It all comes down to snowplows

So, some of you may have heard about "Snowmageddon 2008" in Portland. Seriously, that is what they called it in the newspaper the other day. After living through the last two weeks in Portland, I've realized it all comes down to snowplows. I like snow. I like sledding. I like snowmen. I like bundling up to go outside. I like white Christmases. And I like snowplows. But, that's the only thing that has been missing in the past two weeks...the snowplows.

The Portland metro area is home to 2 million people. Portland itself owns 50 snowplows. Fifty! I think there were more than 50 snowplows within a square mile radius of our apartment when we lived in Vermont. And half the neighbors had plows attached to the front of their own personal vehicles! It took at least a foot of snow in 24 hours to slow you down there, and then it was only for a matter of a few hours, maybe a two-hour school delay. Seriously...when you got the school supply list each year, they reminded you that your child's backpack should be big enough to hold their snowpants, gloves, scarves, and a change of shoes (they wore their boots to school) because they would be going out to recess regardless of the snow level!

Prior to Vermont, living in Utah and Idaho, we still were no strangers to snow. I like snow. Did I mention that? But again, Utah and Idaho like snowplows. Oh, and they like salt. Vermont likes salt, too. Portland does not like salt. Salt, they say, is unfriendly to the environment. Salt, while it could quickly de-ice many roads and help clear the snow, is unsafe to use because it hurts the environment. I mean, really, can you imagine if that salt got into the lakes and streams and made its way to the Pacific Ocean? Then what would we do? Don't mind the countless car accidents that could have been prevented, the boost to the Portland economy during the peak holiday shopping season had people actually been able to get out, the quicker service of downed powerlines and the people who would not have had to sit without power as long had the roads been clearer to get utility workers into where they needed to be, etc. The environmental savings of NOT using salt during the past two weeks was probably more substantial. Right?

So December 2008 is going down on record as the snowiest December in history in Portland. And the 2nd snowiest month on record ever in Portland. We had 19 inches. Nineteen inches of snow blanketing the rolling hills of the westside of Portland. And without a snowplow in sight, we have waited for Mother Nature to melt the beautiful snow so we could get anywhere. We missed 5 days of school, the last two weeks of church, and we haven't had trash pickup in almost three weeks or mail in over a week (my Christmas cards have been sitting in the mailbox waiting to be picked up this whole time). Finally, today, we are seeing the normal Portland winter weather returning...today was 45 degrees, gray, and raining. And we can actually see the pavement again. Ah, a welcome sight.

That's what I get for complaining...

I chose to rant and rave about the measly 3 inches of snow we got and the following 5 DAYS of no school because of it. I whined every day about all the things I had hoped to get done while the kids were supposed to be at school. And what did that get me? TWELVE NEW INCHES OF SNOW! Yep! Finally, when we had to consent to the fact that winter break came a week early for the kids, on Saturday it hauled off and dumped 12 new inches of snow. Then, for the icing on the cake, Mother Nature threw down a 1/2 inch of freezing rain on top of it. So we have yet another week of canceled church, and I'm sure were it not winter break, school would have been canceled again. Doug had no choice but to go out in it--it's his weekend to take care of the babies. So with his big truck and tire chains, and after spending 30 minutes or so de-icing his truck so he could actually get in it, he's been out. The rest of us are hunkered down for a while. In some ways it is really nice--we've made Christmas cookies, played games, listened to music, got the Christmas cards ready (finally), and watched Christmas cartoons. Actually, that will probably be the agenda for most of the week.

Three Inches of Snow

3 inches of snow...3 inches!! That's all it takes to shut down Portland. Yes, you heard me right. In a metro area where snow is rare and the entire 2 million population shares about 50 snowplows, it doesn't take much. We got 3 inches of snow Sunday morning and church was cancelled, school was cancelled today, and it is cancelled again tomorrow. Combine 3 inches of snow with lots and lots of hills, and well, we aren't going anywhere! The streets have become sheets of ice because it is too cold to melt and between the cars that have had to get out and the kids on sleds, it's a nicely packed slippery slope out there.

