last weekend

what a wacky weekend i had! it was my first full weekend as a 'downtown dweller', but i spent it twenty miles south in the thriving metropolis (that's a joke) of canby, kidnapping a snowman.

the ransom note took about two hours to compose and execute, which had us heading out at about half past eleven to kidnap the giant blow-up snowman in our friend amy's yard. the lights were out when we got there, so we were reasonably sure she, her husband and their children were safely asleep as we pulled up the anchoring and hauled the plastic-fabric snow man into the car. we left the ransom note, sealed in a ziplock baggy, pinned in the lawn with a steak knife. on the back we put, "this isn't your snowman, but it could be", with a white sheet with a dirty santa hat and a carrot on the ground next to it.

i took video of it, but all you see is blackness, and all you hear are whispers of "who has the ransom note" or "we need a rock to hold it all down". the funniest moment was when rachael picked up a heavy round flagstone and hauled it over to anchor the sheet. its too bad the video is so dark. when we got back into the car and put on the radio we were greeted with 'frosty the snowman'. it was awesome!

sunday afternoon we had our first ice/snow storm of the season, which is pretty early in the season for us. that kind of weather usually hits closer to the end of january...at just the right time to ruin my birthday party. i was in canby when it started, so meems drove me to where i could catch the bus back downtown. it was so nice not to have to worry about how i was going to get to work the next day if the bad weather stayed. i had a lovely dinner and movie with my sister ruth and took some pictures on my walk back home. the 'teddy the rough rider' statue below is my favorite picture of the lot.

by morning (we are, after all, only fifty feet above sea level), the snow and ice had almost completely melted in the streets downtown. most of my co-workers were upset that we didn't get a snow day off work, but i was okay with it. i'd much rather get a day of pay than a snow day off.