SNOW!!!!

The upside?

We've got SNOW!!!!

The downside?

It took me nearly an hour and a half to drive eighteen miles round trip to take Damien to school this morning.

Looks like we are on course to receive the 4-8 inches of fluff predicted. Unfortunately, it didn't start falling hours earlier...if it had, officials would have called a snow day and the pictures above would have featured the kids making snowmen in the front yard.

I am not looking forward to the drive back to the school to pick up Damien.

The forecast looks good!

We are under a winter storm warning...finally!  It looks like we will be getting a few inches of snow in the next couple of days, significant snowfall in the Treasure Valley, according to the local weather experts.  Here's what the National Weather Service, Boise Center, had to say...

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
416 AM MST TUE JAN 17 2012

...MAJOR SNOW EVENT WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...

.A STRONG AND MOIST MID-PACIFIC WARM FRONT WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN
OREGON AND WESTERN IDAHO WEDNESDAY ABOVE COLD AIR ALREADY IN
PLACE. SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS POSSIBLE EVEN IN THE LOW VALLEYS
BEFORE CHANGING TO RAIN WEDNESDAY EVENING. IN THE IDAHO
MOUNTAINS...SNOW MAY LAST ALL THE WAY UNTIL SATURDAY. THIS STORM
WILL ALSO BRING GUSTY WINDS ESPECIALLY TO AREAS CLOSEST TO THE
NEVADA BORDER.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/boi/

YEE-HAW!!!

It's beginning to look a little bit like winter...

I woke up to a white morning...well, sort of.

We did finally have snow yesterday, if you could call it that.  It was more of a morning snow flurry and it did stick in a few places.  But, the flakes that fell in the shady areas and stayed around long enough to accumulate into small patches of white melted just after lunch.  However, the wetness from the melt-off did not go away and temperatures dipped into the teens last night.  Creating what I saw this morning...

This is what it looked like just after sunrise at 8:18 a.m.  Notice the roofs of the neighboring houses...they are white but by noon they will be back to their regular tile color.

A whole bunch of frost.  There was enough glistening white icy stuff to make the sidewalks and grass look like a fairy had sprinkled her diamond dust around overnight, making little explosions of bright glitter as I walked the dog past the frozen grass lawns of the neighborhood.  There was even that characteristic little "crunch, crunch" as I passed over the ever-so-thin layers of ice on the sidewalks.  

In order to see the freeze, you have to get four-inches-from-the-tip-of-your-nose (or in my my case, -camera) close up...

"Icicles", or more like strands of "ice hair", as seen on the petal of a piece of a whimsical 5' tall  backyard flower

Everyone here, as much as they have complained about the inconveniently wet, snowy winter experienced last year, are yearning for more white stuff, especially since most of their ski passes to the local winter playground are gathering dust and seasonal workers at Bogus Basin have found themselves without a job.  We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the predicted days of real snow for the middle of next week actually materialize.  

As wonderful as these past warm, dry days have been, I, for one, am getting a little tired of winter looking like this...

and this...

and this...

and am excitedly looking forward to a picturesque, postcard-like winter's day. 

Even if it only lasts for a moment.  

"Sun, sun go away, come back another day.  Snow, snow, please come today, tell the sun to go away."

Happy 2012...where's the snow?

Well, happy 2012, folks!  It has finally arrived.  After a year of major changes, I am definitely looking forward to 365 days of settling in, basking in the wonder of being a resident of Idaho.  And, speaking of Idaho...

I thought there'd be snow.

At least a little more of it, anyway.

But, this fair state is on track to have the driest and mildest winter in some years.  Maybe nature is making up for the soggy seasons of early 2011...wet enough to fill all the reservoirs to the brink, so much so that even if we don't get anymore snowpack for future spring and summer watershed, we are covered for the rest of this year.

Maybe Murphy's Law is the cause.  After all, this Sarrazolla clan was expecting what we saw during our visit over Thanksgiving in twenty-ten.  I think deep down I really didn't believe the Boise residents who said that particular weather pattern during the week of Turkey Day 2010 was unusual.  Perhaps I was hoping they were wrong.  

