Girls Gone Mild, with a side of Mustard

My friend Michelle came to visit this weekend.
I introduced her to Madison in our per-usual, "Girls Gone Mild" style, which included activities like snowshoeing on Lake Mendota, trying out the aqua-massager in the mall, and visiting the Mustard Museum.
Yep - a museum (and mostly store), devoted to mustard.
I don't even LIKE mustard.
But it was hilarious, and tasty. You can try any mustard they sell.
I bought a garlic and dill flavored mustard - perfect for dipping pretzels into.
Here are some photo highlights from the museum:

Michelle cozying up with the mustard bottle. We thought the store would be exponentially more awesome of someone had actuall been wearing this.

Michelle, Nate and I watched a little of the "Mustard Piece Theatre."

Apparently I should try a mustard bath for my insomnia.

This entire wall showcased mustards from around the United States. Around the room were cases full of mustard from around the world as well. I had no idea the ham sandwich had so many condiment options!

While she didn't purchase this shirt, Michelle did earn a diploma for herself from Poupon U. Some of the options were 'Philosphy of Dijon,' 'Doctor of Mustard' or 'Master of Bad Attitude.' She got the MBA. :)

Yep - if you come to Madison, maybe you, too, can have a weekend of this kind of fun!

Protesters Need to Eat, Too!

Here are a few photos from the capital today. Most of them are signs that are made on Ian's Pizza Boxes.

Ian's Pizza is a local establishment, less than a block from the capital. One night they donated (when asked) their extra food after closing, and ever since, they have been inundated from phone calls around the world. People are donating money so they can feed protesters.
HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?
I love it. They've got the longer version of the story, and the history of Ian's on their website, but here's a snippet that I think is awesome.

FROM THE IAN's PIZZA Website:
"It takes a leap of faith to call a place you've never heard of, order a pizza that you'll never see, and just hope that those people on the other end of the phone do what they say they will. It's now 9am on Sunday, February 20th, and at last count we had sold over 430 of our signature 20" mac n' cheese pizzas to callers worldwide, and have at least 60 still waiting to be made so we could help feed what has turned into a city within a city.
When this is all over, we'll gather these order tickets, compile a list, post it on our website and Facebook and in-store, and we'll have a final count of who ordered what and just how many people we helped feed.
In the meantime, just know that we are so honored that you have entrusted us with feeding the people you're supporting and we're so grateful for your trust and your business -- thank you so much!"

If you are inspired, you can DONATE HERE

I think this sign was inspired from Jesse Jackson - when he was here, he called us - Superbowl Champions of the Labor Movement.

And . . . since we all need a little humor, I share a photo of a magnet that I almost bought today, from a cute store called Anthology. Seems fitting.

Especially right now.

So . . . I contained myself from buying this magnet, but I couldn't help but buy a few of these and these buttons. I heart craftiness!

THANK A UNION

I stole this, from the ED show, on msnbc. Why recreate the wheel if you don't have to?

 Because of collective bargaining, many of us have:
- A 40 Hour Work Week
- Weekends Off
- Worker Safety Standards
- Health Care
- Pensions
- Vacation Time

Huh. Who knew? [Wisconsinites because we have great teachers! (Yep - couldn't help that plug!).]
Here's a little Wisconsin history, in case you're interested:
* A fight for the 8 hour workday, which led to the 40 hour workweek: http://linkstothepast.com/milwaukee/bayviewmassacre.php

An Update from the Epicenter (Madison, WI)

Last week (two weeks ago? Three years?), I had an agenda item to ask about how our resident’s from Egypt were doing with all the riots. We talked about one woman who had been glued to her tv – she couldn’t stop watching what was happening in her homeland.

As I drove home from work tonight (wondering if I could get some quick grocery-shopping done in time to catch the governor’s address), I thought that perhaps many of us are going through this same need for information. There is a ton flowing via word of mouth, facebook, email, online articles . . . you name it, people are sharing updates in any way they can. I feel like it’s becoming a bit of an assault on my brain – and yet things change so quickly, that it’s hard to know when to say ‘enough is enough.’

And there’s kind-of a lot going on right now:

§ The Budget Repair Bill [This is what the governor calls his plan to fix the $3.6 billion dollar budget, which includes removing state worker’s rights to collectively-bargain.]