I realize what whimps we have become since leaving Vermont as well. It's only been 5 years, yet here we are complaining about the bitter 20 degree weather we are experiencing like it is going to kill us (that was a lovely winter day in VT!!!).So, today has involved putting on snow clothes, pulling off snow clothes, putting on snow clothes, pulling off snow clothes, and several servings of hot chocolate in between each wardrobe change. It's been nice to stay home, but there's more snow in the forecast and no break in the temp for a few days. And so my fear is that winter break from school has already begun. We shall see.

What I really don't understand though is this...every time the news reporters come on to update on the weather (which honestly is every 5 minutes it seems because this is BIG NEWS!!!) they talk about how the city is putting down de-icer but it doesn't do much good because the de-icers don't work well at this cold of temps. WHAT??? What good is a de-icer that only works between 20-32 degrees??? Hello!!!

So, I shall sit and watch out my dining room window as cars slip and slide up and down the hill behind our house. I'll sip hot chocolate and try not to yell at my kids as they pick at each other for the 14th time because "there is absolutely nothing to do, mom!" Oh the joy of 3 inches of snow.

**Update on 12/27: school was canceled all week. Check out the photo of the snowfall at our house that kept us from going anywhere. And my trash can hasn't moved for almost 3 weeks--they still haven't been to pick it up nearly 3 weeks later.

Will you marry me?

Okay, so our latest discovery is facebook. I joined facebook a few months ago when a "facebook craze" was going through our church group. Well, Doug refused to join facebook. Soon, all of Doug's coworkers were joining facebook. But because he wasn't a member, they would invite ME to be their friend. Now, don't get me wrong, cuz I do like everyone Doug works with. But I kept saying "come on Doug, just join." Or "your friends are looking for you!!!"
Well, finally, one night I said "okay enough. I'm making you a facebook page." So I signed Doug up for facebook. Lo and behold, within 2 weeks Doug has 3 x as many facebook friends as me!!! Are you kidding me??? They are crawling out of the woodwork and he is connecting with people he hasn't talked to in decades! DECADES!!!
So the other day, I'm sitting in a meeting, and an email pops up on my phone. It's from facebook. It says "Doug Leonard says that he is married to you. We must confirm that you are indeed married to Doug. Click here to confirm that you are married to Doug." Hmmm...I'm thinking about this...should I accept? :) Well, I consented. And facebook has declared "Doug is now married to Heather Leonard!" Ah...it's about time...after 14 years...Doug is now married to Heather Leonard.
And, on the bright side of Doug's newfound popularity on facebook, at least I can declare to all his friends, "HA! He's mine!"
And, if any of my lovely friends are out there on facebook, well, help me even the score.

Vacation...All I ever wanted!

Okay...ever since we went on vacation I have had that song by the Go-Go's in my head...
"vacation all I ever wanted...vacation, had to get away..."
If you don't know that song, that makes me feel old so please don't tell me.

Anyhow, we just returned from our first ever cruise and let me tell you...I love cruising!!! We took the family on a Disney Cruise. And as you can imagine, Disney knows how to do it! We were with my sister and her family (who are experienced cruisers) and several times they commented on how nice things were with Disney. It was great to go with Peggy's family--we had a blast and all the kids had someone to hang out with. We went to the Bahamas and Disney has a private island there...Castaway Cay. It was terrific! The beaches were even groomed--it looked like a giant golf course sand trap, freshly raked! There's a playground out in the ocean (shallow area of course) and the kids could swim out and play on it, jump into the water, etc. The snorkeling area had added hidden treasures like a sunken boat, Minnie Mouse statue, submarine, etc. Plus, just great fish to see! We snorkeled in Nassau, Bahamas as well. That was great fun too! We took a catamaran about 30 minutes out from where we had docked, snorkeled, and then sailed back in.

