A Very Weird Day

First, there was the weather. After we dropped the kids off to school, we headed to work. Within a mile of our house, we encountered bright sunshine, blue skies, pouring rain, and a hailstorm, all within a few minutes.

Next, Poppy managed to break through the back fence and let herself out again. She was picked up twice by kind strangers. The first put her back in our yard and left a message on our home phone. (Since there was a huge hole in the back fence, she very naturally went right back out.) The second kind stranger held onto her until he was able to reach us by cell phone, then brought her home.

Last (but certainly not least!), after I picked the kids up from school, I sat down at the dining table to have a quick snack before going out to repair the back fence. A fire engine drove past, lights and siren going. I wondered what was going on, and went back to my snack. A second fire engine went by, which made me curious enough to get up. By the time I got my shoes on, I found a police car at the end of our driveway, a horrible burning rubber smell outside, and flashing lights everywhere. Just past our house is a little cul-de-sac, and the house at the end had smoke pouring out of the garage. I counted FOUR fire engines (three big and one small), a fire-department SUV, and five police vehicles.

The fire appears to have been confined to the garage, and it looks like it started in an antique car. (DH came home and saw them towing it away.)

Outdoor Performing

Current mental soundtrack: "The Coolin" by Samuel Barber

S&P sang last night at the Temescal Street Cinema. It was an interesting concert. After a week or more of warm, sunny weather, we ended up performing on a foggy, windy day. I dressed appropriately for the weather: long underwear (top and bottom), T-shirt, blazer, dressy scarf, fleece jacket, hair in a ponytail to keep it out of my mouth. I felt really silly putting on my long underwear in June, but was very glad I had done it. The only part of me that was cold was my hands, and everyone in the choir had the same complaint. By the end of the performance, we were all having trouble turning pages with our frozen extremities, and my fingers didn't stop tingling for an hour afterward.

Outdoor performances are always entertaining. We had sirens, a helicoptor, wind blowing the conductor's music, and kids riding bikes in front of the "stage." We made an unusual number of mistakes (probably because we were half frozen): at one point, we lost the entire always-reliable alto section for four measures of the "Geographical Fugue." Every performer has those occasional lapses, but nothing gets the adrenaline going like the realization that the other four singers in your section had the same brain lapse, and there is no one left on your part! Overall, the performance was okay. The audience seemed to enjoy it, and there only a few REALLY "interesting" moments. :-)

Ripples in the Snow

The big snowstorm on the East Coast (a.k.a. Snowmageddon) is having its effect on our household in sunny California. DH was scheduled to leave tomorrow morning for a meeting at NIH. We got a call today informing him that the second leg of his flight (Chicago to DC) has been cancelled. They're still hoping to have the meeting later this week, but I'm not certain he's going to be able to get out there on Thursday, either. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. On the bright side of things, this means I don't have to get up at 6:00 am tomorrow to drive him to the BART station :-)

Splish Splash

We're having a bit of weather here this week. Yesterday morning, I went into the garage to get something before leaving for work, and stepped in an enormous puddle of water. I started bailing with a sponge and a bucket (the mop fell apart last week, and I haven't bought a new head for it yet) while waiting for DH to finish his shower and investigate the cause. After four buckets of water, I decided this was a ridiculous way to do it. Instead, I grabbed a bunch of "dog towels" (cheap white towels from Costco that we use for everything dog-related), sopped up the water with them, then put them in the washer to spin dry. Repeat until floor is dry.

In the meantime, DH finished his shower and took a look outside. He didn't find the puddle by the door that he was expecting. He then looked up and saw the waterfall coming down from the gutter. We hadn't gotten around to cleaning the leaves out of the gutter yet this year, so he got to do it yesterday in the rain, while I mopped.

Today it's raining even harder. Strawberry Creek runs in front of our building at work, and it's normally a little trickle. Today we walked over the bridge and looked down to see a raging torrent! Muddy brown water, way over the banks, rushing downstream.

Just got an e-mail from our town saying that the power is out to both B's and M's schools. Not any of the other schools in town, just theirs. Since our house lies between the two schools, I'm assuming we don't have power, either.

Update (10:21 am): Middle school is officially closing for the day. No word from the elementary school yet. 

Update to the update (10:46 am): Middle school has power again, so they will stay open.

Winter Wonderland

Mother Nature had a surprise for us when we woke up this morning!

The back yard

An unhappy rose bush

An icy branch

B's snowballs

B, L, L, L, & M at school with their snowman

(Photo by L's mom)

Nutcracker & Turkey Day 2009

A collection of unrelated November thoughts:

B is moving up in the ballet world: today she has to stay for the entire six-hour Nutcracker rehearsal, because she dances in both acts. They are running Act I from 12:00-3:00 (3 times), and Act II from 3:00-6:00 (2 times). This year she's a green soldier (featured as one of the two "Milk & Cookies Soldiers" in two shows), and a Russian licorice corps member. They have four casts for eight shows, and B is in Cast A and Cast C this year.

My parents arrived safely yesterday, only a few minutes late. There was some heavy rain which delayed us: B and I barely made it to the airport in time, despite leaving a hour before the flight was supposed to arrive.

The turkey is defrosting in the garage fridge, about half the supplies for dinner have been purchased, and today I bought two extra folding chairs, since we're having some extra guests on Thursday.

And The Heavens Opened

Today's forecast was "a chance of showers." They didn't say anything about "a chance of a deluge, right when school lets out," which is what actually happened. No one had a raincoat today!

DH and I lucked out. We walked to our car after lunch to head home for the car swap (Monday evenings require both of us to have a car, but we share a carpool parking permit), and a minute after we got in, the downpour started. A quick dash into the house, and we were set for raincoats.