§ The Budget Repair Bill Protest

§ UW-Madison might split off from the UW-system.

§ Yep, you read that right. If this other “stuff” wasn’t drawing so much other attention, this might have more air-time.

§ SO MUCH GOING ON I don’t even know where to begin. So, I won’t.

And so . . . with emails from the provost and friends and colleagues and news articles and conversations in the restroom, it’s hard to pull away from the craziness. But I know that I need to, and so tonight I’ll be finding some other kind of drama to watch from the DVR besides the stuff that’s happening in my backyard.

As an aside .  . .

For those of you that are wondering – because you’ve been kind enough to ask, and I haven’t had time to answer, life for me is good. I’m just a little tired. J But who isn’t right now? There’s a lot going on everywhere. My staff is great. I’m worried about them – many are burning the candle at both ends – they are working full shifts, and then heading to the capital at night to protest. I’m really glad they feel supported. Just before I left work tonight someone said “I’m so thankful we can talk about this stuff at work – I would hate it if I had to come in and keep my mouth shut.” That makes me feel pretty good. They know that we need to stay open and running to serve our residents, but they are able to use their voice both inside and outside the workplace, so they don’t mind doing both. Now if only we could get that darn governor to listen . . .

Thoughts on the 'Budget Repair Bill Protest'

A friend and I walked to the capital after work today. It was pretty quiet, compared to what it was like earlier in the day. Don't get me wrong, there were still a boatload of people, but nothing like the 50,000 or-so crowd-size that they talked about earlier in the day.

I wanted to share some pictures with you from the rally. But I didn’t have my camera, so I only have a few from my phone. They’re pretty blurry. So I’ll use my words to describe what I saw tonight. [And go back tomorrow for photos!].

The crowds were very kind. I can’t tell you how many times I heard “excuse me” while people were bumping into each other. Some people were passing out food. To strangers. Or the woman who said “bless you” to a sneezing stranger. At a protest. I can’t imagine this happening in many other places outside the midwest. I hope this continues. Tomorrow the Tea Party is arriving, and while I’m glad they’re also using their voices, I hope that the crowd will be able to continue to peacefully gather and stand united. Without riot or chaos. Here’s a photo from inside the capital, when the democrats from the house of representatives came out to motivate the crowd. They’re all wearing orange shirts that say “fighting for WI families.” Pretty cool.

I quickly became obsessed with the witty, and poignant, signage that folks were carrying. Some of my favorites were:

-          You screw us, we multiply.

-          My collectively-bargained 30-minute lunch won’t balance the budget.

-          Don’t drink the tea! It’s full of crap.

-          In school we call this Bullying. In politics, progress.

-          Egypt – Libya – Jordan – Yemen – Wisconsin?

-          Teachers Working Conditions are Students Learning Conditions

-          Hey Walker – Just follow the yellow brick road . . . [insert hand-glued brick road] Maybe the wizard can give you a BRAIN, a Heart [insert heart-shape here] and COURAGE to do the right thing! [I’ve decided that this was clearly made by a teacher.]

-          Labor Rights are Human Rights.

The simplicity and power behind this one totally caught me off guard.

I think it’s because I could picture at many of my staff carrying it.

Post 3 - I remembered!

My mom called tonight to check in.
Because Wisconsin is on the national news.
She's worried.
Love it.
#1. I think it's sweet.
#2. It relates back to the previous post about us getting on the news. See . . . it eventually came back full circle.
After I published the post.
And so you get more than one anyway.
And one of them continues to ramble on and on and on.
:)

A Three-For-One-Deal on Posts Tonight

So, there’s kinda a lot going on here in the lovely state of Wisconsin. So much so, that I can’t decide what to write about, so I’ve decided to share it all with you, but it’s pretty disjointed, and should be 3 separate posts. Normally I’d just “save” the information for a post tomorrow, but the world keeps changing quickly, so I feel obligated to share it all tonight. Shocker.

Post #1:

“Have fun at the rally tonight – don’t get arrested!” –  Me. Tonight. Not something I ever imagined myself needing to say to someone I supervised.

Post #2

A little background. . .

