A Christmas Blizzard and Southern State Blitz -- Travel Documentary

This will be one of the posts dealing with our Christmas vacation, depending on how long they allow one post to be.  I may divide up the posts based on topics, and this post will be divided up as such as well.

One reason I've not managed to post is because I've been in Oklahoma and Arkansas doing family things.  I really did mean to post last week before we left but simply ran out of time.  The past 10 days have been nuts, so hopefully you won't think too badly of me for not posting.

Anyway, our Christmas adventure started last Tuesday, December 22.  We were getting snow in Chicago, it was supposed to stop snowing by nine...then noon, but at two when we left it was still snowing so we're not sure exactly when it stopped.  This is a picture of the car when I went to dust it off to go get Maggie from the airport.  It was snowing quite a bit actually and it continued to snow until we hit Springfield, IL.  We made it to Jeff and Ginger's house in Waynesville Missouri by about nine (weather added a couple of hours) and got to talk and hang out with them for a bit before turning in for the night.

Wednesday, we woke up and started driving to Tulsa.  After about half an hour we hit rain.  These were the storms that helped flood Arkansas, and we almost stopped several times.  We're talking we had 50' visibility.  Chris was driving through the  I normally don't talk a lot about the treacherous conditions we might be driving in, but we didn't have a clue that this would be some of the easiest of the driving we had to do during our week touring Oklahoma and Arkansas.  

Thursday, we woke up and it was raining.  It had been raining a while, but then it started sleeting about noon.  We managed to drive out to my dad's house and see him before it got too bad.  This is a picture of the sleet that had accumulated at my dad's.  I took this just before we left. 

The drive back to Tulsa was slow -- it took us at least twice as long as normal.  When we got in, we decided that we would not be going out in it again.  It was starting to snow by the time we made it back to Tulsa, and the roads were icing since it had rained and sleeted so much the snow was coming down on to a layer of ice.  As we were driving they were starting to shut down highways and there were a couple of fatal accidents.  Since it was snowing it continues to snow for the rest of Thursday (Christmas Eve).  We stayed in and missed church, but since we couldn't get out of the driveway and they canceled church we felt this was appropriate. We had horrific wind to go with the snow so we got a nice Christmas blizzard.  In Oklahoma.  We ended up with around a foot or so of snow when it was all said and done.  There were huge drifts in some places, like the one that blocked in our little Focus.  This picture was from about six at night -- so all of the snow had come down in about two hours.  

John actually was going out at this point in time, which is why you see the foot prints in the snow.  He managed to not make it back until the afternoon of Christmas Day.  He was unable to get up the driveway in his Tahoe.  There were random cars parked all over the streets though from when the cars just wouldn't go any further up a hill.  

Since we were snowed in for Christmas we left for Shawnee from Tulsa the day after Christmas, as opposed to Christmas.  There was so much snow that we couldn't see curbs and thankfully we let several other families brave the snow and packed it down for us so that we didn't have to plow it in our little Focus.

Saturday driving was all sorts of slippery.  We managed to not see many plows which was shocking to us.  Being from the Chicago area we typically see plows with the blades down as soon as there is enough snow on the ground for the blades to do any good.  We were driving on snowpack with the plows next to us and blades up.  We were very confused.  On our trip from Tulsa to Shawnee we counted cars in the ditch to help us pass the time.  We often saw packs of them together and were shocked at how many people were ending up the ditch practically vertical.  Our final count was: 62 cars in the ditch or on the side of the road, 10 plows with only 6 of them having the blades down, and 3 tow trucks (not counting the one in the ditch below).  This was in a 90 mile stretch of road.  Also are a few pictures of the side of the road.  Some of the snow drifts show evidence of lots of wind. 

 Then driving around Shawnee for a couple of days, well, we probably need a new suspension on the car.  They never really plowed and were simply waiting on the snow and ice to melt.  In Oklahoma that is really a good plan most of the time, the only problem is that with this storm it stayed cold for several days after it.  We left Shawnee on Monday (28) and managed to have a dry day of driving.  That was by far the easiest drive of the trip.  We managed to see a few friends on our way to Chris's mom's house, but then we just wanted to stay there for a while.

