Weird Weather Pictures

Unless you're living in another country, you probably know that much of the Midwest was hit by a major winter storm over the weekend. The weather people in Lawrence predicted 10 inches, and as usual, they were completely wrong. Not only did we not have 10 inches--we didn't even have any inches!

The weird thing about the storm was that both Topeka and Kansas City got several inches of snow while the worst of it somehow bypassed us. It was so bizarre, because at times the radar was showing snow on every side of Lawrence, and yet Lawrence itself was still getting only rain or maybe freezing rain. Even the south part of our county got more snow than we did! It's like we're in some sort of geographic or meteorologic bubble that's impervious to normal weather patterns or something! We often have storm systems split and go right around us. I don't understand it, but I find it completely fascinating. Maybe I should have been a meteorologist!

Anyway, after we had freezing rain much of the day on Saturday, we had a nice sheet of ice covering the entire neighborhood. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures since I love the beauty of an ice storm.



As you can see from the pictures, once Sunday morning came around the temperature shot up and the ice melted very quickly. It was actually a beautiful day in Lawrence, even though when we went to KC later in the day there were still several inches of snow on the ground! It was 45 degrees at our house when we got home from church, so I took the dogs for a walk while at the same time my nephews were sledding only 45 minutes away. The walk with the dogs was so beautiful, as the sparkling ice crashed down off the power lines all along the main street we were walking on. We made sure to stay on the opposite side of the road so as to steer clear of the falling ice, but it definitely made for a unique and entertaining walk!

Best of all, as you can see, my tulips made it through the ice storm just fine! They may not be heat resistant, but they're certainly rather cold resistant!

Par for the Course

Although I'm still a little bummed about last night's loss to Michigan State, I must say I'm not nearly as distraught this year as I've been after previous tourney losses. I will admit that I got a little teary at the end, but that was only because we were so close to winning that game! We played so confidently and so solidly in the first half I just can't believe we blew it at the end. Well actually, I can believe we blew it because we've blown so many other big leads this year! Somehow, our guys just never quite figured out how to play a full 40 minute game this entire season. I'm hoping that the loss will leave such a bad taste in the mouths of the players that they'll all be doubly motivated to come back next year and redeem themselves!

For most of the game last night we had a fun time watching with a few of our friends at Jack's, which is always crazy and loud and raucous during KU games. However, I'm positive that the change of venue was definitely not worth jinxing the win! I promise that next year we're sticking to the same viewing location as long as the winning streak continues!

Overall, I'm very proud of our Jayhawks, who should be proud of their standing as the Big 12 regular season champs. As it turns out, the Big 12 was a pretty darn good conference, seeing as we had 3 teams who made it to the Sweet Sixteen and 2 who made it to the Elite Eight. Although I'm super happy that Mizzou lost today and isn't headed on to Detroit next weekend, I'll be cheering for OU to make it to the Final Four tomorrow!

The Game

I'm already so nervous about the game tonight and tipoff isn't for about 8 more hours. Missouri's win over Memphis last night has created SO MUCH MORE pressure for a Jayhawk victory! I can't handle it!

In honor and in support of our Jayhawks I'm posting a video that I found today on KU's YouTube page. It's short but sweet! One game at a time, Jayhawks!



In the horrible event that we lose tonight's game against Michigan State, you can blame me entirely. I suggested that Chad and I needed to go somewhere other than our basement to watch the game, which is where we were for the first two rounds of the tourney. Chad is convinced that us hanging out at our house with our friends Cara and Dillon is good luck, but he reluctantly agreed that we could venture out into the world this evening anyway. We're at least going to wear the same shirts as we did last weekend in hopes of continuing our winning streak! Say, that reminds me--I need to go start some laundry!

Tulip Time

I was very proud of my daffodils last week because even after being frozen several nights in a row they still managed to keep their color for a few more days before giving in. On Monday, after a nice warm weekend, they were clearly on their last stems. They browned and wilted, but thankfully my white tulips made their appearance at just about the same time. These particular tulips usually only last about a week--I guess they're just very delicate! They usually croak the first sunny, warm day after they've bloomed. Thankfully, this week isn't supposed to be warm, but since it's supposed to freeze and possibly snow in the next couple of days, I'm guessing my tulips won't be around for long! I thought I'd capture a few shots of them today while they were still looking nice!

Name Change

Tonight I turned on the TV while I was changing into my pajamas and caught a few minutes of Dancing With the Stars. Maybe it's me, but I kind of think ABC might want to consider changing the name of this show. I know I don't watch much TV, but can they really get away with calling some of these people stars? Of the 12 contestants left on the show this season (one has already been eliminated) I could only immediately identify three of them. I should have probably known Shawn Johnson since I watched her in the Olympics over the summer and Lawrence Taylor since I'm fairly familiar with the NFL, but for the rest of those people I was completely at a loss. Am I seriously the only reasonably culturally literate person who doesn't know who these people are? Or am I just not really as culturally literate as I think I am?