- Yesterday morning I talked with a staff member who has been getting pretty involved and passionate about the rallies at the capital. He told me that he needed more people (to be able to go down to the capital to participate in the rally). I said I’d love to be able to allow everyone (who wanted to go) to leave, but I also needed work to get done, so we need to continue to work together. (Longer conversation ensued – I won’t bore you with the whole thing). He then said that he needed this to get on the national news, and he needed the national guard to be called. (I shared concern for what that would mean, and said I hoped we could continue to protest in a peaceful, safe way).

- A few hours later, I joked with my management team that I would ‘email my friend Brian Williams’ and see if he would come to Madison.

- Last night I thought – why not? Maybe this is another way I can do my part. So I went to the nbc news site and emailed them for a story idea. Yep, I sent this: J

Subject: Please Help Wisconsin State Workers!

Dear Brian,

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a bit of 'unrest' in the state of Wisconsin right now. Many people are afraid of the governor cutting out the collective bargaining rights of our unions (except police, firefighters and state patrols). It's scary. I work for UW-Madison (and so would prefer to remain anonymous, as these are my personal opinions, not my administrator-opinions). Many students, faculty and staff are at the state capital, rallying together to protest Governor Walker's "Budget Repair Bill." Teachers from around the state are staging sick-outs and the impact around the state is no doubt going to become even scarier. (Here's a random article - that has a good, quick overview.)

Because of my role and busy schedule today, I won't be able to participate in any of the events during the day (I can in the evening). But I joked with my staff today that I was going to write you. And I decided that I should follow-through on that. It would be great to have you, Lester, or Ann join us in Madison (or anywhere else in the state, but the Capital is hopping!). I honestly think that the governor is attacking unions and is ignoring the people in this state. There are other ways to fix the budget. This isn't it. We could use your help. Thank you!

Kelly

Guess what was on the news tonight?

My email worked – Yay, me! ;)

[Despite the flippant-ness of this statement, I find it very cool that people continue to show up and use their voices, in whatever way they see fit.]

Post #3

Huh. I’m confident that 30 minutes ago, or so, I had something else to say. I’m sure it was witty, poignant and fabulous. But apparently now I can’t remember what that really important thing was. Please forgive me. I’m tired. It’s kinda been a long day.

Yikes!

So, life is a little crazy here.
I'm earning my paycheck.
And then some.

Our new governor is making some decisions regarding the state budget that lots of people are unhappy with.
And that's an understatement.
[Here's a pretty good - and the newest - article giving a general overview of the mess.]

As of last Friday he is no longer allowing for unions to have collective bargaining rights - which essentially means that there are no more unions (except for the police, the firefighters and state patrol). Most of my staff (office workers, custodians, mechanics, painters, and teachers, just to name a few), are in a union.
There's a lot of unrest, and peaceful protests at downtown at the capital.
We're waiting on the legislature to vote on the matter, and overturn the governor's decision. No one seems to know when this actual vote will be, as it has changed 3 times in the last hour.
Yesterday, he called the number of people at the capital "insignificant." (There were over 13,000).
Pretty sure that was a poor choice.
'Cuz now people are REALLY pissed.
Folks are being bused-in from all over the state.
Some are sleeping at the Capital.
Today Madison Public Schools had to close because of a Sick-in (sick-out?). They just announced on the news that they will also be closed tomorrow. As well as many other area schools.
Many of my staff have been going down to the protest/rally/capital for part of the day.
It's pretty cool to see them coming together.
I wish I could go with them, to be honest.
But some of us need to stay and hold down the fort.
And plan for what happens when everyone else decides not to come to work, to bring the state to a grinding halt. So perhaps the folks in the state who think that all state workers are sitting around, earning too much money for not much work, will realize that this is kind-of-a-big-deal. Most staff I have talked to are on the party line - they understand that cuts need to be made to their pensions and health insurance in order to help the state budget - but the spirit of abolishing the collective bargaining rights seems awfully mean-spirited and inappropriate.
Tommorrow the TAs (and maybe faculty) and students are walking out at 10am, and walking to the capital.
Not sure what's next.

While this is definitely stressful from an administrator-who-needs-to-keep-a-business-running-standpoint, it's pretty cool to see faculty, staff and students come together and use their voices to ask for what's right (in my humble opinion). Love that. I hope that our representatives listen before the whole state goes to hell in a hand-basket.

Side Note #1:
**Note - just while writing this blog, 3 more school districts closed. Crickey.

