First White Christmas in Portland for me, and maybe the first one I can remember, like, ever. After a slightly terrifying drive to Salem on Christmas Eve, a better trip home later that night, and a pretty smooth drive both ways the next day, the approximately 12" of snow and ice on most of the city had turned into some really slimy slush by Friday afternoon. After a 48-degree Saturday, the only evidence today of the recent snow is long piles of wet gravel, and a lot of bent-over limbs on trees and shrubs.

After it vanished, I was reminded how bad of shape my yard is in, so I actually got out and did some yard work today.

To add to the always slightly-surreal nature of the week between Christmas and New Year's, I have jury duty starting tomorrow. Last time, maybe a couple years ago, I was excused because the jury pool was way too big, and they let basically anyone go who wanted to go. This time I'm hoping at least to make voir dire.

For NYE this year I probably won't go out -- Nic is working a shift, so I'll probably hang out and complete my holiday tradition of watching the LotR trilogy, maybe post some of the pics from Christmas Eve. It's not that common that our schedules synch up so that we each have the same day off, but since neither of us work on the 1st, we're keeping the day clear of commitments to just enjoy each others' company.