Almost forgot. Congrats to Kim, Bailey, Foster, Terri, Pebbles, Annette, Bailey, Jennifer and Moana on a FABULOUS Q-ing weekend. I sure wish I was their to share it with you!

Plumbers Butt!

On Thursday our bathtub started leaking. We had to turn the water off and on for a few days. Friday night we went to Lowe's to get all the plumbing stuff we needed. Then on Saturday we started the work. Well, Plumbers Butt Jason started the work. No he didn't have plumbers butt but I yelled that to him every time he was in the tub fixing it. Here are a few photos.

So today's Sunday and we haven't did much. Actually it's been kind of low key. We took a nap, cleaned the basement and then just hung out. Jason's in the living room seam sealing his new tent and well, I'm blogging :-) I don't really have much to say. By the way Jip sent me a photo of her and her sheltie Ania. So, I'm posting a photo of them on here. Everyone.....Meet my friend Jip.


Well that's it. Oh and check out Crazy Carie's blog. Her brother cooked dinner for George Clooney the other day. Sure wish I was their to eat dinner with them :-)

http://monkeys-in-flight.blogspot.com/

Rocky Start/Rocky Adventure....

Jason and I planned to go Snowshoeing about a week ago at the Crystal Lake Ski Resort by Williamsport. We were both so excited, however it wasn't the best adventure in the world. It started off really rocky. Yesterday, Sunday, I developed a stomach virus. I don't know if it was from the dinner we had the night before (not very good) or if it was a virus but I was spending a lot of time on the toilet. Yes, too much information, sorry. Anyway, I worried about not being able to go Snowshoeing on Monday. Maybe this was our first sign not to go. So we got up early on Monday morning. We left the house forgetting our coats and the wallet so we could pay for the adventure. Luckily we only made it down to Berwick so we didn't get far until we realized we needed to turn around. Maybe our second sign. Then we needed to stop and get gas. I told Jason to check out the tire pressure so we didn't have any problems on our way to the ski resort. Our tires were low. We tried to fill them up however the pump was covered with snow so that didn't work. Third sign? We decided to just drive on low tires hoping they wouldn't pop. When we arrived near the ski resort the area was so beautiful. It was a very small town and the town was very old. Tons of old well maintained homes. Near the turnoff to the ski resort we noticed a drive thru with Ma and Pa on it. Since this has been our nickname for one another since we've been married we had to pull in and take a photo. The owner came out thinking we were lost so we told him how excited we was to see his sign. He was a very nice man! On the way up to the ski resort the view was beautiful. We seen a gorgeous church (see below) and also passed a road sign called Van Horn. This made me think of Kim, whom I miss dearly so we had to stop and get a photo. Once we arrived at the resort we found a place to park and went inside the get our gear. It was an older couple running the place and honestly, it was like they didn't know what they were doing. The husband was leading us one way and the wife was yelling (seriously) for us to come over to see her. That should have been our final clue right their. Jason and I planned on spending the day hiking so we had carried our packs with us. Jason told the guy we had our packs so he would fit us for the right snow shoes. Man, he didn't listen at all. We started out and already I didn't like snowshoeing. I am not the best walker. I'm such a klutz. Anyway, I was falling all over the place and getting very frustrated. We started to venture off the trails and instead of our snow shoes holding us up off the snow we sank in. I don't know if you have been watching the news but we have had tons of snow. Needless to say I was sinking well below my knees. We walked for a bit and at this time I was getting very frustrated. I couldn't stand up and couldn't keep my shoes from tripping me. So, we decided to turn around and head back. This was only after about 1 hour. Walking back to the rental place Jason and I talked and decided to walk on the established ski trails. Well by that time I was so exhausted that I could barley pickup my feet. I stopped Jason and told him I hated this so much I was cussing inside my head. So, we turned around again. We walked up to the ski shop and said when we walked in how horrible the trip was. How we was sinking. Well the guy says, I gave you the wrong size snow shoes. When you said you was hiking with a pack I thought it was a fanny pack. Jason had told him we was carrying about 20 lbs each before we left. Anyway, he was like would you like to try some more shoes? At that point I was like "NO, we're leaving" Anyway, he didn't offer a refund and both of us didn't feel like fighting to get one. OH well. We started home and I was still so angry at the experience. I mean, it was like 50.00 for the both of us. Anyway, so we drove by our favorite pizza place and had lunch. That cheered us up. So, we probably will not take up the sport of snow shoeing. I was very disappointed too because I really had been looking forward to snow shoeing. Good thing we didn't spend the money and purchase them.