In any case, I think it is strange indeed that the weather in Meridian at the time I checked the internet on they day we returned home from our SoCal vacay was warmer than that of Carlsbad (it was a momentary topsy turvy time as the difference reversed itself two hours later and into the afternoon).

If at least I can't see any snow in the near future, I'll enjoy the glorious winter sunsets out my back window...

Or the colors painted on the sky to the west of the sunrise...

And pretend that these little bright lights at "Garden Aglow" are man's best alternative to a glistening blanket of white....

Snow, snow...wherefore art thou, chilly glittering flakes falling from the heavens?   Please come soon (at least while I can still romanticize the notion of you).

Sarrazollas in Surfville

Nope, that's not a typo...we are actually in Surfville (in Oceanside, CA and 750 feet from the water's edge, to be exact). We are here to celebrate the holidays with family and friends and to wish the Sarrazolla matriarch congratulations for seven decades of a marvelous life (Happy Birthday, Gabriella!). As selfish as it is, we are thrilled that we won't be missing our first white Christmas while here in sunny SoCal (Idaho is in a persistent dry weather pattern that is not expected to abate until maybe after the holidays). We have acclimated so much to the colder climate in Boise that today's high temperatures along the beach, hovering around 65 degrees F, felt a bit too warm. My oldest son strutted in shorts, well...he ALWAYS wears shorts...but took the opportunity to go without his wrestling sweat jacket for a change. I simply baked this afternoon in my turtleneck and thin sweater (alas, I forgot what warm felt like so all I brought were turtlenecks and sweaters...really, isn't winter supposed to be cold?!?).

I have to be honest. I feel like I'm living a Twilight Zone episode. A place I called home for 44 years doesn't really feel like home anymore. Everything is intimately familiar and strangely vague all at the same time. Certain sights bring feelings of connectiveness yet I can't help but think that I don't belong here...that this is not home. Well, actually, I guess it's not home. We are native aliens, foreigners in a land where we grew up. Places I used to perceive as spacious are not as uncrowded as I once believed. Even the sky seems smaller and cluttered here. Adding to the Rod Serling moment is picking up with people I visit as if we haven't missed a beat...like 6 months are as 6 minutes and we haven't been apart at all. It's mind-bending, comforting and humbling at the same time. It makes me realize in a very concrete way that regardless of changes in environment, love really does transcend distance and time.

Well, leaving the deep thoughts for a moment, let me tell you a little about the beginnings of our heavily anticipated vacation. We took a two days to drive down the I-15,passing through five states in all (ID, UT, AZ, NV, CA) Our first stop: Cedar City, UT...which didn't have much to offer (we did arrive on a Sunday night, in a very religious, "we-roll-up-our-sidewalks-and-don't-work-on-the-Lord's-Day" town, afterall). Not much, except for snow on the ground, beautiful, sparkly, non-icy snow. I do believe we were the only guests in the KOA and arriving after 5 pm and leaving before 7 a.m., we never did see anyone that worked there. That was just fine with us because we really only wanted a place to rest our road-weary bodies for the night. Leaving the next morning, we got a taste of what winter actually looks like. It is gray and white and exquisite (maybe I'd feel differently if I had to see it all the time). I've never seen a landscape, hibernating and so desolate yet magnificent.

In contrast, we are staying at the Paradise by the Sea RV Resort in Oceanside, a "glamp-ground" I've driven by hundreds of times when taking the boys to preschool but never ever really noticed. It's a quaint and friendly place nestled behind Buccaneer Bay Park between the railroad tracks and Pacific Coast Highway. We've already met the owners and been invited to several events being held in the park club house, including a Christmas party. When we come to San Diego County for a visit again, this will be top on our list of places to stay. Downtown Oceanside is a short walk away (well, short for those who like to walk or who don't have kids whining about how mean you are to make them walk to much). I am impressed to how Oceanside is putting on a beautiful face...it is my fervent hope that the beauty is not only going skin-deep but that this gem of a beach town is cleaning up its soul, maturing into a safe place for all to visit. As much as Carlsbad wants to brag, I think O-side has much more to offer...more character, more eateries, more beach, more shops, more entertainment, more, well, everything (good and bad).