The Disney Cruise has great shows as well...short, 45-minute musical performances, complete with all the BEST Disney cartoon songs in one show! You can't beat that! We loved the shows we went to, and we also caught a couple of movies in their movie theaters. Terry and Doug saw Prince Caspian and I took all 7 kids in the group (alone, mind you, while all the other adults skipped out to take naps...how fair is that!!!) to see Beverly Hills Chihuaha. Given my extreme love for dogs (not), I'm sure you can imagine how I thoroughly enjoyed that one. I was surprised to see they were even showing High School Musical 3 on board--it had only been released 2 weeks earlier! Bummer...I wished I hadn't PAID to see it the week it came out. I could have seen it for free on the cruise!

Of course, with cruising you can't beat the food. My favorite was the endless supply of chocolate chip cookies!!! Why didn't we hoard them and bring a case home...poor planning on my part. Terry ate like a man's man all week long....ribs, steak, brats, you name it. Total Joey on Friends..."Meat...Good." The service was so great, every night our waiter would even cut up Terry's steak so we didn't have to help him! We had to tell Terry to reign it in though at the end of the trip though once we were off the ship. While we were eating out at Downtown Disney World he grabbed the menu and picked out the whole works...appetizer, rack of ribs, etc. I said "whoa dude! back off...we are no longer on the ship...I'm PAYING for all this!" He downscaled his dinner order but then turned to the dessert menu and said "what do you think I should get for dessert, Mom?" Yah, honeymoon's over dude! No dessert for you!

We spent a day at Magic Kingdom at Disney World as well. It was lots of fun, but just like a day at Disneyland. And the parks are so far apart. We didn't have time to do any park hopping but I was amazed at the size of all the Disney property there. No wonder they offer 7 and 10-day park hopper passes. My brother Jeremy and his family joined us at Disneyworld and we had so much fun seeing them. Trevian just loves his girls and doesn't get to see them often.

Well, after a week of man's man eating...we had to know that the flawless, trouble-free week could not go off without a hitch. On our way to return the rental car, Terry's week-long meat fest caught up with him and he PUKED all over our rental car! That was pleasant. So was cleaning it up with a bottle of water and roll of paper towels in the 7-11 parking lot. With windows down and smiles on our faces, we quietly dropped off the rental car and headed on our way. One more puking on the airplane (managed to grab the barf bag for that one), he seemed to be feeling better. I'm sure he greatly appreciates his mother documenting this for everyone to read. Aren't these the types of things that resurface at age 16 when they start dating as well?

Okay, but honestly, the VERY BEST part of vacation for me was leaving the laptop at home, turning OFF the Blackberry, and telling the world that I am UNAVAILABLE!!! Those I work with threatened to grab an inflatable raft and hunt me down if need be...but I assured them I would act as if I did not know them if I saw them. It was so relaxing and so nice to just be on vacation for a change! In fact, it may become mandatory for my well being at least once a year. I'm sure no one in the family would argue.

Thrown into the fire!

Okay, I guess I am going to be forced to figure out blogging, because my work just informed me that one of my coworkers and I are going to be authoring a blog together! Unfortunately, that probably means that the work blog will be my priority and the Leonard Life blog will be what I get around to as I have time!
So, if you are interested in the latest and greatest in nutrition and specifically weight loss, cruise on over to our VERY BRAND NEW blog at www.vtrimblog.org. We update it each week with a new weight management related tidbit.

Am I a "Beaverton Babe?!" Not hardly.

Okay, so in my profile I said that once I learn how to be a regular blogger, I am going to update my title to "blogger babe." Well, here's the story of why I would choose that title...

On a recent girls night out, my friend Nicole told me that her husband refers to her as a "Beaverton babe." She earned that title because she has become a "local," knowing all the short-cuts through town, how to get from here to there, etc. So whenever they are going anywhere and she takes a little short-cut that only locals who really know where they are going would use, he says "Ohh, Beaverton Babe!" So I figure, once I know how to navigate around a blog like only skilled bloggers can, I will be a "blogger babe."

