hello old man winter

it's been a while since i wore gloves
(yes, i wore them while at football games this fall cause it was in the 30s with strong winds and i was outside for hours)
perhaps i should say: since i needed to wear gloves if i was going to be outside for more than 10 min

i broke out the wool peacoat (it's a pretty purple) but have yet to succumb to the heavy duty coats still hanging in the closet, nor have i started wearing scarves
(in fact, this reminds me that i should look for and wash my scarves...)

i switched to close-toe and preferably boots for walking through snow
(i found my snowboots for subzero temps but haven't worn them yet)

i drove through snow drifts and on slippery roads and through whiteout conditions for the first time since april (yeah, that's 7 months...which is a long time in the dakotas, esp north dakota!)
of special note: nov 15 seems to be a late day for north dakota to have it's first winter weather advisory...especially since we had frost way back in mid-september

"weather-permitting" is a standard clause for all event planning over the next few months
(in fact, early tues afternoon consisted of cancelling tues afternoon activities so i could go home early)

11.1.11 11.11.11

if you are confused by the meaning of the numbers for the post title, don't be

they are simply dates (nov 1, 2011 and nov 11, 2011)

and i'm super sad and completely disappointed in myself that i totally missed blogging and writing those numbers as much as possible :(

here are some things i remember about those days:
11.1.11 (nov 1) - this was the day after i bought my new car and when i wrote a check for my very own car insurance (until then i was only on my parents'). also, this was all saints' day and i went to a lovely service in mchenry where our savior's lutheran invited people to light candles in memory of community members who had died in the past year
11.11.11 (nov 11) - veteran's day. i didn't do too much this day, but there was a baptism (#4 since i was ordained...same number as funerals i've done)