Side Note #2:
Speaking of love . . . on Valentine's Day, there was a pretty cool campaign - faculty, staff and students sent valentine's to the governor, with messages of "Don't Break My Heart" and "I Heart UW" - 'don't do this to the budget'. Y'all know how much I love making cards, so of course I totally loved the creativity here, and had to share.

A Few Thoughts on Moving

There are some things about moving that are really exciting – like starting a new job, meeting new people, finding adventure around every corner – you name it. Navigating a new place can be pretty cool.

But some stuff isn’t really exciting. Like finding new resources – like doctors, dentist, optometrist, chiropractor, hair stylist/colorist, mechanic, massage therapist, pharmacy, you name it. The team of people that you appreciate, but probably not enough until you don’t have them. Or a name and number to replace them. These are the people that I need to find. I take that back. I have a mechanic, thanks to my boss. Now it’s just those other people to find.  

Also? When you’re interviewing candidates for a job? And your title is director, they assume you can answer their questions. It kinda stinks when you don’t know the answers to simple questions – like, “what will the training for this position entail?” Yep, I should totally know what the answer to that is, and I have no idea. Luckily I have a team of people helping with these interviews, and most-likely, someone will know the appropriate response.

An Open Letter to SNL

I just watched last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live, and I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Russell Brand was pretty funny. His opening monologue? Hilarious. Even the awkward skit about the “Living Single” show was amusing, despite him going a bit overboard. I was also pretty amused by Seth Meyers’ Weekend Update interview with Fred Armisen, as Hosni Mubarak.

However, having Chris Brown perform, on your Valentine’s Day show, no less?

Inappropriate and Unacceptable.

Before his 2^nd song, he stated, “this one goes out to all the ladies.” Gross. As Seth and Amy would have said – “Really?”

“Really, SNL?” “REALLY?”

“The man who beat his girlfriend just dedicated a song to ‘all the ladies’?”

“Really Lorne Michaels?”

“REALLY?”

Have you heard about the V-day movement? They are working around the world to end violence against women and girls. Go here to read more. You need the education

I am very disappointed in your choice of musician for this episode. I don’t care that he has an album coming out soon, or that he’s completed his community service sentence. I’ll be honest, I’m a little disappointed in myself for continuing to watch the episode – it’s a rare occurrence, but when I saw that Russell Brand was hosting, I figured I could use the laugh, so I DVRed this show. When Brand announced that Chris Brown was performing, I was shocked, and very unhappy. Normally, I’d just stop watching. But I didn’t. I’m kinda glad I didn’t – it fired me up and inspired me to share. I’m not sure I’ll watch again, given my extreme disappointed with your musical guest choice. I expect more from you.

Extremely Disappointed,

Kelly

It's All Relative

I live in a cold place. And run a child care.

Right now the kids are suffering from a little cabin fever (and perhaps the teachers as well, though I’m confident they probably are okay without standing outside in the cold), because it’s too cold to go outside. Apparently our limit is 10*. When talking with our director of children’s services, I learned that for some parents this is unacceptable. But for different reasons.

In September, we start getting concerns from parents that think it’s too cold for their kid to play outside. Those folks are from places like Trinidad and Tobago. On the other hand, some parents think that our 10* rule is . . . well . . . surprising. They want their kids to be playing outside – they don’t understand – it’s not that cold out.

Because they’re from Russia and Iceland, and “cold”  is more like -30*.  

Adding FeedBurner Email to your TypePad or Blogger blog

Adding FeedBurner Email to your TypePad or Blogger blog

Bummer

I've run out of cocoa krispies.
In theory, this should be easy to remedy, but I'm tired, and I don't want to leave my blanket and couch for the frozen tundra. It's been a really long day. And I could use a sweet treat, but my recent go-to-snack has disappeared.
Bummer.

I haven't talked much about work, mostly because my work and the weather have recently overlapped quite a bit. And we're still dealing with it. Right now we're trying to get rid of the ginormous snow piles that are taking over the corners at intersections. As you can imagine, it's a little dangerous to turn onto a street when you can't see whether or not cars, small children, or other human beings are in the way. So we are slowly attacking those, as well as digging out fire hydrants, mailboxes, and other areas that are important, but not the first on our list.

Besides the snow, I'm also starting another round of interviews. This time I'm hiring one of my managers, who will complete the team of  four direct reports. This person is pretty integral to our operation, so I'm willing to give this a lot of time and energy. Good thing, because we have 25 first-round phone interviews. Yay, us! Thank goodness we have a great interview team. I'm also putting together a schedule for their time on-campus - I'm looking at a half-day gig.

