let it snow

We had such beautiful weather all last week, to the point where it felt like it was in the 70's on Saturday. Everything started blooming, including the tree that's right next door to our house, and on each level we have a view of these gorgeous pink blooms:

I'd heard it would turn cold again this week, though. You could see it coming yesterday-- Zach and I went on a walk before lunch, and although the sun was still shining and it still felt warm, the cloudless sky of last week was gone and these big, puffy, dark clouds were starting to take over. By the afternoon it was all clouded, and even raining a bit.

So I was prepared for the colder temperatures today. I'd heard rumors of snow. But I still had to smile as I emerged from the store this afternoon, fresh bread and a coffee in hand, to see not just rain, but also white flakes falling from the sky, already accumulated on some of the cars passing by on the street.

I rushed to the bus stop, then the whole way home I watched out the window, as the snow falling from the sky got heavier, then lighter, then heavy again, back and forth. It's been oscillating like this since then, not snowing much at all since I got home but just a minute ago it started coming down like mad. The weather report claims we'll get 1-2 inches tonight (it's gonna get down to 28 degrees F!) and I'm wondering if it'll stick. We may get another 1-3 inches tomorrow, and I think it's basically gonna stay like this until Thursday. Zach may finally get to ski this weekend. =)

(sierra perplexed by the falling snow-- the first time she's ever seen it!)

I'm feeling sort of... bittersweet. I love that it's snowing. It's still incredibly novel to me and very exciting. I'm also still sad about my grandmother. I talked to Mom last night, and it's worse than I thought. When Jen said Grammy was "having trouble talking" I assumed she meant trouble with pronouncing properly, maybe mumbling more than usual, stuff like that. But apparently she has some type of aphasia, where she can't put thoughts into words (spoken or written). There's a few other things they're worried about, as well, and for the moment my mom and aunt (who live close to my grandparents) are taking turns staying with them until they know more, or can find a nurse. A speech therapist should be giving them a more thorough evaluation today, and I believe they're also working with a physical therapist. Mom thinks there might be a good chance that Grammy can recover from this... we'll see how things go. Grammy and Grampa are both tough as nails, and never give up easily.