I am so glad to be on a mini-vacation this weekend.  I am currently at Minneapolis/Saint Paul Airport waiting for my second flight of the evening.  I am heading to California to visit Joel and head to Tahoe for skiing and relaxing.  Prior to this week there was not a significant amount of snow in the La Crosse area and it hadn't been cold enough for the Mount La Crosse to make snow.  I was looking forward to this weekend away for a couple different reasons.  First, my last papers for the semester were due on Monday and Tuesday and that means I now have a month or so off to have a bit of fun and this weekend is the beginning of that.  Second, Joel and I have gotten our own ski and snowboard equipment and because the weather in Wisconsin hasn't been agreeable we haven't gotten to play, yet.

The beginning of the week went as planned... last minute work on my two papers.  But then the weather people said we were going to get a blizzard.  I was thrilled!  Snow!  I had Wednesday mostly off except for a couple of appointments and work in the evening.  I could break out the snowblower and spend the afternoon clearing off the crazy amounts of snow we were going to get.  Still very excited.  I went to bed early on Wednesday morning (2 a.m. or so) and took it easy the rest of the morning because we had already gotten a considerable amount of snow.  Around 10 a.m. I made it outside to take some photos and begin the process of shoveling myself out.  I didn't have to be to work until 5 p.m. and I assumed I would have no problem getting the snow cleared out since we thought ahead in November or October and started the snowblower to make sure it was working properly.  Well, I was wrong, there were issues and I probably made it worse and flooded the thing.  So, I started moving snow around the old fashion way... with a shovel.  After a half hour or so I tried the snow blower again and got it started.  I celebrated by calling to tell my dad who I had been working with over the phone to get the thing started.  I then went to start the process and promptly broke the thing.  I will explain what happened, but you will have to forgive me and my non-technical terms.  There is a piece connected the handle that holds the cables that control the wheels and the auger (the thing that moves the snow up and out of the shoot) broke.  So, the cable has no tension and can't make the wheels engage and move forward.  So, I was back to square one shoveling by myself.  By mid-afternoon I was exhausted both because there was a lot of snow and because I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep over the last couple of days.  I decided I would work on it later and take the bus to work.  Well, I decided it was a much better idea to hire someone to finish the job for me while I was at work (Thanks Sheri and family!).  It was so nice to come home to a clear driveway. 

So, that is why dear readers I am very glad to be going on a mini-vacation this weekend.  For more photos from the Wisconsin Winter Wonderland visit flickr.    ~br