some add beef broth to the ground beef, etc. So, if you're looking for a good winter dinnertime item, here's the recipe I've used for years and years...so good, so warming, and so simple!

• Brown 1 1b. good quality ground beef with one large onion and some diced fresh garlic
• Add 1 can cream of mushroom and 1 can cream of chicken soups. After stirring them into the ground beef mixture, add enough milk to your desired consistency. 
• Simmer at least five minutes; serve over potatoes, rice, or noodles.
• Guaranteed to bring back memories of hot lunches during your grade school days!

Happy Birthday, two-year old

Our dog is two today and finally showing a few signs of maturity. She still can't handle guests arriving at the front door (just ignore her, please) and she has some other things that bug us, but mostly Birdie is growing up into a real nice companion. This photo was taken by Kathleen with her telephone. She's gone to Eden Prairie now because Missy's new furnace conveniently crapped out on one of the coldest nights of the year and Kathleen has to let the repairman in while Missy is at work. While there, Kathleen could phone us a photo of the repairman in action, if she deems him worthy. Is this how Anderson Cooper got his start? (Note to Hosni: Keep your hands off Anderson.)

Ordered home again. . .

Life goes on in Dallas, but at an unusual pace. When last we left our heroine, she was iced in to her castle, unable to navigate the slippery roads of the Big D, site of Sunday's Super Bowl.

Lorlee writes:

I just now checked our 800 number and we are closed again tomorrow. I think I might have been able to get there on the bus, but it never got above 20 today so all of the ice that was on the roads is still there and in the north part of the city where a lot of our employees are it was even worse. I saw the guy next door back out today and slide into the driveway across the street and then gun it and go no where. We simply don't have enough sand trucks and no plows to clean the streets. They were using a road grader to try and clear the ice so the super bowl teams could get to the Stadium today for media day. The team buses had their own sand truck escorts -- the show must go on.

While I think I could have made it tomorrow, I wasn't looking forward to it because it is only supposed to be 10 degrees with a 20 mph or higher wind which would have been brutal standing at the bus stop for any amount of time.

So off again tomorrow -- today I just laid around, napped and read my book -- did go out to turn the heat up in the greenhouse to hope to keep those plants alive and was grateful I didn't have to be out in it.

Lorlee

The Dallas Morning News:

David Woo/Staff Photographer

The sleet and snow that paralyzed the Dallas area — even catching Super Bowl XLV participants from Green Bay and Pittsburgh by surprise — could hang around through the week.

Jobs, jobs, jobs in North Dakota

Looking for work? Try western North Dakota. 
Stan's cousin's son, Guy, who works for McKenzie Electric in Watford City, writes today:
---------------------------
Stan,

Lots of oil activity in Western North Dakota. About 163 rigs drilling. They had a work-over rig on your oil well. Must be doing pump maintenance.
Stan, they are looking for truck drivers around here. Are you interested? Also needing other staff as well. There are about 500 campers parked around Watford City with people living in them. That may work well in the Arizona winter, but more challenges face campers on this morning of -30 degrees below zero here in Watford.

Work is going well and Mckenzie Electric is undergoing a massive building boom.
Guy

-----------------------

Truck drivers, eh? Thirty below?

Hey Lorlee! Did you make it to work today?

Early pictures of the winter storm in Dallas gave us a chill as we wondered if our classmate Lorlee Bartos, a frequent visitor and contributor here, would be able to skid safely in to work today. We await confirmation.
Lorlee?

From the Dallas Morning News:

Rain is freezing as soon as it hits the ground, and with temperatures in the 20s and getting colder, there is no end immediately in sight. Most area school districts, including that in Dallas, have closed for the day. Authorities said no one should travel unless necessary. Lorlee Bartos was ordered to stay home.