Yes it's icy in Seattle today. The National Weather Service has issued an ice storm warning. It's 28 degrees and there are little ice balls falling from the sky, I can hear them hitting the kitchen window. I have a fire going downstairs, where the insert is, just in case the power goes out. My lap top is fully charged, as is my phone and DS. Bring it on!
I hope all my NW friends are staying warm and off the roads!
Today we are getting some rare Seattle snow. The weather gods kept predicting it, but we don't usually pay attention to all the hype. Because of the water and mountains surrounding the area it's always hard to predict snow and many times the threat of snow is just a threat. Recently a new high tech satellite system was installed to track incoming weather and apparently, this time, it helped predict the snow accurately.
Yesterday at 4 pm this is what my back courtyard looked like.
And the front of my house.
This is how the courtyard and the front of the house looked at 9:30 this morning.
The waiting drove me mad... I'm finally here and I'm so glad! A couple months ago I made this post about how difficult it was to get tickets to this PJ gig. That was the hardest part of the whole trip. Once we were there it was smooth sailing.
We stayed at the Abbey Resort on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin.
The hotel was old, but well kept and really beautiful.
It was about 30 minutes to the venue from the hotel. Our travel package included transportation to and from the show. We met up with our great friends Mark and Chris, who were staying at the same hotel, and caught the bus to Alpine Valley.
From the bus we could see lightning in the distance and hoped that we would make it into the venue before it started raining.
We had arrived!
Thankfully we did make it in right as the rain started.
And it rained most of the day. There was a little break in the middle of the day and we ventured out to see Glen Hansard perform, always a treat!
The ticket package we purchased from the fan club included all kinds of goodies, including admittance into the "VIP" section. It was roomy, had clean bathrooms with no lines and free food!
At the top right of this photo you can see the VIP sign with stairs leading up to where we hung out most of the day.
We all had a great time talking music, telling stories and drinking beer!
Some of the best times I've had have been spent with my Pearl Jam friends. They are all so cool!
We had great seats and were pretty darn excited when the music started on the main stage! First up was a Seattle band called Mudhoney. They have been around longer than PJ and they rocked the house.
Next came Queens of the Stone Age, who also proved what an amazing rockin' band they are!
The surprise for me was The Strokes. I'm a super casual fan, only familiar with the radio hits. I loved their set and the lead singer reminded me of my son! Unfortunately the lighting for their set was really dark so I only got blurry pictures.
When The Strokes finished their set the anticipation of the crowd was incredible. We were all waiting for our favorite band.
Finally it was time for Pearl Jam. To say I had an emotional moment during the opening song, Release, would be an understatement. It's the first time I've almost cried at a concert. Not to get all mushy, but seriously the love and admiration coming from the crowd to their favorite band was palatable.
It was definitely a show for the fans. They played obscure favorites that a casual fan might have never heard before. I was in heaven.
What happened next would have been a shock if I hadn't already heard that these songs were soundchecked. Eddie introduced Chris Cornell to the stage. This meant there was going to be a Temple of the Dog reunion. Temple of the Dog was a one time band, who put out one album in honor of Andy Wood. Andy was the singer of Mother Love Bone and just as they were about to hit it big he died of a heroin overdose. This left Jeff and Stone looking to form a new band, which is how Pearl Jam was born. Eddie had just come to Seattle to start recording music with Jeff and Stone and walked right in to the studio where Temple of the Dog was recording. He sang back up on a few songs and did a duet with Chris Cornell called Hunger Strike. Here is what Hunger Strike sounded like on September 3, 2011!!
It was a day/night to remember and we still had another day/night to go!
Took Dancing Daughter to the Dr this week to get her ankle checked out. She came down on it wrong after jumping for joy that she got a strike while bowling almost 2 weeks ago. It hasn't been healing like I thought it should. She has a torn ligament and has to wear an air cast for 4 weeks, even while sleeping! She's done dancing for the season and will not be able to perform in the end of the year dance show. We are all adjusting to that little bit of news.
