For those of you who have been around for awhile and know that I think my mother is a narcissistic old lonely woman who won’t give an inch…you will understand when i say…I don’t have to visit my father at the cemetary as she demands nor do I need to spend his birthday and their wedding anniversary with her…my dad pops up in the most unexpected places.  I know that my dad is smiling down at me today – perhaps chuckling because I planned ahead and prepared for the worst…this was his motto…always be ready for the unexpected.

The weather radio went off this morning at 0700 advising not only a winter storm warning but a blizzard warning. ice this morning and 7 inches of snow by afternoon with winds 25-35 mph with gusts of 50.  Travel is not recommended and thank goodness everyone seems to have heeded the warning except the 50 year old “you-know-what” who t-boned a pickup this morning and then led police thru the streets of Newton on a chase..ended up driving down the railroad tracks for about 7 city blocks and ended up broadside…and…of course he wasn’t injured…just intoxicated…this occurred at 10:00 this morning…..10’o-clock this morning.  Endangering everyone in the middle of an Iowa blizzard…all I can say is WTF….and you know what that stands for….with morons like this, I have total job security….

Back to dad….so I got up this morning and collected my “army” cot, blankets, my sleep machine, toiletries, towels and a change of clothes along with my laptop and 2 CDs of the show “6 feet under” and loaded them in the car.  I get off at 1700 today and have to be back at 0300 so decided not to even try to go home – I live the closest of anyone to work but I live on gravel…to you in other states who don’t even know what gravel roads are…they are impassable during a blizzard…not plowed…can’t tell where the road ends and the ditches start…usually drifted several feet by the high winds….so …I’m sleeping in the women’s locker room tonight…actually…this might be fun.  Hey…this is winter in Iowa…we are not selective about fun!!!

The saint I’m married to will take care of the 3 dogs and the cat and the Helen and Frances next door.  I’m getting the sweet end of the deal….