BLIZZARD

So - there had been warning of cooler temps today, and they predicted 3-5 inches of snow. Last week it was in the 70s so Michelle has been bummed for me that I missed all that lovely weather. The forecast kept getting a little worse (last night they were saying 5-8) though, and when I came down this morning, Michelle informed that they were declaring it a blizzard, calling off school, and were expecting 12-18 inches of snow! It's so weird - yesterday we were bouldering, today we were taking the skis we rented for our trip this weekend out in the same park! Here's a pic of us today in roughly the same spot we were in yesterday in the last pic from yesterday's post! (Justin was supposed to make a scrunchy face too!).

The blizzard cooled off (hah!) many of the plans we had today. It ended up including excellent coffee (thanks Michelle!), applications for teaching jobs in California (Michelle - looks like she and Justin will be moving there this summer), application work for the Liberia job (me), driving 2-wheel-drive vehicles in crazy, adventurous snowy conditions (Patrick & Justin), shoveling, shoveling, and then shoveling again (Michelle), grocery shopping (Michelle and Patrick), renting AT (Alpine Touring) skis (me and Justin), crossword puzzling (Patrick) and a chance to try out the skis in Chautauqua Park (me, Michelle and Justin). That was followed by Michelle's amazing lasagna, more chilling out/plan making/food prep, and general exhaustion.

Some sad news: Patrick got a call from the vet today regarding some blood work they just ran on his cat, Frank. Apparently he has renal failure, and any interventions they do will probably only prolong his life - they can't cure it. :( It's hitting Patrick pretty hard - Frank's been a great buddy to him. We all feel for him...

Still thinking about this Liberia thing; talked to Jen and Mustafa on the phone about it a bit today. Mustafa referred me to a site as a source for info: http://www.reliefweb.int/ and I thought this article did a good job laying out some of the very practical issues the country is facing.

OK, time for bed! Here's a great picture of Justin and Michelle - and the beautiful-blizzard-that-may-cause-avalanches-but (we're pretty sure)-won't-keep-us-from-the-adventure-tomorrow!

(I - of course - won't be updating this till I get back. And don't worry - Justin and Patrick are SUPER safe people, know the signs that indicate likely avalanches, and know how to avoid them.)