Anyway, some more photos you can see below. These are the deer that have been hanging out down the street for us. I wanted to get a deer block and put it in our front yard but my mom told me it wasn't a good idea. They sure are beautiful though. We spent all morning Sunday driving around looking for wildlife to photograph.

We thought this was a beautiful church by the mountains.

Kim, I know it's your madien name but seeing this sign made me think of you.

Jason and I developed a nickname of Maw Paw a long time ago. We thought this was funny.

How Beautiful. You can't see them all but this was a herd of about 10

One of the covered bridges in Bloom with snow on it. (Obviously, he he he)

SNOW SHUTS I-80

Click on image to download pdf

By BEN TIMBERLAKE

Press Enterprise Writer

LIME RIDGE — Eastbound Interstate 80 became a parking lot for as much as 20 miles between here and Tank in Black Creek Township for much of the last two days, officials say.

PennDOT officials shut down 24 miles of the eastbound lanes last night and aim to get it cleared and plowed today.

The closure stretches from the interchange with Route 11 here to the Interstate 81 interchange.

First, workers have to clear out the backed-up vehicles, get others unstuck from snow and tow the rest, officials say.

Then, plows will clear and salt the road.

That work started Thursday at about 5 p.m. and will probably continue through this morning, said PennDOT spokeswoman Karen Dussinger.

She couldn't say how long the work would last or when the interstate would reopen.

But extracting some vehicles was likely to take hours, she said.

Interstate 81 was also closed for 66 miles in both directions from the Interstate 80 interchange to the Fort Indiantown Gap interchange.

The suggested Interstate 80 detour is north on Route 11 to the Nanticoke area, then onto Route 29 south to Interstate 81 south.

Westbound lanes are open.

Start and stop

On Thursday, traffic was moving sporadically along Interstate 80, but as soon as some messes would clear, other vehicles would snarl the flow, said Rick Mason of the PennDOT office that covers Columbia County.

The interstate's east lanes were shut down from Lime Ridge to the Tank area at about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, then reopened Thursday morning.

Vehicles were moving in one lane Thursday afternoon, but then tractor-trailers had trouble on hills, officials said, and traffic again came to a standstill.

The most recent trouble near here started at about 3 p.m. Thursday when tractor-trailers got stranded on the hill heading east out of Tank.

Emergency responders couldn't get through the traffic, so tow trucks and plows had to get on the road at the Route 93 interchange and head back the wrong way to get to the disabled tractor-trailers, explained Sgt. Scott Price, commander of the Bloomsburg State Police barracks.

And later on, a tractor-trailer driver jackknifed the rig when he illegally tried to use an emergency vehicle crossover just over the border in Luzerne County, Price said.

10 hours, 20 miles

At one point, traffic in the eastbound lanes was backed up to the Buckhorn interchange, Price said.

Backlogs are dangerous because drivers don't expect vehicles to be stopped on the interstate, Price said.

Once stopped vehicles build up, police try to get a cruiser on the side of the road with its lights on to warn people of the slowdown.

As the backlogs mounted, troopers had to back up their cruisers to provide enough warning, he said.

On Wednesday night, some motorists spent as long as 10 hours stuck on the highway, stopping and restarting their vehicles to keep warm, said Mifflinville Rangers Chief Don Diltz.

He worked with a crew of local snowmobilers checking on stranded motorists.

