Greetings from Snowy Iowa

Spring Break has landed me in snowy and icy Waterloo, Iowa. Upon arrival Thursday night, I was greeted by several feet of snow on everyone's lawns (a real surprise considering that I left a completely snow-less Normal, IL) and several inches of ice on the side streets. My mother's driveway alone has 3 inches of ice coating the entire thing. I've managed to chip away the ice on half of it, but the other half is just a mess. The worst part, however, are the streets around here. The sidestreets are completely ice-coated and now have terrible ruts that you have to drive in, but worse than that are the potholes! Everywhere there are these stinking potholes! You have to be on guard every moment for fear you will lose part of your car. I can't even tell you how many hubcaps are lying around the place because people have lost them when they hit a pothole going too fast. Word from Mother is that the citizens of Waterloo have started a petition to let them fill the potholes because the city doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. Of course, with the snow storms they get every weekend and the melting and then refreezing, it is impossible for anyone to fill the suckers. Apparently there is even a local website telling people where the worst holes are in the city. It's quite interesting that this is the extent of people's worries around here. Kind of makes me happy to be staying in the midwest where the biggest problems are potholes and who's gonna fill them.

The break's been good so far. My dissertation is resting comfortably with my committee members and I haven't given it much thought, which is a wonderful feeling. I dread seeing the revisions they'll want me to make, but at least for now, it's out of my hands. We celebrated Ken's dad's 80th birthday yesterday at the Amvets in Cedar Falls. What a great turnout - I may even have a picture to share later, but I don't think I took that many to be honest. Tomorrow, I am taking my Grandma to get her taxes done, help her get groceries and then help her with some laundry. She's feeling better, but she isn't up to doing a whole lot on her own. Enter the dutiful grandchild. Yes, that's me.

I spent the better part of my morning working in Mom's basement trying to get some things organized and ready to give away to Goodwill or throw away. I also worked more on chipping the 3 inches of ice on her driveway. Temps are supposed to get warmer today and tomorrow, so I want to get what I can chipped away so the sun will melt most of it away.

Not much else is new. I need to write and send thank you letters for my interview which took place on Friday. I also want to get some more application materials together for another job posting I just saw. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please, that something comes together.