Today starts day 4 of my 21 Day Detox. It's going quite well. It helps that Handy Man is doing it with me. This will help keep me on track. I've had no alcohol, sugar or artificial sweeteners, dairy (except eggs), beef, chicken or anything white. I have been eating lots of fresh veggies and fruit, fish, whole grains, seeds and hummus (YUM). Each day I've had detox tea and aloe vera juice. I'm also checking my PH balance daily (I'm way out of balance). I know I'm going to feel great very soon, just have to get through the slight head and body aches I'm currently having.
The weather here has just been terrible. Last night we had a fire because the house was so cold and damp. This was not the best year to start a vegetable garden. I do have garlic, onions, lettuce and spinach up. I had beets and radishes up, but some critter has eaten them. I plan to replant this weekend, but the night time temps are still in the 40's and day time temps in the 50's... We had the coldest April in something like 50 years and May is going the same way.
I hope it warms up for Blog Fest West!! Are you planning to come?!
Are there places, other than Seattle, that make a total news day out of the possibility of snow?
Are there radio talk shows, other than in Seattle, that take "snow watch" calls from listeners?
Are there people where you work, other than Seattle, who head home at the first sight of a snowflake?
Do buses, in places other than Seattle, chain up when the roads are bare and dry then drive 35mph on the freeway?
The snow that was supposed to start yesterday around 4 am in Seattle was pushed back to mid-day.
This is what it looked like out my window around 3:30 pm...
I could see patches of blue!
The mid-day snow was pushed back to the evening commute.
The evening commute snow was pushed back to 7ish.
It did snow up north and down south, in fact some places really got dumped on but in my little corner it was business as usual.
The snow on the houses down south taunted me...
The snow that was expected around 7ish made an appearance. It continued to snow for a few hours. This is what it looked like out my window this morning...
I'm off to scrape snow off the big rig and head in to work.
On a side note this is the 3rd morning in a row that I've been awake at 3 am without being able to go back to sleep. It's going to be a long day!
Woke up to the sun streaming through the windows! It's been a very long time since that has happened. Not a cloud in the sky and the high will approach 80 today. I'm celebrating with a sunshine song!
This is my 400th post!! I wish I had something more profound to share today, but I'm empty!
Finished Dexter season 2, can't wait to start season 3!
Another thing I can't wait for is having dinner with my friends tomorrow night, it's been a few months since we've seen each other!
Something happened on Tuesday night that hasn't happened in years... Dancing Daughter came to our room saying she wasn't feeling well. She actually got in bed with us for a while. After an hour of none of us being able to sleep I encouraged her to go back to her bed. She's a lot bigger at 15 than she was at 10!
Both my kids stayed home sick yesterday, Gah! Both are going back to school today, only to have the next few days off for mid-winter break.
While the east has been buried in snow, we in the west have been having the warmest January on record! Not good considering Vancouver BC is hosting the winter Olympics! Need snow for that little event.
I've been reading my current book since the beginning of January. I don't remember ever taking so long to make it through a novel.
I'm feeling much dread that my phone is staying very silent. I really want to go on an interview! I really want to get a job.
The day the rental house is going on the market is getting very close. The dread over paying two mortgages while I have no job is making me feel sick.
It has been freezing in the corner of my world called the Pacific Northwest. Really, really freezing! As I type this I'm sitting in the office at the computer wearing two shirts, a fleece coat and fingerless gloves. Oh yeah, I'm wearing pants, socks and shoes too. We've had a few days of this weather and will have a couple more.
On Saturday morning I saw this out my window.
It's the roof of my car!
Everything was covered in a heavy frost. I braved the cold to take a few pictures.
It's dried out and we aren't getting the frost anymore, but now my hair is standing on end and I get shocked every time I touch metal or another person. My lips are chapped. My hands are dry and scratchy. But it's my hair giving me the most trouble, the static electricity is making it stick to everything, including my face. I want it gone along with all the gray! I'm sick of looking at myself. I had plans to delusions of leaving work early yesterday to treat myself to a haircut and color. But the office had other ideas! I was swamped and couldn't sneak out. It's probably for the best, I guess...
(blurry picture courtesy of Star Wars Son)
Since I've been growing it out to give it away I should probably do more planning for a haircut than a spur of the moment, I'm sick of my hair and cutting it all off impulse. *Sigh*