I picked this blog layout for two reasons. One is that it looks celebratory, and what better thing to celebrate than a family vacation to an island paradise? The second is that the warm colors make me think of sun - also appropriate.
As I write, the Twin Cities area is bracing for one of the biggest snowstorms of the season. On our eastern side of the metro, we're looking at 6-12 inches, plus high winds to blow it all around. It's supposed to start falling this afternoon and continue until around midnight, with rapidly dropping temperatures - as in single digits by morning. And we're supposed to fly out of here at 9:15 tomorrow morning...
By the time you, whoever you are, read this, our trip will be over and done. I don't post anywhere that we're going on a trip until it's over. Those who need to know, know.
Joe and I plan to fly to San Francisco tomorrow. Then Sunday all four of us (we add Kendra and James) fly to Maui! None of us have ever been to this most distant state, and we're all really excited. And now Joe and I are really nervous. The winter storm warning has been extended until noon Friday - it had been set to expire at 6 tomorrow morning. MSP does a great job with snow accumulation, but blowing snow presents its own set of problems. I'm fairly sure our plane flies from here to SF and back again. I would think that, once it lands here somewhere around 6 pm, that it would stay here until the next morning, then rinse and repeat. I don't know that for sure, but wouldn't it be logical? So I'm figuring that if it gets here tonight (it's on its way as I write), we'll get out of here tomorrow. Maybe late, but out. At least we have some time to play with. If we're late tomorrow, oh, well - no big deal. We have a day and a half until the big flight. We have trip insurance in case anything goes wrong, but that won't help if there aren't flights available!
I think if the snow falls as predicted, major roads will be passable by morning. We have a friend picking us up, and it's her getting to our side street that will likely be the most difficult part of the journey. Yes, we could walk to the nearest arterial and meet her, and we will if we have to. But we won't be wearing heavy clothes, plus we'll be hauling luggage, so it would be a hard slog. I figure we can put on boots and coats and leave them with her, either until we get back or she drops them off at our house. I'm not looking forward to being out in those cold temps with just a sweater and rain slicker between me and the elements, and I sure don't want to fly with wet feet and legs!
We have a young man from church covering shoveling. We'll do what we can before we go, but it'll probably be blowing too much for us to finish the job. We're also not staying up until it stops falling if it goes as late as predicted. He'll earn his fee on this snow, that's for sure, especially since he's doing our neighbor's walk and drive as well.
Update:
Whew! I made it home, but it wasn't always easy. I was able to go about 40 mph on the interstate, and even the arterials weren't too bad. But things changed just a bit when I hit the alley. I got 100-150 feet in and just stopped. I wasn't caught in deep snow, but instead couldn't get traction on the slush underneath the snow. I called Joe (don't you love cell phones?) and he came down the alley to my rescue. It didn't take long for us to get me home. We packed and got other things ready, and then, about 9 pm, headed out to try a bit of shoveling. Oy. What a chore. If not for our snowblower, I don't know if we'd have been able to do it. It started blowing so hard that at times I could hardly see Joe. We came in looking like abominable snowmen. 
We now have over 2 feet of snow in the yard, with temps expected to drop towards zero - and stay there. I'm not sure we'll even be able to tell we've shoveled tomorrow.
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