You know, this morning's not half bad.

I mean, yeah, I had a brief convo with an online friend who's upset with me. But I had cantaloupe for breakfast (a bit bland - but ripe enough to have some taste), I got the camera's USB connection working right on my desktop (need to check if the XP drivers are available yet, for the laptop), and I'm awake and feeling good and not feeling like I have to work at all this weekend. I probably will; there are a couple things I want to get done that will be easy to do in the background. But I don't have to. Besides, I'm not sure those are totally work; they're the final setup of my laptop for work which, while technically work, doesn't feel like it. Feels like playing with my new toy!

Yesterday, I called IBM and finally straightened out the last of the billing mess. It turns out it had been straightened out before my last call to them, probably, but the person I talked to then hadn't found the right reference. Why one credit was made against my existing order and the other was given its own order number, I don't know, but I was given the info, saw it, and confirmed it. My next credit card statement should match, and then I'm done with this.

And the machine really is nice. So...way too many idiots in customer service and sales there, but I don't regret the laptop any more. It was a couple months of misery making it right, but now that it is right, I'm a very happy camper.

Think I may go out for part of today with the camera. Pity my waking-dream wasn't real. In it, I stirred, debated waking up, then remembered they said it might snow overnight. Got up and dashed downstairs (without my contact lenses or glasses). The bottom of the stairs opened into a 10 x 10 (or so) room carpeted in dull tan (not exactly my house), but the stairs and door were the same. Ran across to it and peered out, couldn't tell anything. So I opened the door, stuck my hand out in to the blur (I should have been ale to see it, guess I was blinder in the dream ;) and got hold of an ice chip. And then I was all excited and ready to get dressed and go play and get photographs.

That's when I woke up. I didn't think I'd get snow, but I came downstairs to look anyway (with my glasses on; contacts are a pain and not putting them in first thing doesn't hurt anything - in fact, not wearing them for an hour or two a day is supposed to be good for me, though not required). There was no snow, just rain, but I was still pleased. No morning mist, nothing to make me snatch the camera, but I was up. And it was 7:30. And I was awake, and alive, and happy, and energetic.

I think the stress-load I've been under has finally lifted. I may still be busy, but I don't seem to be freaking as much about it day to day. And that plus getting enough sleep despite all the craziness this past week...I think things are back to good. I've been finding little bits of time to roleplay, I've been finding time to do other things.

And right now, 'scuse. I need to brush my hair and get ready for the day. Take the trash out and sort the laundry. Finish moving my images over to the disk so I can use the camera for new pictures today.

Brrr. Plans abandoned, and weatherness.

That didn't go quite as anticipated. I got the garbage taken out, I got the laundry sorted, and then I headed out. Fill the gas tank up, and then it's time to stop and deposit my checks. After that - photography.

Stop in Fred Meyer's (because they have a Washington Mutual inside, nice and handy). Stare at windshield. that's not rain. It's sleet. With occasional tiny hail intermixed.

Scuttle into store, deposit checks. Roads still look wet, so time for that. Come back out. Little pile of sleet on my car. Now, it's not far from my home to Fred Meyer's, and I made a stop along the way. So car is cool. This is still not a great sign. Road still clear. Grass sleeting up.

Not gonna take pics in sleet, end up stranded. Head home. By the time I got home it was just very soggy snow (can it 'slush' on you? - that's what it was doing). Not even sticking to grass. There's a height difference between the store and my house; dunno if it was that, or the time it took to drive.

Either way, I think I'll be a homebody today. Maybe it'll actually accumulate as snow this evening and I can take pictures of that!

I've already turned the heat up a bit. Fall nip is one thing; saber-toothed winter bite is another..... ;)

And a dusting of white over the top of it, please.

The snow came a bit sooner than anticipated. Like, shortly after I posted that last. It didn't stick to parking lot or concrete deck (well, it sort of did - slush, not water, but not snow), but it stuck to cars, and deck chairs, potted plants and the neighbors' grass in their little yarsd, the roofs of adjacent houses and the trees. I nabbed photos of it post-haste, which was a good instinct; it has mostly melted away again. And nabbing those photos, I had a window open to get a good shot when I heard the neighbor-across-the-back-fence's little child (4? 5?) crying, "Snow! Is snowing, daddy!"

Kind of how I feel. Is snowing!

Or was. The sunbreak killed it, but perhaps it will start up again a bit later today/this evening.

Grinning like a tangle-haired fool.

The which I am, of course.

I left around 3:40, 3:45 to go for a walk. The rain and snow had stopped, and I figured now was my chance to do the photography I'd meant to do earlier. I'd meant to go to some neighborhoods and do it there but I just figured I'd do main town today - no need to drive, and fun besides. So I walked up the street and the length of main street from the McDonald's to 99W at the far end, taking pictures (actually, I stopped just short of 99 W, at the crossing before). Then I crossed the street and came back. Highlights:

On the way out, I paused to let a couple cars turn into a side street I was about to cross. It's actually harder to get in a left turn there than to cross that street, and that was their opening; there were quite a few cars just behind it. So that delayed me enough that the 10 or 15-car train cut me off, and I wasn't at all sorry 'bout that. More photographs, but only one of the train: as it first came into view. After that I just stood there on the sidewalk, 10 feet shy of the tracks, and listened to the train, felt the train, the basso rumble of its passing in the air and thrumming up through the soles of my feet until it felt stronger in my body than my own heartbeat, the wind following the train and tugging strands of my hair free from under my hood.