In addition to the interviews, my boss and I are meeting with small populations of my staff, to talk about the 'state of the state', and how it affects us as state employees. With a new governor, folks are pretty nervous about what that will mean for their paychecks. And while we don’t really know anything, we are meeting with folks to talk about the little that we do know, and to address any concerns they have. I’m also using it as a time to say, “Hi, now that you’ve seen me around (and hopefully know/trust me more than when I met with you in my first week of work), what do you want me to know? What should I be focusing on?” I had my first one today. Two more tomorrow. They will be helpful for staff to feel heard, and insightful for me, especially if folks continue to be honest. But some of the stuff they are sharing is kind-of a bummer. Staff morale is hard to combat – thankfully I feel up for the challenge.

But I’d feel a little better with some chocolate cereal treats that snap, crackle and pop.

A few things I might be addicted to right now, in no particular order:

1. Cocoa Crispies
2. NCIS
3. James Patterson novels
4. Pillsbury Sugar Cookies (sorry, Nanny).
5. Soft pretzels with Ranch
6. Simply Orange Juice with Calcium
7. Glee Pandora station
8. Spinach & Artichoke dip (leftovers from Superbowl party)
9. These videos, created and directed by a current UW-Madison student. They're pretty cool, and quite popular right now. Here is "Feelin' So Fly Like a Cheesehead" and
  "Teach Me How to Bucky"

Some of these addictions are probably healthier than others. But everything in moderation, right?

And yes, I live in Wisconsin now - and have jumped in to support the both the team of my institution, and the Packers, who are a whole other kind of institution in this state. For those of you non-WI folks, and even those that are, this is a heartwarming post about why our fans are so passionate.

Superbowl Musings

Some thoughts that crossed my brain during the game:
1. Is there really a Red Carpet event for the Superbowl? Huh. Wow. This gives a whole new meaning to “Pre-Game Show.” Way to milk this game for all it’s worth.
2. Did Christina just get the words to the national anthem wrong? Oops.
3. Hey Grizzly Adams [Insert names of packer player whose name I don’t know, and who apparently hasn’t shaved since June] – isn’t that beard uncomfortable with the chin strap? You don’t need to shave it all off, but maybe you should consider a trim?
4. Touchdown! Hooray!
5. Stink. Our players keep getting hurt. This isn’t good. Though, I do enjoy that one of the announcers suggested “I hope they’re having a team meeting in the locker room.” Amen, dude.
6. Um, Black-Eyed-Peas, what the hell was that? What are you doing? Fergie – WTF? Why is will.i.am wearing that Very Awkward headpiece? I was really excited about you performing, and now I’m just confused. But I do quite enjoy the light-people. Though I’m surprised at the light and sound issues – don’t they do checks for that?
7.  Pepsi Max – Your commercials seem a little violent, friends. Get it together, please. Stop throwing cans at people. Not cool.
8. I might be in a food coma. Shite. Steelers got it together during that extra-long halftime show. 9. “Imported. From Detroit.” Freaking awesome, Chrysler.
10.  4^th and goal. Miss. Awesome.
11. “And the smallest town in America wins the world championship.” I had never thought about it before, but Green Bay vs. Chicago or San Francisco or New York. Yep. Pretty impressive, actually.
12. The Lombardi Trophy is coming home. Pretty cool.

Saddest. Cookies. Ever.

Before the Blizzaster of 2011,[ i.e., yesterday], I was excited to do some baking this week. I even stocked up and bought fresh supplies to make my Nanny's sugar cookies.
My staff is hosting a Packer Pizza Party tomorrow, a little pre-Superbowl action, if you will.
I was going to use these:

My mom got me them for Christmas last year.

I thought they would be the perfect addition to the party - Green Bay Packer sugar cookies. I even hunted down the appropriate shades of green and yellow sprinkles to use. And then Mother Nature blasted us with a little wintery blast, and I'm too tired to mix up the batch of dough. So I bought some pre-made dough, and figured I'd roll some of it out to at least get the FEEL of the helmet, jersey, and football shapes.

Or not.

