We were just getting some great melting! This was taken this morning:

From Weather Underground:
Today
Occasional snow. Areas of blowing snow. Much colder. Snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches. Highs in the 20s. North winds 15 to 25 mph with higher gusts.

Last year I spent the weekend after my birthday in sunny California. This year, California is coming to me. Lexi is coming here the day after my birthday! Pretty cool birthday gift huh? I’m very excited, she’ll be staying for the long weekend.

Ali, Lexi & I, Last January

My other early birthday gift came from my press connections, the new episode of Psych, which doesn’t air until the 19th! I can’t wait to watch it.

I’m mostly adjusting to being back in the snow. I hate it though. I want it to melt faster.

I’ll get the pictures from the wedding up today, but I’m not in any of them. Silly girl I am, I didn’t take any of me. But I emailed those who did take pictures of me, so hopefully I can get those for you to see. Just take my word that I looked good.

Not much else is going on. I’m nearly done writing all the Christmas thank you notes. I bought Gin Blossoms’ new album Major Lodge Victory with my iTunes gift card I got in my stocking. I like it. You would like it too, if you are a fan of the Gin Blossoms. Geoff and I may finally go on another date (a movie!) this weekend. Just need to check with Amy.

I’ll close with a quote from Wayne’s World.

Garth Algar: Sometimes I wish I could boldly go where no man has gone before… but I’ll probably stay in Aurora.

The happy couple Becky & Erik

I had a wonderful trip to CA. Short and sweet. Got in okay, and we headed right to In-N-Out. For dinner that night, Ashley, Chris, Lexi, Alyssa, Alec, Abbie and I went to Cafe Chin Chin. I tried the Kung Pao Chicken and water chestnuts (both for the first time). Very tasty.

Friday I spent helping get stuff ready for the wedding, then had some time to change and get ready before I was back at the church doing last minute things. The ceremony was lovely, and then I tried to help the guests find their seating for the reception. The food was delicious. They had a chocolate fountain with your choice of oreos, marshmellows, or rice krispie squares. Excellent choices! There was also fruit and a Martinelli’s fountain. And, what I thought was even cooler, was the coffee bar. There was always a line there. Their DJ was amazing, I hope Amy & Brody can get him. The dance was a lot of fun, and I sure was pooped by the end of the night. I was happy that I could take advantage of the money dance and get one on one time with Erik.

Saturday I took Cindy, Alyssa, Alec, & Abbie to McDonald’s for breakfast on our way to help take down the wedding. What we thought would only take an hour or so, turned out to be more. Eventually we finished, and Cindy and I went out to lunch at Mustard’s (the yummy Panini place). I had a salad, because I needed to get something healthy to eat. 🙂 We returned to the house and I was surprised to see some of my friends at my baby shower! I got some wonderful gifts, including a handmade quilt from Godmother Cate and a double stroller from the Kroliks!

Saturday night we just hung around the house mostly. I did take a trip to Trader Joes (oh how I miss TJ’s) to get Geoff a treat and a little something for my father-in-law’s birthday.

Sunday I went to church with Cate & Kaisara, then we took a trip to the new Peet’s store that opened up. It was lovely to be able to sit outside and drink coffee. We met Jen at In-N-Out for lunch, and then more time outside playing crib. The trip to the airport went smoothly. My flight ended up being delayed by 45 minutes, but I had no problems making my connection. I was so happy once I got to Denver, only to be upset when I found out my shuttle I booked wasn’t going to take me home. I called Geoff, and he & Elijah came and got me. No worries, the roads were in fine shape. I am taking partial credit for that. Geoff thinks the call I made to the county about our street was the reason it got plowed. Lesson to learn…don’t upset a pregnant lady.

So that was my trip. I sure miss everyone, and I am looking forward to Lexi’s visit. Please pray it all comes together and she can get here in 2 weeks.

Just a quick note, to let you know I got home safely from CA. I’ll post later, I’m tired, and I want to try to nap while Elijah naps.

2007 is sure to be a wonderful year for us, and for many people I know. I look forward to all the good surprises it will hold. 🙂

Greetings From SoCal.

I’m having a wonderful time. The wedding was amazing. I didn’t get a lot of pictures, but I will remember it. I’ll try to upload what I can, when I get the chance.

It’s been fun seeing so many people, and I love staying at the Krolik house. I’m totally hooked on the game Apples To Apples.

Geoff thinks there shouldn’t be an issue getting home tomorrow, but I’ll call the airline tomorrow morning and be sure. I’ve missed the boys so much, it’s really hard when I talk to them on the phone. It’ll be hard to leave here too, but at least I can say I’ll be back this summer. And 2007 has a few of our friends here coming to CO. Yay!

I leave early tomorrow morning for (hopefully) sunny California. A welcome break from snowy, slushy, yucky Colorado. I’m going to miss Geoff and Elijah, but it will be nice to be Melissa for a few days, instead of Mommy.

We ventured out into the real world as a family. Real world meaning out of our neighborhood. The roads are in pretty good shape, it seems just our neighborhood is stuck in the crap. We went out to Cherry Creek and it was nice to be around people. We swung by our old Safeway to pick a few provisions for the boys, as the next snow storm is going to hit tomorrow, we wanted to be sure to have plenty of milk and eggs on hand. On the trip home, we visited Home Depot. We were not able to get everything there we wanted. As you enter the store, there is a sign alerting you that they are out of snow shovels, snow blowers, and ice melt. What can you do.