Town traffic

The slowdowns and closures sent extra traffic onto smaller highways and through towns.

Early Thursday, Bloomsburg's Main Street was bumper-to-bumper, with what looked like the heaviest traffic heading east through town, said Police Chief Leo Sokoloski.

The extra vehicles did not cause any additional traffic problems, he said.

And the only traffic signal that changed was the light at the West and Main streets intersection.

That signal turns to a flashing yellow along Main Street after a storm because the hill there would make it difficult for heavier vehicles to stop, Sokoloski explained.

As many as 20,000 vehicles travel each direction on Interstate 80 through Columbia County on an average day, Price said. About one in three of those vehicles is a tractor-trailer, he said.

Other trouble

There were lines of traffic heading toward downtown Berwick in Briar Creek and Berwick Thursday afternoon and evening. Westbound lanes were moving.

At 7:30 p.m., vehicles were moving slowly as far west as the Red Maple Inn.

South Centre Township Police, who cover Mifflin Township, stationed an officer at the interchange and Love's truck stop to direct the slew of vehicles leaving the interstate there, Price said.

Some tractor-trailer drivers tried to navigate the twisting Route 339, Price said. But a few had trouble and became disabled, halting traffic on that road, too, he said.

SNOW ANGELS JUST FOR CRAZY CARIE!

Scary Shot

So beautiful

Anyone watch the Discovery Channel's Survive This last night? We'll my uncle Larry was on the show analyzing a helicopter crash.

Premiere: Tuesday, Feb. 13, at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT
In this episode, a doomed helicopter is captured in its last desperate moments. On May 4, 2004 New York news-chopper pilot Russ Mowry is recorded by reporter Shannon Sohn, on another nearby news chopper, as he crashes on a rooftop. Helicopter accident investigator Larry Grandy analyzes what brought Russ's chopper down, and why he survived.

Here's a photo of Larry taking us up in the Helicopter when I visited them for my 16th Birthday.

Snow Day!

We tried to get to work today. Got about 1 mile and decided heading down the mountain wasn't a good idea. The roads were not plowed. Their was one set of tire tracks in the road. The road was so slick it was crazy. After finding a place to turn around and then getting stuck for a second we popped the Jeep into 4 wheel drive low and headed back to the house. At one point a garbage truck was headed right for us. We stopped in the road and prayed that he wouldn't hit us. He was all over the road. I told Jason my life was more important than my job. I called my boss and now I'm just praying that I do not get fired. I'm still in my probation period so we'll see. Lesley is a very nice boss and I honestly don't think she will fire me. She said that hardly anyone was at work today and her husband had to drive her in. I honestly think she understands, plus, they know where I live to they know how the roads probably look.

Jason got out his brand new snow thrower. We purchased the thrower back in November when we moved expecting to get a snow like this. Honestly, we didn't think it would come. But, here it is. We have about 6 inches, less than what they predicted. On top of that it's sleeting. It's been sleeting through the night and probably will continue through the day. So, here are a few beginning snow photos. Plus one photo of what your mouth looks like when you stick a flashlight in it. he he he. I know it seems we only photo the shelties but they are the only ones that will play in the snow.

Jason's mouth, scary eh!

The forecast is in. Looks like we're getting almost 1 ft of snow tonight and into tomorrow. I should have some photos to share. We'll probably have the snow blower out and create a parking lot at the bottom of our hill. Should be exciting.

All the agility equipment has been moved inside so we're ready mother nature.

It's been a while. It's really hard to write on my blog daily since their is not much going on. So I've been saving my entries for the weekend. Our weekend was great. We went to a Show N Go on Saturday. Another Agility Thing! The course was wild. It was tough. Chase and Tay did really good on the Excellent Course and Sam did great on the Novice course. For all my agility buddies, here's the course.
After the show Jason and I headed to Lowe's. We have several different projects that we're going to complete this year on our house. We're going to build a deck for our hot tub, a fence for the furkids so the yard will be a lot bigger than what they have now. Then we had planned to remodel the bathroom however we discovered it was going to cost a lot of money so we decided to replace the windows in our house instead. The window project will end up saving us money in the long run since our windows leak so it's good we're doing it now. Next year we'll tackle the bathroom. After Lowe's we came home and started LOTR The Fellowship. This LOTR happens to be the most boring for me so I had a tough time staying awake.