There was no way to describe how lame these cookies were. And how devestating it was to open up the oven and see the flatest, mostly indistinct-shaped cookies ever. Sadness. And so I took pictures of them, just to share, because it's too hard to describe. And so I give you Exhibit A:

Please note how much extra cookie is hanging over the sides of the cookie-cutter.

Exhibit B:

Up close and personal with the blob-that-was-supposed-to-be-a-helmet cookie.
Lame.
But? I'm bringing them in anyway. It's the thought that counts, right?

And if nothing else, the colors are right on target! And they're slathered in cream cheese frosting, so . . . Go Packers!

Happy Groundhog Day!

I'm not sure what Punxsutawney Phil saw today, but Jimmy, from Sun Prairie, WI, couldn't get out of his home, due to 20-or-so-inches of snow that fell. So he couldn't see his shadow. And therefore, it has been predicted that we will have an early spring. Hooray! After all this snow and winter nonsense, we need it! Wondering who the hell Jimmy is? You can check out his website here.  

p.s. I just looked up Puxatony (both for spelling and the results - and they spell it both ways - which is why there are two versions here as well. I know, I'm a total nerd, I can't help it. You know some of you were wondering, too!).

He didn't see his shadow either. Yay for all of us!

Preparing for a Blizzard

[Pre-Post Side Note: On the way home tonight, I thought “it seems a little blustery outside.” And then I thought that perhaps 30+ mph winds were not what A.A. Milne had in mind when he used the term in Winnie-the-Pooh. But I have heard some other terms used that I think are quite humorous, and perhaps more fitting. So I’m going to borrow a couple for this post. Thanks, friends.]

My boss and my mom have both asked me today if I was warm enough in my apartment.  Five colleagues have offered to give me a ride into work in the morning. My staff reminded me that I, too, should be safe on the roads in the morning, and that my adage of “better to be alive than at work” applies to me, too. It’s nice to be cared for. Especially during the Blizzard of 2011.

No less than 19 states are affected by this crazy storm, including my own. I’m in the Blizzard Warning Belt that’s supposed to get 12- 18 inches tonight, on top of the 6 – 8 that we got yesterday. Neat. So much of today was spent planning and preparing for this Snowpocalypse. I have some grounds guys staying in one of our model apartments, the community center closed early, and we just found out the classes have been cancelled for tomorrow – kind-of-a big deal here in the ‘Sconni. (Which means that Madison Public Schools is also probably closed, and therefore our childcare will be closed as well.) But I’m an Essential Employee, so I’ll be [slowly, I’m sure] making my way into work in the morning.

And so I sit here, trying to make my own preparations for tomorrow. Some things I’ve thought about, in my usual list-kinda style, but in no particular order this time. Kinda.

1.      What will I wear? Probably something to go with this other pair of cute (and VERY necessary) new boots. (One of the first things I purchased after moving here).

2.      How will I get to work?

3.      What will the roads be like in the morning?

4.      Should I be driving? Should I get a ride from one of the many people who offered?

5.      Should I take the bus? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Funny. And . . . no. But I hope it’s running for the thousands of other people who depend on it.

6.      I should take pictures of all this snow.

7.      Perhaps I should take my camera to work.

8.      Camera is currently plugged in, battery charging, waiting with anticipation for an opportunity to photograph all this white stuff.

9.      Maybe I should call someone to get a back-up ride. [Call my friend and colleague, who has a new SUV, aptly named “Polly Pilot.” “Can I please order a ride for the morning from Polly?”]

11.  Polly will be here around 7:15am. Gross. But? Helpful and much appreciated. Watching the school closings and weather reports might have freaked me out a bit.

12.  Am I really all that essential? [Referred back to email from university, where it says, and I quote: “All employees of University Housing, all custodial and grounds employees of the Physical Plant, members of the university police department, animal care, patient care and public safety, etc. are designated essential and should report to work.”

13.  Yep. Gotta go to work tomorrow. And? We got an official shout-out. No excuses for our peeps to not come in tomorrow! Or me, for that matter. :) Awesome.

14.  What am I forgetting? I’m sure there’s something . . .

15.  Oh, yeah . . . at least we’re not part of the Snowmageddon that’s hitting Chicago. Good luck, friends in the Windy City!

16.  I couldn’t fit it in without it sounding too awkward – but a friend has labeled this “Snowtorious B.I.G.” and it’s too witty not to share widely.