weather

From the Top of Queen Anne

December 15, 2008 by Kathryn

When weather gets bad in Seattle, it is almost always reported from the top of Queen Anne Hill. We’re not totally sure why. I guess it gives a good view of the city. It’s sort of tradition. Maybe each new weather guy wondered why it had to be from the top of Queen Anne but was too embarrassed to ask the last guy WHY it had to be done from that magical mystical place of weather.

So now whenever there’s crazy weather, Dan and I always talk about it in terms of “something happening on the top of Queen Anne.”

This is a long preamble to IT SNOWED!!! A blanket of icy Christmas goodness has descended upon a whole region completely unprepared for the 2 storms we get each year and so we’re all kind of homebound.

There was only partial church yesterday for those with 4-wheel-drive. The rest of us stayed home, played “reverently” in the snow, sang some songs, and had a little devotional about the true meaning of Christmas, where Magoo shared his beliefs, “I know Jesus loves me… and one more… I know Santa loves me too.” I told him I was only actually sure about the first part.

The snow play was great. On Saturday I ventured out to return some not-so-great kids’ snow boots and purchase some slightly better ones. Dan commented on the futility of buying snow boots in a place where the kids only where them once or twice a year. I commented that when they need them those two days, they REALLY need them, for the fun and for the frolicking. I also added that I buy them 3 sizes too big so they last a few years AND that I was planning to buy them on sale AND use a mega coupon – and he was suddenly on board.

So the day after I got the boots we had our first snow day of the year and their little toesies stayed warm.

Now one thing we haven’t invested in is a proper sled. We used the laundry hamper lid and reusable IKEA bags last year but this year Dan had an idea. It involved dumping out lots of freshly folded laundry followed by some sweet slick fun.

The baskets were fun, but not super easy to dismount. For the sake of Dan’s dignity, I’ll only show you his “before” picture. And he does look dignified, doesn’t he? At least he’s not the one who broke the basket when he rode down. I’m not naming names but I think it was because she’s a massive athlete so it wasn’t really her fault.

What kind of mother waits to comfort her son after he face plants in the snow until after she’s taken a picture of his Hitler snow-stache? The kind whose husband is close by and who needs the shot for ~~her blog~~ his baby album. (I also think Chris is that kind of mom. Not pointing fingers. Just sayin’.)

Speed Walking Glory

June 10, 2008 by Kathryn

Dan supervised the kiddie festivities with mildly-annoyed resignation while I walked a 5K in the mud behind some of my running girlfriends. My joints are fairly bad and I once had a physical therapist tell me not to become a runner so I use that as an excuse to walk races with dignity. And I was chock full of dignity on Saturday, speed-walking along the gravel trail past the cows with my stretch pants rolled up to mid-calf to keep them out of the mud.

My original goal was to complete the 3 miles in less than an hour. By the time I finished my only goal was to not let the old lady with the cane cross the finish line before I did. She kept passing me as we walked along the trail and at first it stressed me out. Eventually I just had to face the fact that I was an amazing speed walking athlete and that if an old lady with a cane could pass me like that, then she was the freaking awesomest old lady with a cane who ever lived and thusly a worthy opponent. She was my nemesis and I could not let her win.

So towards the end of the race I ran a bit until I was a safe distance ahead of her and then crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour and 30 seconds. I was glad to beat my arch rival but a little frustrated that I couldn’t walk 3 miles in under an hour. And then I saw a friendly face at the sidelines so I walked over to chat. After a few minutes went by, someone mentioned that although I had crossed the finish line, my place in the race wouldn’t be recorded until I walked another hundred yards and turned in my number. So yeah. Several people had passed me at that point, including the OLWAC, who was probably laughing to herself knowing that our epic struggle had ended and she had gotten her revenge.

But at least I got a free t-shirt… and a free banana… and some free water… all included in the $25 entrance fee. And I found out later that the clock at the finish line had been set to time a race that had started 15 minutes earlier so I’d actually walked the run in about 45 minutes, smashing my original goal to tiny shards of glory.

Land of Eternal Winter

June 9, 2008 by Kathryn

The sky is blue outside my window but I have trouble believing it. It’s been so gray and dark all day, all week, all YEAR. We have little bursts of sun and then back to weeks and weeks of oppressive grey like the sky is pressing down closer and closer, tighter and tighter until it chokes the very life and laughter out of every person, plant and rock in my little world.

Can I just tell you that today was not a good day for my mentals? They are not happy. I’m working up to being drug-free and proud in anticipation of a possible attempt at a third child and the strange fluctuations in my “special vitamins” we’re using to get there are leaving me in a bit of a rough way, complicated by the ratchin’-fratchin’ gloom of abysmal death and the fact that I’m not getting a ton of sleep.

Magoo has decided that sleeping through the night is for babies. Big boys prefer to get up and watch movies with their parents from hiding places in the hall, pass out on the floor or on the stairs. They also like to climb in bed with their parents at 2am, claiming to be afraid of T-Rex’s even though T-Rex’s are their best friends, and spend the rest of the night trying to make their elbow fit in their mommy’s nostril. Big boys are the super best.

This weekend our city had its summer festival, despite the cold and damp. Laylee begged us to let her ride her bike in the kiddy parade, claiming imperviousness to cold, bravery and fortitude beyond her years. After 45 minutes of waiting in the bone-chilling cold and rain for the parade to start with parents who had the nerve to put all the gloves and ski pants away because they mistakenly thought it was June, her fortitude waned, providing us with one of the best pictures ever taken by the camera of man.

Magoo, who insisted that his dad dress him in the non-waterproof jacket that a neighbor’s baby had left over at our house, was unfazed by the weather and left all who passed him humming “Fat Man in a Little Coat” by Chris Farley.

And then we went to a parade in the rain, full of dogs and tractors and large raccoon credit union mascots with matted fur who Laylee surmised must have escaped from Disneyland “because that’s where they have most of the people that look like that.”