Sunday we went to church. After church we went home and I took a power nap before agility class. Class was really fun and the kids did great. Sam was CRAZY at this class for some reason. She would run one way and then run another as fast as she could. It was hard keeping her under control but on the other hand I couldn't help but laugh the whole time. She's been popping out of her weave poles so tonights class was the first time she did all 12. I was very excited and treated her like crazy. We've switched our dog treats to Beef Jerky. This works out really good because while we're treating the dogs we can grab a bite also :-) He he he. Jacquie is teaching me a new way for contacts. She noticed that Chase is still jumping off the contacts. She had the same problem with one of her dogs and then she attended a seminar on contacts and it cured her problem. I'm hoping to set up our dog walk in the yard so I can work on it. This lady, I forget her name, uses hoops at the end of the contacts. It seems like it will work. We'll see. Here's what it looks like.

Well that's all for now. Until next time!

ARTIC AIR..........BURRR

So today the temp with the wind chill is -20 deg. Holy Cow it's freezing outside. The instant I walk outside my nose boogies freeze. Not like dumb and dumber freeze but that's what it feels like. I pulled out my wind breaker winter jacket today. It's huge but it keeps me warm.

This past weekend we had a grand ol' time. We had planned to go to Paragon Offroad Park to help save the park this weekend. I got on the message boards Friday night and found out that I needed a tow hook and a orange flag to go. I didn't have either. So, my plans were shot. I was bumbed too. I found out over 500 vehicles we're their to support the park on Saturday. That's not counting the ATV's. Paragon is about to shut down due to a cargo airport coming to the area. It's a huge deal to many people in the area. Their were people their this weekend from Maine. They are looking for another piece of land but they haven't had any luck yet. We'll see what happens. So, we ventured out to Wilkes Barre to do some shopping. I had a few specific things I was looking for and didn't find anything. I HATE to SHOP! We did have a great lunch at UNO's. When we got home we worked around the house a bit and played with the furkids. At night we watched Talladega Nights. I HATE NASCAR (Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks). Will Ferrel is funny but the movie was just OK.

Sunday we went to church. One of the guys I work with goes to our church. I had invited him and his wife to our agility class. They have 2 wild dogs and I told him it was the perfect sport to get them into. Well I didn't get a chance to let him know the class had been moved to 2:00 instead of 5 before I left so I hunted for his number online so I could leave a message for him at his house. I felt like a stalker but Jason said that it was the nice thing to do so they wouldn't drive all the way to Bloom and no one would be their. Anyway, so they both ended up coming. I met his wife for the first time and she's very nice. She works at the church we attend. They are very interested in starting agility so that's exciting. After that we headed home for the Super Bowl. I was rooting for the Colts and Jason the Bears. Sorry Jason, you lost :-) We both really do not like Football so it was funny watching it together. :-) I felt sorry for the guys though with all the fumbles and stuff. All the rain.

Oh, I forgot one thing. On Saturday Jay and I headed to Dalo's for donuts. On the way we seen a red bird on some branches covered in snow. My mom is a huge fan of the red birds and we just happened to have Jason's camera with us. So, we parked in the road and tried to take some photos. It's so funny when people pass and they see someone with a camera taking photos they think it's like a bear or something. Sorry, it's a bird :-) So the bird was having the toughest time staying in one place. He would move so we would have to move. We spent almost 1 hour trying to get a good photo. I think the one we got is ok. Then we headed over to the lake to take some photos of ice fishermen. Now this is exciting to watch. I've never lived in a place where people ice fish.