Yesterday we managed to drive back to Aurora.  We left from Arkansas and it was a good thing as Oklahoma had gotten another couple of inches of snow.  We were also lucky in that we didn't have to go up I-44, which of course was getting snow all day long.  We hit snow about Springfield (again) and it didn't stop from there.  The plows were out salting and moving snow as it was coming down.  We ended up with only an inch or snow from the storm yesterday, enough to cover up all the nasty colored snow that's plowed into nice piles everywhere.

A Mighty Wind

This past week we got our first taste of winter.  The snow storm that hit most the rest of the country managed to only drop about 6 inches here.  With all the wind and such though you would think we got several feet of snow.  We had 30-40 mph winds that were bitter!  It was interesting though -- last Mon & Tues we had snow and it melted, then we got the "blizzard" and the wind and temperature dropped so quickly that it created a very nice skating rink.  When the plows went out they mainly plowed the snow off of the ice and left a nice tractionless surface for everyone to drive on.  Naturally everyone forgot how to drive on the ice and snow, but we did manage to make it home in one piece. We had so much wind that anything leeward of the wind had a lot of snow, while the stuff that was out in the wind had no snow so to speak.  These were some of the trees that were sheltered from the wind by a building and they show quite a bit of snow.  I think they are quite pretty.  I also think it a shame there isn't that much snow everywhere, but I'm weird. 

Thursday was our first sub-zero day and the top of the Sears Tower froze!!  I mean it had frost along the top couple of layers of the tower.  My building was cold -- we had snow on the inside all day.  I'm not sure if it actually blew in (the windows don't always seal the best) or if because of the wind the metal sills became so cold that snow formed from the water moisture inside and just sat on the sills.  The picture of the frozen Sears Tower...

The big news is that I got my endoscopy results back.  The mast cell numbers are still way too high.  Since I'm eating stuff like I'm supposed to this means its not actually food or that there is something I'm continuously ingesting in water or simply by breathing that is making me sick.  I get to go back to the stupid allergist -- the one who decided not to give me shots last fall when I asked for them.  The allergist that had to give me anti-histamines half way through the test because I was reacting so well to them.  The allergist that had to give me the interdermal shots spaced very far a part because simply having the essence of the environmental allergen on my skin reacted half way up my arm, made my eyes itch, and made my arm swell so much they couldn't actually make out what I was allergic to -- but apparently couldn't give me shots because he wanted to try me on medicines I'd already been on and they hadn't done enough.  Also, the doctor who doesn't discuss medicines with me.  My GI doc said she was going to try and get me an appointment with a different doctor, so we'll hope that she can pull those strings and get me in at the other clinic.  

A good note -- the semester is over!  We made it through.  Chris is busy cleaning the labs and getting ready for after the break.  We have one week after we get back from Christmas before the semester starts again.  I will be taking biochemistry and biotechnology next semester so hopefully it will go well.  I don't know my grades for this term yet, but I can't imagine that I didn't pass my classes.  Then in May I will be looking for a job as I finish up a Masters.  I'm already looking really, but in May I'll really need one. 

Christmas Trees and Holiday Magic!

Saturday, we went to the MSI to see the Christmas trees!  We also got to see a gingerbread house of the white house.  It was made recently enough that standing around the edge that you could still smell the sugar and ginger from the house.  It smelled sooo good!!  The shrubs were made of rice krispies and trees were made of popcorn balls!  It was very neat to see the white house on such a small scale.  They also had the white house decorated for Christmas.  The MSI has christmas trees decorated by different community groups that are found in Chicago.  Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be as many trees this year as previous years.  We're not sure why, but both of us felt there were fewer trees.  While there we also got to see some Royal Scottish Dancers.  The guys in kilts were pretty entertaining.  I joked with Chris about joining them, but he doesn't think he'd look that good in a kilt -- apparently his legs are too hairy.  We didn't really go through much of the rest of the museum while we were there. 