The carpool lines at both B's and M's school were incredibly long, and there were a lot of soggy kids standing outside. At M's school, the middle-school kids are generally too cool to worry about a bit of rain, but it was coming down hard enough that everyone took shelter while waiting for their carpools.

Local weather station says we received 0.81 inches of rain in slightly over an hour.

Hot, Hot, Hot

We're having a heat wave in the Bay Area right now. Even chilly San Francisco was in the mid-80s today. At B's afternoon ballet performance, it was so hot that the light board overheated, and lights started to turn off and on at random times. The second half of the program was performed with very dim stage lighting, because that's all that would work. Tonight's S&P concert was quite warm, too--the church we performed in is one of those where the sanctuary is upstairs. Concert went well, and it was nice and warm outside when we left at 10:00 pm. Come hear us tomorrow in Berkeley!

Preview of Summer

Currently 90 degrees outside at our house. Unfortunately, since it's not actually summer, we don't have time to go to the pool today. M will be home in about half an hour, then we need to get dinner packed and everyone into their gear for Monday activities. I'm sure B & M will both have a great time this afternoon at the unairconditioned ballet and fencing schools :-(

The Rain Has Gone...

Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that B's new raincoat arrived today?

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Okay, I know we need the rain, but I need to it go away for a couple of days so DH and I can fix the leak in the family room. It started about two weeks ago when we had one of those storms where the rain comes in sideways--I think it worked its way under the roof. Since then, we've had a lovely hole in our family room ceiling.

I had a pickup rehearsal/help session for Voci members tonight, and interestingly enough, two of the four singers that came also had leaks from that storm. I guess I can't complain about ours--one of them has a new leak over the bed in the master bedroom, which has got to be much more inconvenient!

When To Bloom?

Today I got the clothing right (sweatshirt over a T-shirt), but now my garden is confused. The daffodils are starting to bloom:


There was another plant that had tiny purple flowers, but I couldn't get a good picture of it in the wind.

What to Wear?

Every morning, I get out of bed, and eventually I get dressed. I try to look at the weather forecast, but sometimes I don't have time. I think I've only worn the right clothing one day this week!

Sunday, I wanted to put on something nice for New Year's Eve dinner, and I thought red was a good choice, so I put on a red wool sweater. It was nice and warm that day, and I was quite toasty.

On Monday, I learned from what happened on Sunday, so I put on a cotton sweater. By the time I dropped off the kids at their afternoon activities, the temperature had dropped, so I was freezing all night (I was at rehearsal, so I couldn't change).

Yesterday I got it right--wool sweater with a turtleneck. I was especially glad I was wearing that when the fire alarm went off at 9:30 am, and we all got to spend thirty minutes standing outside in the cold.

Today, when I got up, it was 32 degrees outside, so I went for the wool sweater and turtleneck again. Not the right thing to wear--by the time I picked up B from school, it was nearly 60 here, so I was quite warm again.

I have no idea what I'm going to put on tomorrow morning. Maybe a sweatshirt over a T-shirt?

Concert

PWC had a great concert today--wish y'all could have been there! The weather was more appropriate for a June concert than a January concert--I'm one of those people who's always cold and never breaks a sweat, and I was definitely hot and sweaty by the end of the concert. It was nice to see Anna Banana and mundungus42 again, along with all the other singers. B and I had a smooth trip home, and we're all going to sleep in tomorrow.

Update: No wonder it felt hot--it was 78 degrees outside!

Let It Snow

DH took a photo on the way to work this morning:



Lunchtime now, and it's still only 36 degrees outside, according to my weather widget.

Brrrr!

Current mental soundtrack: "The Shepherd's Farewell," by Hector Berlioz

It was cold yesterday! Well, cold for our area of California, at least. Whenever we have "cold" spells, I take great comfort in looking up the temperature where we used to live, in Rochester, New York.

When I picked up B from school a little past noon (it was a minimum day), it was only 44 degrees outside and cloudy. B is a child who is NEVER cold (wears a T-shirt all year round), but she came out of her classroom and promptly stopped to put on her sweatshirt. Last night, the thermometer says it went down to 32 degrees at our house, and DH reported ice on the dog's water dish this morning. I'm glad we (meaning DH, of course) wheeled my lime tree inside for the winter earlier this week!

Oh, and yesterday's low in Rochester was 11 degrees (according to weather.com), so I guess I can't really complain about life in California :-)

Battening Down the Hatches

It's supposed to rain most of this weekend (actually, it's already started). I think we're ready for a storm. DH brought in Otto last night (I still have to set up the heat lamp/thermostat/timer combo for the winter). This afternoon, after picking up B from school and rushing to the grocery store, I raked the front yard (again!), and got the leaves into the green bin while they were still mostly dry. I also cleaned out the grate over the storm drain in the driveway (completely clogged with leaves and dirt), and our sump pump is in good working order.

On the way to the grocery store, B asked me if I liked rain. She loves rain, and getting wet, but I had to answer that I both liked it and disliked it. We need the rain, and everything looks so clean after a good storm, but I don't like gray skies or mud. Especially gray skies--I find it really hard to get out of bed on overcast days.

Current mental soundtrack: "Salve Regina" by Josef Rheinberger.

4:00 pm: 101°. Not as bad as yesterday.

1:30 pm: 100°. B is off to a birthday party (a good day for a pool party). I'm going to work a little longer, then go out to the local nursery and buy a couple more flowers. My front flower bed hasn't had anything in bloom for the last month (I'm still waiting for the lilies), and there is still a large empty space in front of the fence.

11:40 am: 94°. B has been x-rayed and been introduced to that lovely goop they use to make impressions. (I can still mentally taste the stuff, and it's been years since I've tasted it!) We stopped by Berkeley Bowl (the best produce store ever) and picked up some fruit and veggies.