Laura's Journal

AND I survived!

So, Christmas Eve, we dug the car out & went to my mom's apartment. I felt bad for her. It was a big adjustment moving into the new apartment. But between the smells of Xmas & the tree, it is definitely feeling more like home.

Christmas Day, the kids opened gifts & we dug the car out & we went back to my mom's. We had to park at a neighboring bar & hike through the snow drifts. My uncle managed to come in on one of the few flights that didn't get canceled, & right between storm systems. Later that evening, my brother & his wife & the baby came. I love holding babies. I could make it a hobby if there was a supply of babies to hold. We ate dinner, which was overwhelming with the amount of food (more relatives were supposed to come, but couldn't because of the snow) & then the kids opened gifts. It was a nice night. Then we hiked back to our car & managed to get home.

TODAY! Christmas part 3. Went to Max's parents' house & hiked through more snow. We had dinner & the kids opened more gifts. Then we hiked back to our car.

I don't think my hips will ever recover from all the hiking through 3 foot snow drifts. I think the last time I felt so overwhelmed by the snow was when I was 5 & the snow drifts were as big as I was. This weekend brought back those memories of being a little kid in the snow, awe & wonder, with a little fear, when you first realize the sparkly white fluff was cold & hindered your body movement. Definitely instills a sense of respect for the power Mother Nature can dish. I am definitely tired of snow for the year.

Now some pics...

Christmas morning.....

Zoë got an apron, she is trying to tie it on...


Collin unwrapping books & toys....




Zoë specifically asked for a kitchen that really cooked. This was the best Santa could do. She is pretty psyched. The concept of Women's Lib is probably going to crush her. lol....


Grandma's new apartment...


KALIDESCOPE!!! Zoë got one of the reproduction tin toy ones from Santa. I love them so much. I probably played with it more than Z. Beautiful, isn't it?....

Today we had freezing rain (in case you didn't notice or hear about it on the news). I am feeling a little anxious about Christmas. I really don't want to be stranded at home. Every Christmas has always been with my mom & usually with an assortment of relatives. The sale of Mom's house is still fairly fresh, too, so emotionally, Christmas already feels different. I really want to be with my extended family on Christmas.

Anyway, something beautiful out of ugly reality...



We have two Burning Bushes out in front of our house that get a fair amount of fruit on them & lasts throughout the winter. Little known fact, the Burning Bush is from the same family as the American Bittersweet plant. Both are members of my favourite plants.

Last night we celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. I can't say I like the institution of marriage, but I have had it easier than most I think. So, I guess it isn't all that bad.

We went to dinner at the Taj, our favourite Indian restaurant. Afterward, we went & bought some gifts for the kids for Xmas & went for a drive down in the Old Market.



This is the place Max & I met. For a brief time in the mid-1990's, it was an art gallery called the Medusa Project. It was a jewelry store long before that & sat abandoned for many years, until people of the The Magic Theater decided to open a non-profit gallery. We met two of our now long time friends there & each other.

It is really sad to see it empty & dark. I have probably 90% of my "good" early-adult memories in there. I feel more attached to this place than I do to the house I grew up in.

So, I went to my mom's recently-sold house to get the ladder she doesn't need anymore. When I got there, I opened the garage door & found the backdoor to the garage had been broken into. And the door leading into the house. Those doors were hanging wide open with pry bar marks where they had been forced open. The furnace was going like crazy & only cold air was coming out of it. I had to call my mom & the cops & the evening was a big nightmare. Not only because of the break-in, but because this was the last time my kids & I were going to be in the house. We all wanted to have one last goodbye. Especially me. And now we are afraid the people who bought Mom's house may back out of the deal since the person buying it is a young single mom of a 3 year old girl. I don't even blame her if she wanted to back out. I know I would. My mom was so angry. This whole thing has been really hard on her & the idea of having to move back to the house because the sale fell through would be totally devastating. And no, nothing was taken, so the break in was totally stupid.

Anyway, as tainted as my goodbye to my childhood home is, here are some photos....

My house...


My room, & no, those curtains were not in my room while I was growing up...


The living room (my favourite room)...


Strange black powder on the garage floor with burglar's foot print. No clue what the powder is, but it wasn't there yesterday...

