"[I] Dance the edge of sanity (I've never felt this close)"

In an effort to bring this blog back from the dead, I've decided to post an update. A lot has been going on in our private life that is far too personal to blog about, so in spite of our silence here, rest assured that plenty is going on at the Maurer house!

I just want to state, for the record, that John is an amazing human being and I still can't believe my luck that I found him. I never thought I believed in soul mates until I met my own. He really is the man of my dreams and I'm quite certain that if we hadn't found each other, I'd be fully settled into spinsterhood right now. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. I loved being single and was just getting the hang of it when John introduced new realms of possibilities into my life. Part of me still wants to be "Crazy Cat Lady." The best part is that I still can be, and he'll still love me. That's devotion, kids.) He has been so supportive of me while I've worked out some personal trauma lately. He is abundantly patient, forgiving, understanding, and wise beyond his years. I love that man. :)

So! The holidays are finally over! Can I get a hallelujah! This time of year is notoriously challenging for me, and although I love seeing family, I dread the stress and travel and lost sleep and financial burdens and food temptations and unexpected weather. I was sorely tempted to boycott Christmas altogether. (In fact, I didn't bother to put up any decorations, and John and I adopted a "no presents for each other" policy this year, which was actually really nice! I promise it's not as sad as it sounds.)

We did visit with our families, not necessarily as much as we could have (weather. read on.), but we sure enjoyed every minute we had. My parents drove out from Nebraska, and John's dad and brother flew out from Michigan. We were able to race a snowstorm in time to get down to Provo on Christmas Eve. (We were only slowed down by a massive traffic jam on the freeway that was caused by a terrible car accident. We saw the Life-Flight helicopter flying away and what was left of an SUV. :( We heard on the news that the driver of the SUV was in critical condition, but we never did learn what ultimately became of her.)

We spent the night at John's family's house (a rough night sleeping on the sofa) and had Christmas morning and brunch with them. It was great and we were spoiled rotten, as usual. :)

On the way to my sister Tricia's house, we were met with our first big snow storm. It was slow-going and pretty dicey, and frankly I'm surprised that we made it at all (sadly, my brother had to leave for work before we arrived, so that's 2 Christmases in a row that I haven't seen him. *grumble*). I think that part of the valley got about 2 feet of new snow before the day was over. We had a very nice time at Tricia's house as well, but we had to cut our time short because we knew another storm was going to hit, and I had to be back to work the next day.

We hit our second giant blizzard of the day on our way home. It was windy and dark, and not only were our windshield wiper blades icing over, our car's defogger decided to die. Visibility was bad enough without all that, so we pulled into a gas station to regain our bearings (and composure). We thought we'd just clear the car off and try again, but the snow was coming down faster than we could move it. The defogger wasn't doing anything, and the wind was plastering sheets and sheets of snow upon everything in sight. We went inside the gas station and camped out at the snack bar for about 45 minutes, got a slice of pizza, and waited for the blizzard to die down a little. By the time we were finally able to get back on the road (defogger working again), we'd abandoned our idea to take the long way home. [Two years ago (coming home from Christmas, incidentally), we encountered a horrifying white-out in Sardine Canyon (officially the US-89 Wellsville pass between Brigham City and Logan). We swore we would never put ourselves in that situation again and either turn back or go around to Cache Valley by way of Tremonton, rather than over that pass.] Given the severity of the weather on the freeway, and the fact that every vehicle we saw (with the exception of one big-rig) was taking the Logan exit, we figured we'd be far safer in a convoy and more likely to encounter plowed roads on the canyon highway than we would on some dark and rarely-traveled back road (which we've never driven North-bound, let alone in the dark and snow). How crazy are we? It was Nasty (note the capital N), but we lived to tell the tale! The next day, after the snow had stopped, we learned that our little canyon pass was closed to any vehicle that didn't have 4-wheel-drive or chained tires. (And this after the plows had been through and the skies were clear.) Luckily I didn't need that road anymore. I still had to get to work, however, and spent 2 hours digging my car out of a snow bank, just to get stuck in the parking lot at our apartment complex. huzzah.
p.s. Our next car will have 4-wheel-drive. And a plow attachment. And I need to buy snow boots. And a back brace. argh.

THEN
For New Year's Eve, we invited my younger sister Becky to play with us. We partied on junk food and video games, played Guitar Hero into the wee hours, fell asleep watching Harry Potter (my, we live dangerously) and the next day, I made cinnamon rolls. (hot mama!) It was a blast. Later we had the opportunity to spend some cherished one-on-one time with my parents before they trekked back to Nebraska, and it was wonderful to see them for more than the couple of hours we had on Christmas (seeing as how we missed 2 other family parties due to weather). They spoiled us rotten and it did my heart a lot of good to get my hugs and kisses in before they left.

Friday I was back to work again, and John's dad drove up for the weekend. He took John for his first Sushi lunch (I *graciously* declined. No little fishies for me.) He and John played some chess (who won, btw?) and Warcraft, I got to show off my mad kitchen skillz, we got him hooked on "The Big Bang Theory" and he took us out for pizza and a movie on Saturday. Good times.

So, things have been busy, and traveling and partying and entertaining takes a serious toll on me. We still have at least one more big travel day this month, for Baby Elaina's first birthday on Sunday (miracle baby!), so I hope the weather is kind, and after that's over I'll look forward to staying in my cozy little valley until late March! at least!

*phew!*