Let It Snow

In case anyone was in doubt about having a white Christmas in Minnesota, today's start pretty much guarantees it, barring some weird global climate change massive event (in which case snow is the least of our worries!)

I have not been consistent in blogging but intend to fix that as one of my New Year's resolution - I don't know how many people read, but I've found that at least some people do, because I've had people ask me why I stopped.

To recap some significant events of the last few months...

Going On In The Country/World:

-(this week) DADT stand-alone repeal bill is passed by the House and the Senate. Originally this was attached to some military budget/funding bill (which is usually done because the sponsors think it has no chance to pass on its own), and it failed. As a stand-alone bill, with bi-partisan support it passed. To me, that means: 1) Maybe congress should actually try passing bills on their merits instead of with earmarks and side-door deals, and 2) There is some hope that our government can actually work together when it wants to (and they're going to have to now if we have any hope of things getting better)
-The "It Gets Better" project continues to gain support by a wide range and variety of people and groups. This project was started, among others, by columnist Dan Savage, in response to all of the recent GLBT teen suicides. It saddens me to think that in 2010, kids are still taking their own life because they think (real or perceived) that their parents, family, friends, etc. think they are worthless, condemned, going to hell, or the like. Regardless of your own personal beliefs and values, NO one, especially a kid, should EVER have to feel that way.

Going On In My Corner:

-On October 30th, I made my annual trek to Nebraska, and saw the Huskers play Missouri (likely for the final time) and win 31-17 - it was a fantastic day, and along with Will & Amanda who always get me great tickets to go with them, cousin Andy and friend Tony were along.
-On November 11th, we became the proud "parents" of a third (and three is the limit!) cat, 6-month-old "Lady Zoya Mae Triped", who was found with a broken leg and taken to the shelter, where they tried to heal her, but the vet had to amputate her front right leg. However, the way she runs around and plays, you'd think she had 5 legs most of the time :) We love her very much and she has been a wonderful and energetic addition to the household.
-December 11th saw a huge snowstorm which kept us inside for more than two days - and many Rochester roads still haven't recovered (and today is going to pile onto that!).
-The Friday of that same weekend (10th) my server crashed. Many of you know that I am kind of a computer hobbyist and have a 4TB centralized server with all our music, movies, pictures, etc. While it has some safegards that allow a drive to fail (and be replaced without any consequence), two drives failing is too much :( I started doing full backups last year, but somehow hadn't done one since May 28th, so lost 7 months of pictures. So to everyone out there - BACKUP YOUR IRREPLACABLE DATA!!!!! And really, to be very safe, for things like pictures, you should back it up within your house, and also have an offsite backup (either with one of the many affordable online services, or burn them to DVDs and put in a safe deposit box or something). A tough lesson to learn, could have been worse I guess...
-Last weekend saw a whole slough of holiday parties, including an annual cookie baking party we love to attend - this year we made the Cinnabon cookies that Erin discovered the recipe for. The first time we made them, I think both of us were amazed at how good they were and how much they tasted like Cinnabon.

I have the next two weeks off (hooray!) and intend to relax, visit family, catch up on all sorts of things, watch more "Dexter" (Erin and I got hooked while we were stuck inside the house for 2 days) and "True Blood" (I owe friend Shelley some good hours of watching and wine).

Peace and blessings for everyone and their families during this season!