On Sunday I worked Holiday Magic at the zoo.  They've decorated the zoo with lights every where!  A few of the animals were out an about -- like Whirl (a tiger), Hudson (polar bear), Aussie (polar bear), and Jim (alaskan brown bear).  But since its cold you'd expect those animals to be out an about.  It was about thirty degrees or so and it was nice to see the polar bears not being green!  At the zoo there is also the sleigh set up with polar bears pulling it.  It was great.  I liked all the cute things around the zoo -- the wreaths around the statues to go with the endless lights.  Some of the lights were impressive and the reflection pools were really cool.  Now though, the pools (what are fountains in the summer) will really start to freeze over, so that means the reflections will be different. 

We also got some snow today.  It was nice.  It was our first snow and we only got about an inch.  It was nice to finally get some though.  It was naturally enough to cause massive problems.  They didn't get plow because there wasn't enough snow.  It was also gone by mid-day, but it was here.  We're actually supposed to get quite a bit of snow tomorrow.  Hopefully it will snow so much that all finals will be canceled.  This is finals week so that means I've got exams on Wednesday and Friday.  I've also managed to get through this semester.  I now have one semester left before I get my Masters.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.  If you know of anyone in the Chicago area in need of a MS Chemist let me know.  I'm looking at doing some teaching at several community colleges around us or looking at some of the food companies around here.  There are several of them and it could be interesting.  Chris is still looking at taking the stockroom over at some point in the next year. 

Starting December off right

Well, we've started December now and we've not had any snow.  We typically get snow starting around Thanksgiving (though Chris says that it doesn't actually start snowing then since we don't get a couple of inches on the ground and they don't have to bring out the plows) and so far nada.  Tonight is the first night we're supposed to get snow, and not even half an inch at that.  I'm hoping that the snow will help me feel more festive.  It simply getting colder has.  So did looking at all the Christmas lights along the interstate from Minneapolis to Chicago when we drove back on Sunday. 

The past few weeks have been a blur and now the semester is over.  Papers, projects, and exams are done, so now full force into finals week.  I suppose I should start with a few weeks back though to keep everyone up to speed on what's happened.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I flew to Tulsa to do the Route 66 Half-Marathon.  It was my only half for 2009.  It went well, not quite as well as I expected, but sufficiently well that I'm pleased.  My mom ran the race with me and we both finished.  It was a very hilly course and I managed to get through all the hills with very little problem.  Here's a picture of us after the race...

After I flew back to Chicago I had another test done.  They did an endoscopy and it was pretty eventful apparently.  I don't like anesthesia or people sticking tubes in me.  The drugs have kind of reset my brain too, which isn't so good this close to finals.  It's either the drugs or the sheer exaustion that have re-set my brain, but it isn't wanting to work right right now. 

For Thanksgiving we went to Minneapolis.  We had a lot of fun with our friends there and enjoyed just being out of Chicago.  A pic of us from the weekend...

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on.  We're still trying to make Christmas plans so I'll let you know when we get around to finalizing them.  

This past week has been fairly crazy for us here in Chicago.  It was one of those weeks that the cosmos aligned properly for absolutely everything to go wrong, and even things that you didn't think could go wrong some how managed to go wrong.  Nothing huge -- no hospital visits for us, no sicknesses -- just general mayhem all week long.  We are both glad to see the week over.  We also both excited that there are only a few weeks left of this term.  We can't decide why we don't start a week or two earlier in the summer though.  We've not had a break all semester and our first one will be Thanksgiving.  We're both burned out along with everyone else around us.  And after we come back from Thanksgiving we will only have a week of classes then a week of finals and the term will be over.  It hard to believe that this term is already over, but especially after the general mayhem of this past week, we are ready for it.  That means I need to get more serious about finding a job, so hopefully that will go well. 

It has been unseasonably warm, and we're sure that means we'll be in for it once winter finally arrives.  We've even thought of turning our air conditioners back on and we have definitely opened the windows again.  We think the drastic weather is somewhat responsible for the illnesses going around campus.  We've managed to be lucky though and not get sick. 

