The Myth & The Majesty

This is the last in my "official" pieces on the 2013 October Blizzard. The first two are here and here , if you'd like to read about how things went down at the camp.  *  The next few days would seem entirely surreal in retrospect. Everyone had been affected, and it seemed that even on Tuesday (four days after the snow stopped falling) I talked only to people who still didn't have power. The people working at the hotel where we'd crashed the night before were also staying there because their homes were without power; the guy who made my coffee was relieved to come to work where the toilets worked. The woman working at the outdoor store and I talked for a full twenty minutes about our lack of power and how our neighborhoods had fared. But what was truly astonishing were the stories from the ranchers. My great-uncle's funeral brought together a huge contingent of area ranchers, and the two topics were Uncle Marion and the blizzard, usually in that ...

This is a continuation of my first storm post, The Wrath Of Atlas . Day 3 Man makes plans ... and God laughs. -Michael Chabon It was at the 51-hour mark that I awoke on Sunday and slowly got moving. By now, we had a routine, of sorts. Coffee from melted ice-machine-ice and instant packets. Oatmeal or one of yesterday's cinnamon rolls. Then snow to melt so we could use the commodes. Plowing to be attempted. Waiting to be done. The guys had headed out not long after I'd finally rolled off my couch to attempt plowing the now-much-slushier road. The Chef Lady and I busied ourselves with what we could inside Allison. The day dragged. There's a certain point where you hit a wall -- after the eighteenth pot of melted snow, after ten sudoku puzzles, halfway through your second book -- and you start to lament your lost days. We were supposed to have had guests this weekend; thankfully, the storm had hit at a time where they didn't get stuck here, too. We should b...

Day 1 The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the following counties in western South Dakota ... Lawrence, Meade, Pennington ... Expect high winds, snow accumulation up to 30" ... No travel advised ... It was a little before 5AM when the trouble started. Scratch that. The trouble started much earlier in the week, when the weathermen couldn't agree on how much snow was going to fall. Depending on who and when you watched -- and where exactly you lived -- the prediction varied from one to thirty inches of snow. One to thirty. While the amount was a point of contention, it was universally acknowledged that yes, it WOULD snow on Friday. 100% chance. So we planned accordingly. Errands that would have been delayed were taken care of on Wednesday or Thursday. Guests were warned. The fact that the plow was in town being repaired was lamented -- but the M-Man had his back-ups ready. You see, we'd never really been snowed in before. Mother N...

Lassiter: I hate snow globes. Shawn: Huh. That's strange, because my psychic sense told me specifically that snow globes didn't give you nightmares of being trapped in a clear ball with snow that burned your skin off. Perhaps we didn't get the eighteen inches of snow that Minneapolis did (if you're either anti-Vikings or just pro-humans-failing-against-physics, check out the Metrodome roof video ), but yesterday's snowfall and accompanying wind was enough to close the interstate for a few hours and strand us at home for most of the day. Today, it looks a lot more like December. December in eastern South Dakota, that is: eight inches of snowfall = five foot drifts + large grassy spots. Lovely. The strandedness of yesterday wasn't such a bad thing, at least for me. I wasn't in much of a mood to move. At all. Let me tell you a story. On Friday morning, I woke up at Storm. Within a couple of hours, I was on the road, with a stop at the ranch to...

Pastor Ryan over here started this and I've been short on something to write all week -- so I decided to take him up on this. First of all, the important one: Google has a fantastic link if you're thinking about Haiti but not sure what to do. The Pioneer Woman has something going on as well -- although the contest portion has closed, there are some great suggestions there. I've been spending far too much time surfing the Internet lately (perhaps finally making up for my months unplugged?). My most-visited sites this week were xkcd , redblog , IMDb , Facebook (argh), Wikipedia (as Moonie points out regularly, it's like "Choose Your Own Adventure" for grownups), B&N (I'm coveting a few books right now), and I think I'll lump all of my blurking into one (those links are mostly in the sidebar). It's a little disturbing that I'm spending as much time as I am on the computer. I've got a crazy weekend ahead, which will start in a little ...

Hi! I haven't been very chatty this week. That's rare for me so I thought I could just let you have a break. Mostly this week I've just been tired. I'm not entirely certain why ... I suppose I could blame my slightly-weirder-than-usual weekend, or the first real crash since the craziness of the beginning of the month (when, to be perfectly honest, all hell kind of broke loose). It's been an odd one altogether. But this week has been a week of recovery. I'm finally caught up at work -- just in time to start a new project. And I'm finally reading Mansfield Park , the only Austen on my shelf that's gone unread for so long. And I just ordered these beauties, something I should have done three or four months ago. (Those are special shoes. Dance shoes, as a matter of fact. Much better than tangoing in socks, which is what I've been doing since January.) It seems as though I might finally be getting caught up on life in general -- with the exception of my a...

