Our Christmas Adventure

A blizzard hit the I-35 corridor just a couple of hours before we were to set out Christmas Eve to head to Norman. We decided to stay the night and set off Christmas Day. We were prepared for the going to be slow, but we didn't quite realize how icy it would be. Things were tense for the first half of the journey. Sam kept telling me to keep reading so that I wouldn't see the road to criticize his driving and fingernail the dashboard any more than was necessary. I did manage to make it through A Christmas Carol eventually. It was a happy distraction.

Keith's car. It thought snowstorms were far behind it when it migrated South from Poughkeepsie. How wrong you were little Honda.

Here is the view of our house on Christmas Eve while it was still snowing. A White Christmas in Texas: poetic.

Oklahoma rest stop just over the Red River. It took us just over 4 hours to make it approximately 80 miles because yes, that is a solid sheet of ice covering the road.

Winter wonderland.

Just one of at least 200 abandoned vehicles we saw in our whole 180 mile trip. The overwhelming majority were SUVs & pickups for obvious reasons.

Stopping at the IHOP in Ardmore for some R&R. Usually we stop here after an hour and a half on the road. At this point we had been driving for 4 and a half hours with all our muscles completely tensed. We parked so far away because the driveway into the IHOP was really icy.

The Daily Ardmorite newsstand was drifted right up.

Nothing says Christmas like an IHOP.

Just a little biscuit & gravy with sausage & hashbrowns pre-Christmas snack.

This was pretty typical of the drive. Mostly ice with the odd tire-mark helping the cars through the ice.

The Cavalry!

See above comment about abandoned SUVs. "I've got an SUV! I can drive over anything!"
Sam: "Just because you can pick up 6 kids from soccer practice at the same time doesn't mean you can drive on ice like its a regular road."


Victory! 8 hours after setting off. Usually takes 2 and 1/2 to 3.

Megan kindly massaged Sam's poor spazzing calf muscle. It was tighter'n a banjo string.

General Laziness

An extremely rare sight for Mercedes to flop all the way over and show her belly, and out in the open on the sofa no less. Only a bunny who is very comfortable and relaxed in her habitat will do this (Count does it all the time, of course). It just shows how much happier she is since we moved. The Count was lickin her head. (Also, you can see in this pic how long her tail is.)
The Count successful in tipping over his food bowl to make it easier to eat whilst in a reclining position. *nom nom*

DIY Safari Trophy (Vegetarian)

Went to the fabric store for some inspiration on filling the large blank space on the floor. I was inspired by the 50% off sign over this baby zebra fabric. Sam agrees that it nails the understated look I was going for.

Naptime x3

General mid-day action.

Smells like Christmas

Our new little place (directly downstairs from our last place, still just North of TCU) is looking a little more merry. Got a nice little 4 foot tree, encrusted it with all the ornaments I bought on sale after Christmas last year, and it's looking good! Here are a few pics of what's going on around our house.

The "theme" of the Christmas tree is loosely birds & bunnies with a 1 horned frog and 1 elephant thrown in for good measure. And some Derby County baubles.

My beloved kokeshi nativity set. I try to keep this out for as long as possible each season. And the mantle in the new place is perfect for it.

This is the bunnies' new favorite place to lounge & cuddle.

Close up of the bunny shelf. Mercedes gives me a wary eye.

Fusion Cuisine at its Best

Tonight's Gnocchi Tikka Masala with California Vegetable Medley & Boca soy crumbles was brought to me & Sam by the "ethnic" aisle of Target (genius putting the Italian stuff right across from the Indian) and the frozen vegetables on $.88 per bag clearance from Albertson's which I took full advantage of a few weeks back. Also had the soy crumbles hanging out in the fridge. Overall a success!

In other news, I nailed Mercedes' injection today, and she was doing binkies in no time! She is feeling much better.

Can't Win em All

Well, after my exciting time at the vet yesterday, I came home from work today all ready for another easy injection of Mercedes' antibiotics. Everything went wrong. I couldn't get a big enough handful of skin, and then she flinched when I pushed the needle in which made me flinch and the needle come out. Then, I got it back in (I thought) but when I depressed it, really I had come out the other side (ew!!) so I wasted about a third of the day's dose into her fur. Then I finally got it in and depressed it and it was over. But it was so traumatic! I was so upset, and then Mercedes hid under the table for a couple hours and wouldn't even take any papaya from me! It was all so sad! Poor Mercedes. She finally forgave me, though, and I spent some time with them on the floor earlier. She explored all around me and then settled in between the Count's ample hindquarters and the all-comforting log. He was preoccupied with the parsley I put out for him after he tried to swipe a low-hanging pheasant off the Christmas tree by its feathery tail. Naughty!