I am practicing my photo restoration skills. I have a lot of old photos I would like to restore. Here is my first picture, a photo of Max that had a bunch of stuff spilled on it. I think I did a pretty good job. Nothing like being a bored housewife to work on new talents.

Before....


After....

Its been a crazy week. Freed the Hyundai, dug way more snow than I ever care to see again, moved my mom to her new apartment, & went to a birthday party for my friends' daughter. Little Marley is 5! We have been friends with Bob & Julie for so long, Max was friends with them before he met me. I feel really blessed that even though they had Marley way after Max & I had kids, they still include us in the events of their daughter's life & still participate in the events of our kids' lives. I love having friends that are truly like family.

So here is a picture of Marley on her 5th birthday...



Another project I have taken on...




I am attempting to grow Date Palms from seeds I retrieved from the package of dates I received for Rama Dan. I have no idea if the dates will grow, but I figured why not.

I grew up here in Omaha, lived in Colorado for 5 years, & then moved back here. During my 34 year lifetime I have NEVER seen a city shut down for 3 days because of 9.4 inches of snow & some wind. The mayor's office actually told me, "this is a different kind of snow than the snow Colo. gets because of the altitude". Really? Seems just as deep to me...

There was no prep work for this storm. No sand nor salt was spread until today, 4 days after the fact. Earlier this year the mayor laid off many road workers & said contractors would be hired to make up the difference. The contractors can't handle it.

The news stations report that if we want our streets cleared, don't park on the street. Where are we supposed to park then? The side streets didn't get plowed until 8:00 last night, day three of this storm. And it doesn't matter, because I can't access my alley. One of our brilliant neighbors paid a private plow company to plow HALF our alley leaving a 3' high x 4' wide x 20' long wall of snow in our alley, mostly in front of my parking pad. I called the city & explained the situation. City won't help, they told me alleys are last on their list.

And if cars on the street are such a problem then WHY is my neighborhood zoned by the city for multi-family dwellings? If 8 cars on the street is the reason the plows can't get through, then don't allow a house to be broken up into a 4-plex, allowing 8+ people to live in it! But even I find that hard to believe that the plows can't get through, because our trash trucks get through without any problems.

And, I live in a predominately blue collar worker area, why is it that our streets are always hit last? West Omaha has a higher concentration of white collared workers & their streets were hit first & usually are. White collared employment generally allows for paid time off. As someone who has worked many blue collared jobs I have been told MANY times, "Show up or you're fired". Hard to do when there is a 3 foot high wall of snow not allowing our car to get out or in. Plow the poorer neighborhoods first! Maybe then the unemployment rate won't rise as fast.

Omaha has created this nightmare with generations of bad judgment & poor decision-making & WE, the public, are forced to suffer through it, even though WE pay outrageous taxes compared to other states.

I am sick of "The Good Life" & ready to move.

The plowed part of the alley...





The unplowed part....


The mighty wall of snow...


See how deep it is in comparison to my bumper?...

So, this is what our backyard normally looks like...



And here is how deep it is now...



As all can see, the snow did an excellent job of drifting into my yard. I am hoping the basement doesn't leak again, but realistically, it will. We have quite a bit of digging to do, too. So much fun. Yeah, that is sarcasm you detect.

Other than that it was a pretty good day. We hiked down to our neighbors' house at the end of the block & spent the day eating, drinking & playing Boggle & Scattergories. I made some really awesome Chocolate Chip Date Bread. Very happy with the way it came out. The kids don't have school tomorrow. AGAIN! Which is fun, but at the same time, this is so not getting my Christmas shopping done.

Never had a cat who liked to sleep face down. Sprite doesn't mind it though. Wish I could take a nap.




A funny thing happens when you use your flash in a snow storm. Its makes my house look purdy.

Actually, Mrs. Maria (Robinson) McCracken, my maternal great great grandmother. I recently got hold of some family photos & a family tree. Maria Robinson married James McCracken & immigrated here from Ireland. This is as far back as we have gotten in our family tree. I am trying to research family members in other parts of the country & I am trying to figure out the next steps in how to research this.



I don't have a scanner so I took a picture of the photo. Counts right?