Well, the revamp is slowly coming along. "Slowly" because I keep getting distracted by things I should be doing instead. And because I can't make up my mind. It's not going to be much of a change, I have to admit. A little more colorful. A little more me. Spent yesterday in Minneapolis with Matt -- great fun! Pictures will be posted when I can get them off my phone ... which I can't do until I find my mp3 player. It's more complicated than it should be. The story will come then, too. Today ... Today I have a lot of work to do, including hanging the picture I got at Ikea. Just wait till you see this thing (and you will) -- it fills the wall nicely. Anyway, back to it. Have a good day, all!

I saw a ghost today. Well, no, not really. I did, however, maybe possibly see an old acquaintance from Tech. I'm pretty sure it was a case of mistaken identity (I'm long overdue to the optometrist, after all) but there's still that nagging feeling that perhaps it might've been him. But since I didn't catch on fast enough, now I may never know. In other news, it snowed today. I then realized I was in a great mood because it was finally warm enough to snow. Then I was mildly amused that all it took to put me in a good mood was weather that wouldn't cause frostbite in ten minutes or less. Went shopping with a couple of the girls yesterday, which was fabulous. (Yeah, you heard me. Fabulous.) I'm now slightly more ready for my English trek in a month -- and I have shoes for tango. Woot. (I also have a French press, which was almost the most exciting.) Oh! And on Friday I managed to acquire the first three seasons of "The Muppet Show" for a truly unbeata...

I'm already tired. Today started just a little bit earlier so I could shovel the sidewalk. We've gotten a few inches of snow now ... It's gonna be a white Christmas. Tomorrow night, The Brit is throwing a housewarming shindig after the holiday parade downtown. I have no idea how late I'll be up, but I imagine it'll be hard to leave early. Not sure I'll totally want to, either. Saturday E-Train and his wife (weird sentence) will be in town in the early afternoon because the company Christmas party is Saturday night. I'll have the morning to take care of any last-minute details for that evening or the next day. And on Sunday, Mia Sorella is graduating. I'll get up dark and early on Sunday so I can be in the Cities in time. On top of that, Matt's there for a couple of weeks of training, so hopefully I'll catch him Sunday afternoon. Assuming I do, I probably won't drive back to Wausau till Monday morning. That makes this a very full weekend. And ...

Here it is. I know it doesn't look like much, but it turns out that this little leather notebook was exactly what I wanted. This was one of my better finds while shopping this weekend ... I took care of a few Christmas presents, got a new pair of shoes (not just any shoes, but The Shoes I Was Looking For -- tell me there's at least one of you out there who understands my current joy!), and I found this. I also went grocery shopping for the 82nd time so that I could eat breakfast this week. At some point I decided that, as much as I love leftover turkey, two meals a day is enough. It snowed today as well and I was psyched. I say "was" because now I'm cowering in front of my computer instead of pulling on my boots to go shovel the sidewalk under the guise of "it might not be done yet." Don't get me wrong; I love snow. But right now I'm warm and cozy and -- I admit it -- wearing pajamas. My jeans got soaked up to the knee just by walking back to my ...

Slowly but surely, I've been making a dent in my incredibly messy apartment. Seems the impending visit by my parents is making me a little more focused. But that's what it takes: a deadline. One that involves the possibility of my mother seeing my messy apartment is that much stronger. It also helps that M-Kay is gone for the weekend so I can listen to music at whatever volume I want or turn on a movie and crank up whatever bass I have so I can fully experience "Independence Day" or "Phantom of the Opera." That also means that if I don't get around to vacuuming until 2AM, I won't have an irritated neighbor. And, whenever it is I'm done with my living and dining rooms, I get to break into these boxes. Those boxes constitute the sum total of my Christmas decorations -- except my tree -- and ever since I was in Michael's a few days ago, I've been dying to crack them open again and start sorting. Today, I braved my dungeon-like hole of a base...

So! Paintball was fantastic. I have nine welts in various places, mostly my right arm. Seems I need to find a better way to take cover while shooting. I also got hit three times in the face mask and twice on the top of the head. Lesson learned there, although slowly. And once in the rear end, but I was already out and headed for the sidelines. Cheap shot. Anyway, the paintball was well worth the trip north. We skipped out on the brewfest due to various time and monetary constraints -- which ended up being okay all around, I think. Personally, my hair was caked with paint. I was okay with NOT being seen in public right away. Instead, we made it back to Wausau early and I showered and went shopping. No luck with shoes, but I'm done with my Christmas shopping for Mia Sorella. So that's cool. Isn't this just a terribly exciting update? Wow. I amaze myself sometimes. I spent some of my usual quality time at B&N as well ... However, I was quickly reminded that Saturday aftern...

I am about one third of my way through my Christmas shopping. " *Gasp!* Is that true, Ashley?" Yep. That's true. And something new and different for me, I might add. We'll see if it continues in that kind of force because I would LOVE to be done by the end of October. Maybe that's too ambitious of me, though ... Had some fun with the Art Festival here in town and spent the rest of my time cleaning and shopping. Managed to get back to church this morning, too -- the first time in eight weeks. (Inward cringe.) I don't think I realized it had been so long until I heard the phrase, "Well! You're back!" about six times. Oops. I hate to say that's all, but aside from getting caught up with half of my friends (including two fantastic conversations today -- hi, Calvert, and congratulations Bri!) I really haven't done anything noteworthy. So ... yeah. There's an update. Have a good week, everybody.

