This is the after picture...After the plow came through! 

This was my view driving home today in the over one foot of snow that got dumped on the area. The weather called for a possibility of 1 to 3 inches. Last weekend, when they called for 4-5 inches, we got nothing. Weather prediction up here is never on target. Even the Weather Channel showed no precip on the map the entire time it snowed! (I like it though...) By the way, the wind was blowing the snow around, and there were 2 foot drifts between the cars in the parking lot. I was wet up to my knees getting in the car! 

One of my kids wore this to school this week. I thought it was funny. 

Liz bought a Beaker doll for Christmas for me. (Science Related Gift...) I came into work earlier this week to discover that something was amiss! 

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the crime scene that I feared... 

Of the folks who performed last night on American Idol, these two were our favorites. The dress brought up images of the purple and black beast Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and the Ellen lookalike almost killed me with deep and throaty exit song. I CAN'T WAIT for tonight! 

More of my favorites from last night's show. The one girl here, spanking her hip, caused a National Uproar. We spoke to people in three different states during her performance, crying in fits of laughter. 

IT BEGAN TONIGHT!!!! We laughed until we cried, and in between the commercials we watched Wayne Newton on Larry King Live. We are heavily nauseated at this juncture. By the way, what was up with Sybil at the end of Idol? The song she sang at the end before she left made the dogs whine and howl. (It didn't do a whole lot for me either.) Can't wait for tomorrow night! 

I took this picture on the way home from school today. When its not 3 degrees outside, this is a river. 

Our school has its own plow. We had about six inches or so of snow in the last couple of days, but up towards school there was 8 or 10 inches, with drifts over a foot! I loved it! 

My brother bought the game Pitfall for me for Christmas. It is EXACTLY like the old video game for ATARI, with one small exception. In the early 80's, I could rack up 10's of 1000's of points. I've played for quite a while today, and can only get past 4 screens. Tomorrow will be quite a pathetic day as I devote hours to regaining mastery. 

Hooper has back end issues at the moment and has to wear this Elizabethan collar. She absolutely hates it. This morning, she walked right up to the wall and stuck the collar flush against it. It was like a reverse lamp. Right now, she is outside with Doug in the dark. All you can see is what appears to be a disembodied lampshade...it's quite spooky. 

Brody kissing Hooper. 

El Bebé Está Aquí

The Baby Is Here! Caitlin had her baby around 5:30 this morning. Her name is Siobahn Elizabeth Connelly, (pronounced Sha-Vonn...)she's 19 inches long, and weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces. She's already got everyone wrapped around her little fingers...especially Doug! Pictures below...

The bambino. 

The baby being undressed so that Liz could look at her feet and hands. 

Mother and daughter. 

Doug avec la bebe. 

Liz with the baby... 

The new aunt... 

Caitlin in Labor

Liz's cousin Caitlin went into labor this morning...hopefully we'll soon have pics of the baby!

We had a snowstorm Wednesday night into Thursday...which in the middle of we had an ice storm. The ice on top of the snow created a very lustrous effect. This is the scene outside my window Friday morning. The snow was blindingly reflective by the afternoon! 

Liz's kids hold the snakes in the teacher's room next door...she all but boiled them in hot water to sanitize them when they came back in her room. They used a half a container of soap washing up. (This was only three kids!) 

Liz makes a giant leap forward when actually puts her finger on the amphibian. The frog was not nearly as afraid as she was. 

To enhance the notion that learning multiplication was painful and difficult, Liz used eye shadow to blacken the eyes of her students while they played "multiplication wrestling." She sent all of them home at the end of the day with shiners. 

Another wounded student... 

明けましておめでとう!

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night!

This short post is simply to divulge my New Year's Resolution for this year, though it is the same resolution that I have had for the last seven or eight years. It is simply:

辛抱しなさい -or- zoloft は殺害からの私を保つ

I've been fairly successful with this resolution to date, and expect to be successful with it this year.

Hope your day was a good one! More later...

-Mike

Everyone came out for dinner at Los Arcos!