it is well with my soul.

if you've hung out with me...either in real life or here...for an length of time, you'll know that early Sunday mornings here are my A-#1-Blue Ribbon-Gold Medal-Academy Award Winning favorite time of all.

add the rain to it, and well...i might as well be on drugs.
the good kind, not the icky ones that make everyone looks like zombies have had their way with 'em.

it's such a wonderful time of day. and add some rain to that equation and well...i'm happiern a pig in slop.

eww.

let's just say it's cool.

oh - and let's add my new Sunday morning obsession. an Oldies station here plays 'American Top 40' reruns from the 70s early Sunday. give me the occasional Donny, DeFrancos or even Shaft (shut yor mouth!), well...how could it get better?

we've had a lot of rain in the last few weeks. which, although is totally needed, also blows, because we've also had fires. and whether or not you're smarter than a 5th grader, it doesn't take much to know that without grass or trees to hold the dirt, rain turns dirt to mud.

and mud, like all other inhabitents on this earth, must obey the laws of gravity.

so if the fires don't getcha, the mud might bloody well will.

add to that the fun of a freaking tornado watch in Long Beach last week, and well...it's no wonder the rest of the nation looks at us Southern Californians as a crazy family member.

we complain because there's smog. we complain when the rain comes. we complain when we get no rain. we wait for the Big One as patiently as a grandmother rocking a child.

but dude. when the rain does come, we lose our freaking minds.

it's kinda funny to watch.

yesterday, though...Husband and i were out when we cast our eyes north. we do have mountains here, and since it rained here, most of the smog has been blown away. so we have a perfect view of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains.

with snow on top.

dang it. it was beautiful. and a total novelty for us. being urbanites AND Southern Californians, we don't see much snow. and again, we lose our freaking minds.

last April, we were up in Reno. it snowed. not a light dusting but a couple of feets worth (and please do not email or comment on my poor English. it's early and i'm not a morning person, with or without caffeine and so the laws of proper English usage do not apply. pfffffttttttt.).

my sister in law was trying have me committed. i was running outside with the camera trying to take a picture of it snowing. something she's seen during the many years she's lived up there.
meantime, there's this geek trying to get a photo of it.

and no, i didn't get a good picture of it.

so back to yesterday. we were both admiring the mountains, wondering if Kristie was up to her butt in snow up in Hesperia when i said:

"dang it. i didn't bring my camera. i could get a good shot with my telephoto lens."

"want me to go home so you can get it?"

"naaaah. what would i do with it? if i posted it on the blog, half of the nation would be saying 'big whoop. happens here all the time.' "

on weather and other things...

yes, kids..i'm here in Reno.
not Rio. Reno. the Biggest Little City in the West.

and dude. it snowed tonight.

now while Linda and Allison and all my other snowbound friends are rolling on the ground, laughing their butts off at me, we will ignore them to say it rocked.

totally cool to watch from the inside of a nice warm house, whilst i, the California Girl, was completely enamored and tried to take photos.

so if you know how to take photos of it snowing, let me know.

around 8pm, we drove down the hill from my sister-in-law's to Reno proper to pick up Cousin Marlen tonight. she's been flying since 3AM PST from Dublin to Atlanta to Reno.

and got stuck next to a man who, let's just say ate a LOT of broccoli before he got on the plane.
along with cabbage, soda, and every other gassy food/drink combo.

the oxygen masks should've been dispatched, i say.

so tomorrow, the real adventure begins.

we're taking her to Costco.

so as the snow was for me, Costco's gonna be for this girl.

more dispatches from the road.