Old Man Winter hates us.

Ever see that Y2K episode of King of the Hill, wherein Hank stops at Mega-lo-mart to pick up a fuel filter and gets overwhelmed by hordes of hoarders stocking up for the impending apocalypse? That's pretty much what it was like when I braved the ice and falling trees yesterday to venture out to Wal-Mart to buy a flashlight and some extra batteries. Both of which, by the way, were completely sold out by the time I got there. After weaving my way through crowds of shoppers whose baskets were brimming over with bottled water, canned foods and the aforementioned flashlights and batteries--and just how many flashlights does a single household really need, anyway?--I managed to get out of the store and, about a half-hour later, out of the parking lot, after which I had to hit three other stores before I finally found some D-cells for our Maglite.

So, winter decided to puke up its icy innards all over our part of the state over the weekend, destroying a small rain forest's worth of trees and causing the biggest power outage in state history in the process. Our house has been without power since late Sunday night, and estimates are that we'll be without it for another week, at least. Of course, my workplace still has power, and thankfully so does my gym, so I was able to take a hot shower and get dressed in a well-lit locker room this morning. My husband and the rest of my family aren't as fortunate. But they don't have to go to work, either, so it's a fair trade.

We actually made out pretty good in this storm. Most of the trees in our yard are either broken or completely knocked over, but all of the falling trees and limbs missed the house and our vehicles. Most of our neighbors weren't so lucky, and are dealing with everything from dented car roofs and broken windows to caved in garages and trees of the non-Christmas variety taking up valuable space in the living room.

'Tis the season to count our blessings, for sure. I guess I could whine that I'll miss the season finale of Top Model and a new episode of Supernatural this week, but I'd probably be better off shutting it and just being grateful that we have an intact roof over our heads and a working fireplace and plenty of canned soup on our shelves. You only really appreciate the basics in life when you're forced to go without the luxuries. Moreso when you realize how many folks out there can't even count on the basics. It's both sad and cliche, but also true.

Where the Sun Don't Shine

Well, I probably should have come to work yesterday, but as far as I knew the roads were still slippery and the doomsayers meteorologists kept saying that more snow and ice were coming, so I thought it wisest to stay put. Of course, all the other snow and ice stayed far, far south of anywhere I needed to be, and this morning the roads were fine. Eh. At least I was able to finally get a bunch of stuff catalogued and photographed for eBay. It was nice to remember how productive I can be around the house when I'm home and Matt's not (he braved the snow to go to class).

Turns out I didn't miss much at the office. All my impromptu day off cost me was vacation time. Things were slow yesterday, and hopefully that trend will continue today at least long enough to post my auctions.

*knocks MDF*

It's cooooold today, you guys, and getting colder. It's supposed to drop down into the teens today, and into the single digits tonight, which, for OK, is Really Effing Cold. I've got more layers on than Randy Parker. I've already given myself permission to skip the gym today, only because by the time I peel off all my layers to change into my workout clothes it'll be time to get dressed and come back to work. Actually, I told myself it was because I don't want to go outside again for any reason other than going home, but now I'm contemplating venturing across the street to Panera later to get something hot for lunch.

No sir, I don't like it. I'm about ready to tell Old Man Winter exactly where he can stick it.

Oh, look. More winter.

It's snowing. The road conditions web site says things are getting slick out there, so I'm probably going to bail soon. Last time it took me two solid hours to drive home, but that was on pure ice and sleet, and this time it's just plain ol' snow, for once. Still, Oklahomans aren't used to quite as much winter as we've been having this year, and they tend to either panic and be overly cautious drivers whenever there's any sign of winter precip, or else they don't care and drive like assholes, giving the overly cautious plenty of justification. At any rate, I'm not looking forward to the journey home, and I'd like to get it over with as soon as possible.