There wasn't much on the train, a lot of empty cars, it looked like. Looked like log-cars, maybe going back. When it passed, I crossed the tracks and continued on. Stopped by the creek. On the way back on the other side of the road, I only got a few shots, and then I put my camera away. First, my hands were starting to get stiff from the cold, and I took that to mean it was time to jam them up the opposing sleeves and warm 'em up. Not doable with camera in hand. And second, it had started to rain/snow/rain (it was one or the other, depending on its mood). Absolutely gorgeous, but not my camera's best weather. Glad I got the case I did; it protected it nicely. Also glad it was not trying to do an impression of a violent storm, but rather a light-but-steady shower.

As I got nearer home, I smelled woodsmoke. More images from my childhood, to go with trains and snows, cameras and creeks: there's a day-care center opposite our townhouses. The house next to it had a nicely-smoking chimney and the air for the block and in our parking lot smelled of woodsmoke, very like at home - pine or fir, I think. Sharp, and pleasant. The house next to it had the garage door half-up and was whining with the sounds of a power saw and various other tools as I walked past.

That just felt good. And then stepping into the warmth of home, feeling my cheeks and forehead, ears and hands and arms and feet warm back up. Hot cheese on a bread (microwaved, not fried, but oh well). The fresh-cold scent of snow or icy rain, a scent I can't compare to anything else, clinging a bit to my hair and my clothes.

I was out there...45 minutes or so. Admittedly, it was a casual stroll with many stops. But I feel good, not worn out; and if it's not the recommended style of exercising, it probably still helps. Today is a good day.

Snowwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay. This probably isn't news to anyone who read my other entries today, but it's snowing, it's snowing, snowsnowsnow!

Yes, I'm a kid at heart. And yes, I adore snow. I can afford to; I live in Oregon, near Portland, so I'm lucky if I see it two or three times a year. Beautiful, soft, fat flakes drifting down, coating car and parking lot and rooftop, chair and deck and wire, plants (oh, the poor plants - they thought it was safe to flower - now, that I do feel bad to see)....

Just gorgeous out there. Just gorgeous. Took a few shots. May take more when I warm up. Danced around in the snow, got it in my hair and on the trim on my hood. Caught some on my tongue. It's still warm enough that it melts a bit when you step on it, instead of compacting dryly. Which probably means it's doing that on the streets, so in a couple hours they oughta be solid ice, coated with gorgeous fairy snow.

Scott's out gaming. We discussed this before he went; if he can, if it is bad (looks like it will be; they often game till 10 or midnight), he'll just stay. Hope either he stays or has a safe drive.

Pretty, though. Glad I haven't got anywhere to go.

But, ma, the weatherman said....

We weren't supposed to get much snow, if any. Certainly not till later in the evening. Yet, five hours ago, it was accumulating, though still slushing on the roadways.

'Bout the same now. The cars which haven't moved since then have a couple inches piled on them, and there are ice-bits on some of the bushes, but no ice on the pavement.

I hope it hangs around until a while after I wake up tomorrow morning. I didn't get the best shots, since it was dark out. A couple are decent, most are as farcical as I feared, though they might do okay squished down small enough to hide the blurriness or other defects.

It's pretty out. And as always, the human eye's a better catcher of detail than a camera; imagine that.

I might see my parents tomorrow. I might not. Depends on how nice the weather is; there's a fair-sized hill between them and me. If tomorrow goes on as today has begun, I hope they won't come; I love my parents dearly, and I wouldn't want them to risk their lives getting here.

I also hope Scott stays over at his friend's place, after the game. Because even if the road is passable, our driveway was slightly slush-slippery to me on foot already.

We'll see, we'll see. I liked snow better as a child, when it was someone else's problem to make it safe and passable; but I enjoy it a fair bit on the weekend. There's no place I have to be, no promises to keep, that need me leaving. I did the grocery shopping Friday, gassed the car and deposited checks today before the snow, and all is well and snug here. If Scott were home I would have no weather concerns; and as it is, I imagine it will clear up tomorrow for a while at the very least, so he'll be able to get home then.

(Actually, it's mostly major roads; if he can safely get out to highway 8 from his friend's house, he can probably make it home okay tonight. But if it doesn't melt by tomorrow, they're more likely to have at least some roads cleared - and it really is major roads only once he gets out; we're straight off a main road ourselves, so the driveway may be the most perilous part of the trip. And anyone who thinks I'm joking, hasn't seen the slope coming into our driveway. It's brief, but it is designed to make you slide into the van parked there if slippery....)

Ah, enough random babbling. Time and past time for bed. Wish me luck in getting up before the snow has gone!