Snowed in on Christmas

So we decided to leave for Omaha a day early to beat the bad weather that was headed for the Midwestern states. We left Tuesday at 2:00pm and arrived at my sisters in Omaha around midnight. We left behind a couple inches of snow in Chicago, drove through some near freezing drizzle in Iowa and Illinois (which wasn't really that bad) and arrived in Omaha to find some rain and then ice the next day and now almost a foot of snow! Our usual Christmas day in Flandreau, South Dakota was cancelled for those of us who were driving from out of state. Our "Zimmer Christmas" is also up in the air for tomorrow due to the weather,... and if it happens will be a very small group of people! What a strange Christmas it is turning out to be!

The "Christmas blizzard of 2009" started here in Omaha on Christmas Eve during the day and is still going strong as I type this. There was only a couple inches of snow on the ground when we headed out on Christmas Eve, but the wind was so strong it was blowing the snow everywhere and pelting us in the face.... no fun...not to mention Omaha already had huge piles of snow on the ground from the last big snow storm they had a couple weeks ago.

So, we managed to get out to church on Christmas Eve with Joe's parents and Andy. Was nice to be back in the church where we were married, even though it was super crowded and standing room only at this mass. I love that church at Christmas and all the time. Its such a nice place to be. Feels like home when I'm there.

After that we went out with my mom and sister for our usual Christmas Eve ritual. We had a nice dinner at Biaggi's and then to my moms and back to Cathy's for presents and treats. It was a nice night and Cathy even managed to get my mom out of her snowy parking lot when she left for the night. There was a lot more snow at that point and my moms car was not made for deep snow at all!!

So we woke up on Christmas day with the hopes of going over to Joe's parents but we were snowed in for sure. There was at least 8-9 inches of snow on the ground and the drifts were super big all around the cars. Boo. So we are stuck at my sisters for today, hoping it will be better tomorrow and we can get out and get over there. But, we tried to make the best of it, Cathy and I played UNO and ate some snacks and a few of the cookies I made. Joe watched basketball and movies. The dogs are getting a little stir crazy because they haven't been on a walk, but they probably wouldn't enjoy a walk in the snow that's taller than them. :-)

Anyway, so this blog is being written to pass some time, as you can tell. We are a little bored, but we are hanging out. Not often we just sit around with our family, even if its just Joe and my sister and our dogs.

So I better get back to doing nothing.... Merry Christmas to all of you and hope wherever you are you aren't having as much "white Christmas" as we are.

My favorite time of year!

I am just entirely too excited for Christmas!!
Maybe I just have way too much time on my hands this year and its getting to me? I just love this time of year!! Like they say, I wish every day could be Christmas...or whatever the saying is....I just love this time of year, love buying gifts for people, shopping, wrapping, planning our visit home, listening to Christmas music, etc. I get WAY too into it!!

Today I was extra super excited because I got our present for my Dad in the mail and it turned out AWESOME! I will be sending it off to him this week and I wish we could be there to see him open it. My sister and I went in on something this year and after lots of hard work we finally got it done! Maybe its not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be, but I think its pretty COOL and I know he will love it! This is pretty good considering he is always hard to buy for! I can't say what it is, but I am super excited to give it to him. :-)

Yesterday we went downtown with my friend Sarah, who has a nice manual/professional camera (which I totally want!) and she took some nice photos of Joe and I at some cool spots in Chicago for our Christmas card. I am really happy with the way they turned out! I will post some of my faves later... but you will all have to wait and see which one we picked for the card. Thanks, Sarah!!

Anyway, off to wrap some gifts now! I'm almost done....almost!

Here is one of my favorite songs...totally reminds me of being a kid at Christmas.... ahhh, memories.... Check it out if you have time.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U7MZkSlsOU