Snowing and Blowing but We're Still Going

Today was a bonus day for us. Whenever we get to spend time together that we hadn't planned to spend together, we call it bonus time. When we awoke this morning, we thought we'd be heading straight to Kansas City for a Christmas celebration with Chad's family. As soon as we talked to his parents in Salina, we discovered that the weather was going to prevent any sort of traveling, so we were excited about the prospect of a bonus day to ourselves. I thought I might spend the day doing laundry and finishing up my wrapping/painting of packages, and maybe I'd head over to the shelter for a few pictures of the new dogs. Just as I was mulling over all of my future accomplishments, the phone rang and Chad's boss Terry invited us to go to the KU basketball against Miami of Ohio. Since our day had just opened up completely, and since we never really know how many games we'll have the opportunity to see, we accepted Terry's offer immediately.

Minutes after getting showered and dressed we happened to look out the window, and it suddenly became very clear why Chad's parents couldn't make it to KC today--it was like a blizzard outside! We met Terry and his daughter Lindsay at their favorite parking spot and then walked through some crazy blowing snow to get to the field house! As we walked down Naismith Hill, we saw a sudden flash of bright light, and just as I turned around to Terry and Lindsay with a "what was that?" look on my face we heard these loud claps of thunder in the clouds! It was so weird--I have very few recollections of ever experiencing thunder snow!

I was definitely glad we went to the game, despite the fact that we had to walk through a blizzard to get there. The Jayhawks played well and they were super fun to watch since they pretty much dominated Miami. The snow was coming down just as hard when we left Allen Fieldhouse, and we had a very slow and steady trip home as the roads were incredibly slick from all the snow. We went back out into the elements a little later in the day to mail a few Christmas presents (which will clearly not get there by Christmas) and pick up a few more wrapping supplies along with a few groceries. The roads were still messy and slick and the snow was still coming down. By the time it finally stopped this evening, we had at least 4 inches of snow with drifts of about a foot in some places, including some crazy drifts on our back patio. Four inches is kind of a lot for Lawrence! It's supposed to be sunny and warmer tomorrow, but hopefully it doesn't get so warm that all the snow melts away--I'd love to keep this snow around for a white Christmas!