In the two days we've been here, we've finished our Christmas shopping and have already visited some friends and family. We are looking forward to the next 7 days of feasting and festivalling (yes, I know that's not a word, but you get the point so don't sue me).

If I don't get a chance to update the blog in the next week, I want to wish you and most blessed Christmas season and a joyous New Year!

Lavender...it's not just a color for Advent

This season I have fallen in love again with lavender and have discovered many uses for it beyond sachets, floral bouquets and bathroom spray.  Recently, at the Boise Co-op, one of Treasure Valley's answers to Southern California's Boney's, Henry's or Jimbo's, I found a soda called Dry Soda in Lavender flavor.  It was rather expensive, at nearly $2 for a twelve-ounce bottle, and though it was delicious and only 70 calories, I won't buy it again.  I even looked online to see if I could purchase it at a more wallet friendly price to no avail.  Well, I've heard it said that necessity is the mother of invention...I say it's a limited grocery budget that spurs on ingenuity and resourcefulness.  After perusing Dry's website and finding out that they only use four natural ingredients in their soda, I thought, hmmm...I bet I could replicate it at home.

This set me on a course to figure out how to make lavender syrup.  The biggest problem was finding culinary lavender for sale.  Thanks to the internet, I found some (I'm sure I could have procured it back at the Co-op but it turns out I'm rather lazy when it comes to driving 12 miles out of my way). At any rate, after finding many lavender recipes online, I made my syrup:

Some sugar, water, dried lavender buds, three days worth of refrigeration, a little straining and voila!  This marvelous, aromatic syrup came into being.

As for my version of the soda, I mixed the juice of one small Meyer lemon (strained) with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the syrup and poured this into 10 ounces of cold carbonated water.

This concoction may not be exactly the same but it evokes the same delightfully delicious hint of warmer months.  In other words, I like it.  For approximately thirty-five cents, I've made for myself a worthy opponent to the Dry Lavender soda AND was much easier on my wallet.

For now.

Until spring comes and I have to buy all the plants I want to put in my garden so I can cook with them. Including lavender.  Lots and lots of lavender.

Bronco Arrogance

OK, I am tired...well more than tired, of hearing Bronco fans here in Boise complain how they were passed over again, treated like an outcast, in the BCS bowl system.  It permeates the news and the culture in the Treasure Valley in such a way, it makes me a little sick to my stomach.  Yesterday, when I checked the website of the major paper in town, 80% of the top stories were about Coach Petersen griping over the unfairness of the BCS system.  I am here to tell you...I know...BCS should really stand for Bull Crap System.  I get it.  But, BSU and it's fan base complaining ad nauseum this season over a perceived disparity is getting on my nerves, and just goes to prove the Boise sports program's arrogance.  I have five words for you, Coach Petersen...Your. Team. Is. Number. Two.  Number Two teams in their conference, irrespective of where they fall in the popularity contest of the BCS/AP/Coaches Poll, DO NOT DESERVE TO GO TO BOWL GAMES WHERE, AS TRADITION HAS IT, NUMBER ONE CONFERENCE TEAMS GO.  If you were number one in the MW, if you had not lost to TCU (again, by a field goal, in your own house), you might have had a shot at a BCS poll simply because of your placement in line.  But, getting to brass tacks, you need to WIN your games to maintain your status in the polls.  It's as simple as that.  Just because you went 11 and 1 in a season mostly made up of fairly namby-pamby opponents, does not a football dynasty make.  Open up the blinders, Bronco fans, and actually watch other teams from stronger conferences play.  You will realize that the five nominated for the Heisman are truly better than your fair-haired boy, Kellen Moore.  You will realize that there are other kids better than KM who didn't even make the first look simply because their teams are off the radar due to unreasonable NCAA sanctions.  Maybe BSU should leave the MW conference because I'd like to see an Alabama, a Georgia, a LSU, heck, even USC open up a can of whoop-ass on ya and squelch the incessant, infantile rants of unfairness coming from your mouths.

I'd like to see ASU cream you in the Las Vegas bowl.  When TCU beat you by three, the arrogance momentarily ceased.  Maybe a spanking in a bowl you think you're better than will help you eat a great big serving of humble pie.

And, that's all I have to say about the blue and orange.