It's November?

Well, we have a couple of weekends off before Thanksgiving. We don't really have much planned except to stay home and rest up. We're still not sure about Christmas plans so if you know when you are going to be in the Tulsa/OKC area please let me know so we can try and work something out.

We've got four weeks left of this semester. It's wild to think that in a few short weeks this too shall pass. Hopefully the meetings I've suggested to debrief from this semester will form and be productive. The meetings will make both Chris and my life easier, so now to get my boss to comply and then show up!

Overall this past week went well. Monday I had an esophageal manometry test (they stick a catheter down your throat and measure how the muscles work together as they pull it out 1 cm at a time) and a 24 hour pH test done. I'm not sure about the results yet, but the tests are done. I had the manometry done because I perpetually feel like there is something stuck at the back of my throat. The doc says that any GI oriented auto-immune disease can cause that, and since I've actually got 2 different GI based auto-immune diseases, she thinks that's really it. I had the pH test done to monitor stomach acid and such. I'm not going to put much weight on that test -- I wasn't able to eat much with a catheter stuck up my nose, down the back of my throat and into my stomach. And we know that if I don't eat then I don't get sick or feel bad. However, we're not exactly pleased with the idea of me not eating... After starting a week like that the rest of the week seemed very uneventful.

We've had really pretty summer like weather here this weekend. We had thought about putting the a/c covers on the beginning of October because it was cold and rainy all the time. For the past week we've had nothing but sun for the most part and though we've got slight rain forcasted this week, we're going to continue with the above average temps. I just hope we don't pay for the extra warm weather come January and February.

That's really it from this part of the country. We'd always love to hear from you and hope that all is well with you.

A shot of history

For Halloween we got to go to the Illinois-Michigan game at Illinois. We weren't sure if we were going to get to go or not since our friend with the tickets was supposed to work. Friday he called though and was like, "I get the weekend off. Still down for the game?" We said yes and piled in the car Saturday morning. We drove down to Champaign and went to the game. It was interesting going to a Big 10 game. Chris and I still contend that no one plays football like the Big 12 South, and that we're just simply spoiled by being able to watch good football. We walked around campus some and then walked to the stadium. Since it was Halloween several people were dressed up so there were all sorts of fun costumes to see. Linda and I went as butterflies while Chris went as a "serial killer" or Morpheous (as a kid on the street called him) but in reality had his trench been leather he would have made a good Neo. Our seats were high in the balcony, and on the end zone, but we got to see several second half touchdowns. We were also amid both Michigan and Illinois fans so it was interesting to hear the banter. While we had been out walking we heard someone try and compare the rivalry to OU-Texas. The fact that the fans can sit peacefully in the stands together is a red flag that the rivalry doesn't compare to OU-Texas.

The first half of the game Michigan seemed to have control of the game. After the half though they got denied a TD because the guy's knee was down on the 1. So they had a 1st down and 1 to go. They ended up not making the TD from there and that really seemed to beat Michigan down. Illinois ended up scoring 3 TDs in the third quarter. Then in the fourth quarter they got a turn over and ended up scoring another TD and a FG. At this point the banter between the Michigan and Illinois fans around us got pretty heated. One Michigan fan was like, "Orange is an awful color. I hate this state." and so on and on. Since Juice was the QB she was even talking about how stupid a name Juice was and how she never wanted any juice again. Illinois ended up winning at home -- something they hadn't done since 1983. A pic of the final scoreboard...
Other than that not much has been up here. We're glad that October is finally over because hopefully that means it won't rain as much. Since it is now November we're likely to start getting cooler temps and snow. If it snows as much as it rained in October we'll easily be under several feet of snow. I honestly think we've been under a flood watch the entire month. We've got so much water around everywhere it looks like spring floods after all the snow melts. We're not really looking forward to the time change either because now it will start getting dark at 5, and the days will only be getting shorter until Christmas. I'm getting excited about the prospect of snow, but Chris isn't really. School is almost over as well, so we're getting excited about that. Not much else is new right now. Hope all is well with you.