Winter fun begins

After a couple days of dire warnings and predictions, we finally had an ice storm in Omaha early Saturday morning. The city was coated with a thin sheet of ice that melted almost immediately into a kind of drizzling slush by mid-morning. It left a nice candy-coating of ice on all of our cars that when chiseled off left them sparkling clean. It also gave us several thin sheets of clear ice to play around with.

Jenny, Vivian, and I drove out to Earl May to pick up their Christmas tree. Growing up, we'd used the same artificial tree year after year to decorate, so the idea of having an actual dead tree to haul inside was a rather new experience. Fortunately, they had free delivery on trees purchased that day, and their "helpful people" were able to set it up for us. It was quite a beautiful little tree once the needles had been properly thawed and dried.

On Sunday I went ice skating for pretty much the first time ever. I'd been skating just once when I was eight and hadn't really gotten away from the wall. This time I got to enjoy the thrill of slipping around and trying to stay upright while venturing away from the safety of the railing. I didn't really even slip and fall until the very end of my skating session, when I thought that I was finally getting the hang of it. I banged my hip and twisted my knee pretty well. I suppose my next step should be to go skiing and spend a couple of weeks in a cast. Viv took me home for a nice bubble bath that nearly put me to sleep after a long, busy winter weekend.