Here we go again!

Well, it's that time of year. Time to face insurmountable odds and throw ourselves into the jaws of danger.

We are about to leave on our journey back home this morning, namely, Ohio and then Michigan. We'll be rolling down I-80 for the most part, til we hit Illinois and cruise over to Indy, then into the heart of OH! IO!, and hopefully making it to Des Moines, tonight.

But, the big story has really been the snow that has fallen in the last two days. Granted, in a day and a half, this stuff came down quick and heavy, and Ft Collins saw about two foot of it gathered in their streets and sidewalks. And, you know, you kinda expect that a state that contains the rocky mountains and a snowy winter every year would be able to handle this stuff, right? Right?

I mean, in michigan, two foot of snow is a fairly normal occurrence. If you mention the term 'Lake Effect Snow' to any michigander, you will most likely be greeted by a vicious stare, and possibly a karate chop to the jugular. You get it there every year. And life moves on. But, i swear, just about EVERYTHING shut down here for two days. Everything. Schools, Universitys, City and County offices, pretty much all shops. Even yesterday afternoon, hours after the snow had stopped and into the part of the day that was really quite pretty, everything remained closed.

Maybe i'm simply a hardier being, but i won't lie, i spent pretty much any time that the TV News was on cursing at the screen for these coloradoans to pick it up and get on with their life. Seriously. I don't think that this much snow would stop anything in Michigan, and especially not for two days. I have incredibly fond memories of my first semester at Michigan State ending with me trudging a half mile to the math building in four foot drifts and screaming winds to take my finals, because the president decided it wasn't worth it. The last two days here have been simply unbelievable in the over-reaction that it has garnered.

Oh well, at least it made the mountains pretty. See some of you soon!

You would think....

that going on my second week of paid unemployment, i would have been contributing much more faithfully to this thing...

that egg nog would have lost it's tastiness after three weeks of consumption.. but you'd be dead wrong..

Friendsgiving with, well, friends, can and is just as lovely and tasty as Thanksgiving...

While stolen from Noel, who stole it from someone else, this video made my week...

Christmas is coming, and it feels weird to once again be in a new place for the third time in as many years for it to come...

We leave on Friday for home, Ohio first and then Michigan. I plan on eating more than i should, and getting obliterated in Scrabble by Grandma J. And of course, getting summarily shamed as well...

The new Windows Media Player update isn't so bad, in fact, it's actually a nice little program, but i believe iTunes still wins out...

I love lamp...

Stranger than fiction was quite good, being a charming a funny movie with wonderful timing, pacing, and showed that will ferrel doesn't need a weird haircut or accent to be good in a film...

did i mention egg nog?...

The lions have won a whole 2 games this year, and absolutely no one seems to be surprised...

Michigan State basketball, on the other hand, has had a pretty good season thus far, despite the oldest starters only being 2 juniors and 2 others are freshman. Big Ten season begins on Jan 4, i believe, and i can't wait to see how they'll fare...

Michigan State football, on the other hand, is dead to me...

I have a lot brewing in my head about the general plight of my life, what i want to do next now that i am almost (aaaalmost) completely done with the air force, and the reasons i am so glad to be rid of that stage in my life, but currently at best it's a sloppy combination of thoughts and words. I think i'll need more nog before i can get them all fluently down into text.

You make a mean caucasian, Jackie...

Is this entire blog turning into a hazy picture book simply for my own exercising of blogger demons? Hm. Prolly. The basics, though, boils down to a simple fact: I'm going slightly crazy sending my resume out to everyone i know (that's the manic part) but at the same time i have only four work days left before my five week vacation.

Oh, and of course, some pictures:

The annual turkey picture, with the fam visiting town






And the annual family portrait as well, this year featuring 100% more girls!








Also went on a good paced snowshoe expedition in the nether-regions just west of Fort Collins with cousin Dylan this weekend, and came across some spare car parts and even a couple wandering dogs that we never found the owners of...