I've got to earn me some sort of title like that...my friends can now attest to the FACT that I AM NOT a "Beaverton babe!" On a lunch outing this past week, with my friend Maria in the car and Nicole in the car behind me, I got confused on the directions, got busy looking in the rearview mirror at Nicole who was giving me hand motions of where to go, and turned my eyes back to the road JUST IN TIME to see the median divider I was running over!!!! Lucky for me there was no oncoming traffic at the time and no witnesses...just Maria and my "Beaverton Babe" friend behind me who quickly called me on my cell phone to let me know that all hubcaps were still intact on my car and that I would not be allowed ANY margaritas at lunch!

The girly-girl update

So just as soon as I've written about my girly-girl, she goes and illustrates the point perfectly. Doug was helping Trevian get her shoes on today when she asked "Do you think when I grow up Mom will give me all her shoes?" Doug said "I don't know, why? Do you like shoes?" She replied, "oh yes! I love them!"

That's my girl!

The girly girl

If you think of everything that typically defines a girl, you have Trevian nailed. She is such a girly-girl. Trev is almost 6 and finally started kindergarten this year. She LOVES walking to school each day with her brothers. And I must admit...I quite enjoy sending the 3 of them on their way each day! :) The 2.5 hours of kindergarten is hardly alone time though and Trev is still my shopping/errand partner on many days of the week. She is taking gymnastics again this year and is quite good. She is anxious to get into swimming lessons again as she loves being in the water. She is playing on her first soccer team and she is one of the most aggressive on the team.

Eight is Great!

Zach is eight now! He was baptized in August. We had a family reunion this summer around the time of his baptism so we had lots of visitors for the big event. We spent 3 days out at the Oregon coast for the reunion prior to his baptism. We are so proud of Zach and his decision to be baptized. He is a great example to his family. Zach is also playing soccer and he started piano lessons this fall as well. He's in 3rd grade now and has a terrific class.

Terry the 10-year-old

Terry is a 5th grader right now...king of the elementary school. He's playing soccer and their team is undefeated so far. Okay, well, they've had 2 ties, but Terry is very clear that they WERE NOT defeated, so hence, he is happy to report to everyone that they are undefeated. That is actually a new experience for him. He has never been on a winning soccer team. He has a great coach and he has learned a lot this season. He's planning to play basketball this winter as well. Much to his dismay, he is taking piano lessons again this year. But much to my pleasure, I can tell he is getting better! His real love would be to learn to play electric guitar. But until he is proficient at piano, mom insists the only guitar playing he'll be doing is on Guitar Hero.

Update on the head of household

Okay, by the title, this really should be about me...but it's about Doug! :) Doug is doing well. As you can see from the photo I added, he's had his share of fun. Earlier this summer he went to Florida with my brother and my sister's husband for a boys trip. They took a few days of kiteboarding lessons, snorkeled, and caught a MLB game. Doug called EVERY day to give me the recap of the trip...which usually included him telling me about all the fantastic restaurants they ate at, the wonderful weather, etc. I think the girls are due for a getaway!
This summer Doug had a conference in Banff up in Calgary. We stayed right on Lake Louise, which is the craziest color of turquoise blue I have ever seen in a lake. The lake is deep in the Rocky Mountains and surrounded by glaciers. We saw 4-5 bears while we were there. There was even a bear attack on a walking path just a short distance from the hotel. We took a beautiful 7-mile hike up to a glacier where they have a tea house. We sat and ate chocolate cake and took in the views. It was probably the most amazing scenery I have ever experienced. Doug's mom came and stayed with the kids while we went and they all had a ball at home.

Blog update!

Okay, well the first attempt at blogging was in August. Here it is October...2 months later...and I am finally back at the blog and adding photos. I haven't made this blog public yet. Or I guess I should say, I haven't admitted to anyone yet that I have a blog. I'm still getting the hang of it. All my friends and many family members have blogs that put this attempt to shame. So I will keep working to improve it! Any blog tips from others are much appreciated! :)

Welcome to Life with the Leonards!

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog. We shall see how it goes. I've been wishing someone would just set it up for me--it would be so much easier to maintain than to create, or so I've been telling myself. So we'll see how it goes. This may be a shoddy attempt, but at least it is an attempt.