Well, here we go again. It's Sunday afternoon and my weekend is winding down. This next week should be much more "normal" than the previous nine days have been ... But we'll see. For instance. It included an all-nighter, a new TV, a wine night, a concert on the square followed by sushi, a night out with Chinese customers and the best steak I've had in ages, one really really late night in Mosinee, and about eight movies. Things I haven't gotten done: - My apartment is still a mess. - The lawn still needs to be mowed. - I don't have food for lunch tomorrow. Tonight I'm spectating at the weekly softball game. Until then, I should be cleaning. Ugh. Oh, what I would do for the inspiration to write something of genuine substance ...

Just watched "Juno." Highly recommended. Finishing our last batch of bread for tonight's dinner, too. Slept in today. It was spectacular. Who knows how much sleep I'll get tonight. Gotta get caught up with people again. Too much to do -- and my vacation time is starting to accelerate. Very sad.

I am such a slacker. Well, sort of. I feel like one, partially because it's already Thursday and I know quite well what my sleeping habits have been this week. Partially because I promised you pictures well over a week ago and still have yet to deliver. In my defense, I have had a CRAZY week. We're talking hours of meal preparation (seriously, I've been at church by 2:00 every single day this week) and hours of dealing with squealing high school/middle school girls, along with hours of movies with siblings and catching up with friends ... As much as I love being home, it hasn't been as relaxing as I had originally expected. I think, however, that my expectations were not based in reality. It's VBS week. I should have known better. Tomorrow's the last night of VBS. After that I have two full days that don't involve feeding 100+ people, then half a normal day and seven hours of driving. Kind of depressing, actually. Maybe some day I'll learn to take a rel...

Let me tell you a story. A long, long time ago in Ashleyland, I was a shy, awkward girl in high school who had absolutely no nerve when it came to the male species. And it wasn't going to be long before I headed off to school at Mines, where I would be surrounded by boys. Constantly. Where I didn't know a soul. Enter my friend Jessica. Her best friend's brother would also be starting at Mines the following fall and he didn't really know anyone there. He would be getting back from basic training soon. The girls got a great idea: let's set up Ashley and Friend's Brother on a blind date! They'll get along great, and then they'll each know someone at Mines. So they did. And in April of 2002, shortly before I spent a few days in New York City, I went on a blind date. With Jessica's friend's brother, Andy. Despite a disasterous start (there was a mix-up as far as where we were supposed to meet ... he only got half the message) and a poor after-dinner m...

The Snooty Cultural Weekend was a screaming success -- and I think Mia Sorella would agree. We kept moving all weekend, from roughly 7PM on Friday until I left at 4PM on Sunday. It was craziness. I'll have more for you when I'm NOT thinking about sleep, however. I'm tired ... Alas, my sleeping "patterns" have been wholly interrupted. Maybe it's better that way -- I'm leaving for Colorado Springs in about 40 hours and I certainly won't be sleeping much more when I get there. It'll be like college all over again ... A weekend with my guys! Woot!

After an absurdly productive day at work (well, sort of, if you consider getting a lot done but ending up in the same place as where you started productive), I came home and made it an absurdly productive evening. Actually, I feel rather domestic. After nine hours at the office, I ran to the store, got home around 6:30, mowed half the yard (M-Kay took care of the other half), started bread, cleaned my kitchen (the never-ending battle), and cooked myself supper. Now I'm going to finish the bread and -- not even joking -- finish sewing a couple of throw pillows. And probably watch a movie and have a glass or two of wine, because dangnabbit, I earned it. Why all this in one night? Well, because Sunday I fell asleep within an hour of getting home, yesterday I was too lazy, tomorrow I'll be out with the Cool Table crowd, and Thursday is volleyball night. All of the sudden, it's the weekend. Somewhere in there, I need to find time to finish cleaning the rest of my apartment so th...

In recent history I've taken to prewriting posts, particularly when I'm nowhere near a computer. These are the snippets I wrote over the course of my trip to Rapid City last weekend. ---- I had gotten up too early, far too early, after far too little sleep. Maybe going to watch the game had been a bad idea, but I had been cleaning like a crazy person and I really just wanted to be around friends. And have a beer. In any case, I was paying for it now. Maybe there had been improvements -- jets instead of the painfully noisy props, one more seat across on my shorter flight, a pleasant woman at Caribou who upped the size of my coffee for no extra charge -- but now a pain, slight and irritating at first, was spreading across my head. At this rate my skull would cave in within the hour. Consolation was there but not helpful. I would be home soon, in the company of people I dearly missed -- but until I made it to a store with ibuprofen, I was going to be hard-pressed to enjoy it. ----...