I contacted the county to let them know my disapproval of their attitude “we don’t plow residential streets” and essentially said you better hope there isn’t an emergency on our streets because I doubt emergency vehicles could get through to us. Fat lot of good it’ll do, but at least I said something. We got mail today, that makes two deliveries since last Tuesday. Whoo-hoo! (shaking my head in disappointment). Now we just need to get the trash picked up.

Keep us all in your prayers. Let’s hope this next storm isn’t as bad. Obviously with me taking the camera to the wedding, there won’t be any new pictures of the storm in the Blizzard 2006 picture file. But I added some more today.

Gotta go spend some time with the hubby. Since I doubt I’ll get around to it on Sunday, Happy New Year!

Christmas Day was pretty good at Casa Armstrong. I was up early, and Geoff and I opened our stockings. We finished up and had some breakfast and coffee. Elijah got up shortly after that around 7:40 and he had some breakfast too. Homemade cinnamon buns (or as Elijah calls them “bums”). Then we set in for our session of gift opening. Elijah had fun, but after a while, he was getting tired of opening gifts. At one point we gave him a present to open and it put it right in the trash bag. He did seem to like most of his gifts, but I think it may have been a little overwhelming for him. Next year, we’ll just let him open what he wants, and save the rest for later. But we all got some good stuff!

By 9:30am, I was ready for a nap. I felt exhausted and looking at Elijah’s pile of books and toys had me worried. Thankfully Geoff took care of tidying up after Christmas, so the house seemed back to normal. That in itself made me feel so much better.

We took a walk around the neighborhood after lunch, since it was a beautiful sunny day. We found the best exit route for Geoff to get to work today. We then spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. We had a yummy ham for dinner, and just continued to reflect on how blessed we are.

Now for the fun news. We’re getting another snow storm coming. When? Thursday. When am I flying to CA? Thursday. Please please pray that we can get to and from the airport with ease, and that I won’t encounter any problems.

So had this storm not hit, I’d be out shopping today. As it is, I’ll be home. Geoff will go into work for a few hours to do essential magnet stuff, and then he’ll hit the Trails to get in some exercise.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I’ll close with a quote from A Christmas Story.

Mr. Parker: Where’s the glue?
Mother: We’re out of glue.
Mr. Parker: You used up all the glue on purpose!

Merry Christmas!

Bah Humbug!

Spent the day at home, Geoff baking, Elijah helping, me napping. Tonight Geoff will play Christmas carols on his violin, and stockings will be stuffed. We’ll take a family picture, and I’ll post that tonight.

We’ll be online tomorrow, and I’ll be uploading pics and videos all day.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Good Day, and welcome to Day 4.

Sigh. Argh! Sigh.

Well, like idiots, idiots who need groceries, we ventured out to Safeway this morning. True we had enough food to get us through a few more days, we were getting low on milk for Geoff and diapers. We figured the best bet was to go early, while the roads are cold and not slushy. Took some to get into the rut on the front street. Took a lot to get onto the main street in our neighborhood (it’s uphill). Once we hit the main main road that leads to Safeway, there were portions of it that were only one lane. We headed first to the gas station, which was out of all the cheap gas, so we had to get premium. Then we faced a very yucky parking lot (Safeway is going to hear about that!). Geoff said it wouldn’t be so bad if they sanded. There were delivery trucks blocking entrances/exits, so you have to navigate to find your way.

Once inside, I worried about what we’d find. Talking with my friend Kirstin (who is due exactly a month before me), she said yesterday her grocery store was out of milk. Safeway was pretty well stocked, they had a lot of milk. It was busy, but not so bad. We got everything we needed, plus some stuff I figured the boys would need once I go away next weekend. We checked out and Geoff found out from the clerk, they just got their shipment of milk last night. Once we left the store, we faced the drama of trying to get home. The only exit that doesn’t have a hill was blocked by a stuck Budweiser truck. We tried one exit, and it wasn’t going anywhere. We tried a second exit, and couldn’t get the car up that hill (the driver in front of us didn’t help that situation). So we drove back around to get to the first exit we tried. We got half way up, then we couldn’t move. Geoff jumped out to push and I tried to gun it. The driver behind us got out of his truck and helped to push. We eventually got up to the top, and Geoff kept pushing until I almost got onto the road and then jumped in. We drove to the light to do a U-turn, switched spots, and drove home.

The drive home seemed like it would be okay. We worried a little turning into our front street, and we bottomed out good (hope there is no real damage). Now we had to hope we could turn into the small path Geoff shoveled to get on the driveway.

Obviously we’re home, and we’re not going to church tomorrow.

I called the HOA, looking for answers. I left a firm message saying, look it’s in the bylaws you are responsible for the sidewalks leading to the main road, and if our street is never going to see a sand truck or plow, you better provide a means to get to the bus stop. Not even ten minutes later, I got a call back. No, our street probably won’t get plowed. It’s on the bottom of the priority list with the county. But the sidewalk is supposed to get done today by the company they hired. So come Tuesday, when Geoff has to go tend to his magnet, he should be able to take the bus. Now we have to hope things improve ten fold by Thursday for my flight.

Oh yeah, we still haven’t gotten any mail, despite the fact that the postal workers went back to work yesterday. I seriously wonder if we’ll see any today. They are supposed to deliver on Christmas Day to make up for it all. I do not envy them.

Yes, we’re stuck here. Yes, we’re frustrated. But let’s focus on the positive. We have each other, we have a warm home, we have food, and we have power. Things could be A LOT worse. We could be one of the thousands of people stuck at DIA who won’t get to be with loved ones for Christmas.

My loved ones