so much down time...

tuesday: snow day.  wednesday: snow day.  thursday: snow day.  friday: open at 11:00, close at 3:30, go home, two more inches of snow.  consequently, this:

snow day #2

of this season.  they've both occurred within the past two weeks.  and in between we had a balmy 70 degree weekend.  this time the university is not only closed today (along with everything else and well before my office decided to close), but it's already decided that it will also be closed tomorrow.

at any rate, our day has consisted of this:

and this:

and this:

119 days

exactly 4 months from today, we leave to go to Japan for 2 weeks.  i'm pretty pumped about this.  e hasn't been back in almost 12 years, and i've never been.  we've been trying to get this to happen for quite a while now. 

but before we get to that trip, i have to take the msw licensing exam.  which means i have a lot of studying ahead in the next several weeks.

what to do?

we had no particular holiday plans this year.  it's a bit of a pain to get from our small town to any of our family members who are scattered all over the country, and we had already traveled several times earlier in the year for weddings, graduations, and other family events. 

so on christmas day, we drove to st. louis.  the trip took us through a dry county, so naturally, this is what greeted us as soon as we crossed the missouri border:

if we'd done a little more pre-trip planning, it might have occurred to us that hardly any businesses are open on christmas day.  this finally sank in when we resigned ourselves to lunch at waffle house - the only restaurant open anywhere along the missouri highway.  things didn't improve much when we got to our hotel in downtown st. louis, meaning that we were forced to seek out some dinner (and play a few slots) at lumiere place on a lovely winter night.

 

on sunday morning, we met our friends megan and andrew for a leisurely breakfast at uncle bill's pancake house.  then we headed to trader joe's, which we have missed having around since we left dc.  we spent a little time exploring forest park:

and then we went back downtown and visited the arch.  note: if you buy tickets for the 4:30 trip up the arch, that does not mean that you will actually go up the arch at 4:30.  or anytime near 4:30.  we didn't make it to the top until about 5:45, well after the sun set, but the view was still pretty good.

monday morning, we went back to trader joe's to finish stocking up and then made our way back home. 

the tally

in this four-day weekend, i have:

1. made some decent food, without a lot of time spent in the kitchen
2. won best-of-three Parcheesi (this is definitely a first)
3. tracked down some materials to help me study for the MSW licensing exam
4. won best-of-three badminton (also a first)
5. listened to a lot of The Smiths, Mazzy Star, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Cure, and the like
6. run a 10-minute mile (not impressive for anyone who's halfway athletic, but for me, it's off the charts)
7. NOT thought about work
8. seen Karate Kid for the first time 

in case we forgot: we live in the semi-rural south

on my lunch break the other day, i got a book and went down the hallway to read for a while.  there's a sunny spot with floor-to-ceiling windows that opens onto a garden area, with the parking lot beyond it.  i had been reading for about 20 minutes when something distracted me, and i glanced up at the parking lot.  just then a large bull ran along the edge of the parking lot and disappeared behind my office.

huh, i thought, that's odd.

a pickup truck and another truck pulling a livestock trailer careened through the parking lot in pursuit.  a moment later, the bull reappeared, running across the parking lot and into the park on the far side.  the trucks followed, circling the edge of the park but clearly not sure now how to get close to the bull.  a couple of police cars arrived, but they seemed content to be spectators. 

i walked out into the garden, where a couple of coworkers were observing the action from a better vantage point.  by this time, the bull had been shot with a tranquilizer, and the pickup truck had driven onto the grass; the driver was now holding onto a rope that was tied around the bull's neck.  the bull, standing several feet from the pickup, still had quite a bit of fight in it and got a couple of good hits on the truck before keeling over on the grass. 

now.  how to get the bull back to the stockyard a mile down the road, where apparently all of this began? 

the trailer backed up to the downed bull, which still had the rope around its neck.  one coworker: "that guy's got a stick."  second coworker: "that's a cattle prod."  in a moment, the woozy bull was on its feet, though obviously still reluctant to get in the trailer, and making a lot of noise about it.  another prod, and in it went, with the gate slammed shut behind it. 

i have a pretty exciting job, but this was definitely a first.