Saturday Hooooooooooot, Maybe . . . .

There's a lot we don't know this morning. First, we don't know if we'll make it to the planned breakfast meeting with Carson and Karen at the Hoot Owl Restaurant. It's supposed to happen at 9:30, which was a good snap decision.

When Carson called yesterday and talked to Bill, we had company. So, Bill wondered if we could plan to go to the Hoot Owl at 8 this morning. I fended that one off, knowing it would mean getting up extra early to take care of the morning chores. So, I suggested 9:30 instead.

Now, it's a toss-up if we'll get cleaned out soon enough to make it to the Hoot Owl in less than two hours. That's all because the snow continues to fall and the snow continues to pile up.

I shoveled about 7 inches worth to form a pathway to the barn this morning. It's heavier than what we've been getting the past two weeks. When you can hear the flakes fall, you know it's heavier. And, the shoveling lets you know. We're running out of places to pile it in some areas, especially right around the barn where the openings have been shoveled rather than plowed.

The horses stay inside today. I can imagine how heavy those blankets could get with this stuff falling on them all day long.

There's no sign of let up, and we don't know if any of the roads have been plowed, although us 4-wheel drive folks don't usually worry about that too much. The papers made it here, so the roads can't be too bad.

Carson and Karen are up from Sacramento to visit Carson's mom and dad. They adopted Bill and me a few years ago when Karen stayed overnight with us while Carson joined Willie and attended a bachelor bash for for their fellow basketball teammate who was getting married the next day----at the then Hidden Lakes Golf Course Club House (burned down last week).

Karen teaches, while Carson takes care of fish in the Sacramento area.

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On another topic, one of my brothers took off from Tacoma yesterday afternoon, bound for Sandpoint. We haven't talked to anyone to learn how their trip was, but we did look at the weather maps and hoped that they arrived safely.

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Yesterday was a GOOD FRY DAY for us. Our friend Jeannie fried up a batch of her fry bread and brought it out to us. We had a good visit, as did Annie with her friend Jenessa, who works at a Boise TV station.

There was talk about the Seattle Sounders soccer team, which plays its first-ever game on March 19. Jeannie's hoping her son Chase will be on the team when Willie, Debbie and Annie attend the opener. We'll all know his fate just after the Super Bowl when a one-hour reality TV show features the final try-outs and the lucky player chosen for the new Major League Soccer team. We're all keeping our fingers crossed for Chase.

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My sisters, my brother Jim and the Love trio attended Valkyrie last night. I have to admit it was a big mistake for me. Put me in a movie theater and separate me from Annie who usually pokes me every ten minutes and says, "Are you awake, Mom?" and it's a waste of time for me to show up.

Annie sat in the row behind Barbara, Laurie and me, and she was too far away to see me nodding off in the dark. Barbara chose to ignore her snoozing big sister. So, my memories of the movie are----a lot of German soldiers, scurrying around, staring at each other or answering a lot of telephones, a poignant good bye kiss, and horrible executions at the end when the 15th attempted plot to kill Adolf Hitler did not work.

Add to that a body which turned rigid from a cold theater. Still, it was fun to go to the movie with the family. I'm always better off watching the DVD in the comfort of my living room cuz after about the third viewing, I've seen the whole movie.

The holidays continue with lots of reconnections with family and good friends. With luck, we'll make it down there to the Hoot Owl, home of the best, cheapest breakfast in North Idaho, we'll get caught up with Carson and Karen, and later, we'll see the Tacoma travelers and Laura and the gang from Plummer.

Meanwhile, the snow is doing what this year's and last year's snow has done very well---fallying down and piling up almost nonstop.

Happy Saturday.