snOKLAHOMA!

Let’s talk about the weather that I’ve experienced during my first three weeks back.

The first week, I had snow. It wasn’t a whole lot of snow, but it was still “snow”. (If that’s what you call it here in Oklahoma.) I started school on a Tuesday, since Monday was a holiday. It was super early. And not at all bright. I honestly don’t think I can last all semester long in Chemistry for two hours at 7:30 in the morning. It is sooo early for me. I’ve never had a class that early before. Ever. Fast forward to Wednesday night, and the weather is predicted to be bad on Thursday with snow mixed with ice. Okay, fine. Wake up early to find out class has been canceled. All right. Again, the snow wasn’t too bad. There was hardly any ice at all. But safety is safety. 

The weather has been pretty okay-ish these past weeks for me. It’s January-February so of course, it’s cold. But! This past Friday and Saturday, we had not normal-like temperatures for January. It got up to about 76 degrees on both days. Now, you’re probably wondering, “Seriously? What kind of weather do you have in Oklahoma?” Well, the answer is simple. Bipolar weather. Don’t believe me? Let me enlighten you. That, I believe, was the warmest winter day I’ve ever known. It probably was warmer at one point or another when I was younger, but I don’t remember. Seriously. 76 degrees. – That sounds like a nice spring day for you. It sure felt like it. Then, of course, Oklahoma is bipolar. 

Before Monday night came, class was canceled. Monday night, and as the meteorologists predicted, we were expected to have at least 6 inches of snow. Boy, oh, boy. We did indeed have it. Honestly, everyone thought that we wouldn’t have it because not until late Monday night did it start to storm. Oh, were all those people wrong. Come on, guys, it’s OKLAHOMA. I laugh at all of those people who thought it wasn’t going to storm. It started with rain along with thunder and lightning. Then, sleet. So it was a thunder-y sleet storm. After the sleet started to accumulate, snow came. I cannot believe, I woke up so early on a snow day. I blame the brightness of the snow seeping through me window. Holy mother of WoW. There was an abundant amount of snow. 

Not only snow, but snow drifts. The deepest was about two feet at my house. Good golly, my backyard was insane. My fish pond basically froze over on the top. And it was impossible to walk through with trekking with some kind of walking stick. I nearly fell through a patch of ice. “Wait, you went outside?” Ha, yes. I had to. It was too good of a snow day to pass up. I didn’t as so much play in the snow. I shot a video. 8 degrees, but the wind chill was -16. I bundled up like no other. I knew that our back door was frozen shut so I had to go through the side door. Right when I stepped outside, a blast of freezing, bone-chilling air stuck me in the face. Or, the inch of skin between my hat and mask. I was frozen. But only for a moment. I originally went out to show how much snow accumulated in my backyard, but then my parents made me shovel away at the back door, need I remind you, was frozen shut. 

It was so cold that the snow on my glasses froze. Also, my glasses started fogging up so I couldn’t see where I was going at all. I got about halfway before I nearly fell (again) because my dad had this metal wire thing, which I stepped through. I nearly twisted my ankle because of how deep the snow was and because of that dang metal thing that attacked me. I didn’t hurt myself, thankfully. Before I could go any further, I had to turn back around. I think partially, it was my fault for not seeing it, but also it was too deep to see. Dang fogged up glasses distorting my view. So, I had to trek back to go inside and change into contacts. Much better. But now, the wind was attacking my one inch of face first hand. I didn’t have the glasses to subside the sting. 

At least I made all the way to the back door without any trouble. I shoveled like what everyone does when they shovel snow. Still, the door was frozen. Okay, I give up. I came to the back to shoot a video, and Warner Chilcott*, I was going to do it. After three tries of going outside, I did it. It was really fast, too. The wind was seriously screaming at me to go inside. I nearly fell over because of the gust of wind. (I think that was my fourth time I almost fell over.) 

Yes. The toasty house was beckoning me. Telling me to enjoy the warmth. Thaw out a little. There was nothing better than a big cup of hot chocolate after spending a total of 45 minutes outside in the blistering cold. What a time, snOKLAHOMA, what a time. Good thing I don’t have class tomorrow either. And maybe Thursday, too. I think they should just cancel this whole week. Just to be safe. :)

-- There is supposed to be another snowstorm coming next Monday… Only time can tell what Mother Nature will bestow upon us.

40/365: 2 books read

*Warner Chilcott: If you don’t know who he is, then I suppose, you’re not a nerdfighter. God, Warner Chilcott!

Florida Part 3.

LAST PART! -- It's snowing here now, so here's some sun. :)

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January 14, 2011

The next day, we (excluding my brother since he had to work) went to West Palm Beach to visit my great-aunt. We left so early in the morning that it was still dark out. Not to mention it was still quite chilly out. I think I knocked out right when we got in the car. I was pretty tired. I slept from the moment we got out of the hotel to the moment we were in front of my great-aunt’s house. It’s a long drive from Disney World to WPB. Part of the way there, it started to rain. This wasn’t just rain; it was torrential downpour. You could literally not see two feet in front of you. I was still sleeping, but as I was shifted sides, I could hear the pounding of the rain against the car as I was slipping in and out of consciousness. Wow. It was extremely loud. We couldn’t hear anything the GPS said. And the volume was on 100%. Completely insane. The rain didn’t last too long, and when we got there, it stopped. I was still groggy from the amazing sleep I got. I felt like I got my usual twelve hours (I sleep a lot). My great-aunt made a Vietnamese food and talked a whole lot with my parents. I didn’t pay too much attention to anything because all I wanted was food. Food and sleep. My parents talked for quite a long time. It started to rain again, and as it did, the rain lulled me to sleep. I think I slept for about two hours. I tend to sleep a lot in car rides. We said our goodbyes and left for the seven hour ride back to WDW. I’m pretty sure I slept again. 

It wasn’t really a much eventful ride back, but my dad did manage to not listen to me or the GPS. We wouldn’t have gotten off track about seven miles. I was mad; mainly because I said to turn back around right when we got lost. Well, not turning around straightaway resulted in paying $5 worth of toll. Way to go Dad. Always somehow getting us lost. Gah. Well, we then got home around 10pm and just settled in for the night.

The next day, Friday, was our last day. So sad. We spent this day going around buying food for the road and whatnot. We didn’t do a whole lot activity-wise. We mainly just spent time packing up and getting ready to leave early next day. We had dinner with my brother and his girlfriend and said our goodbyes. I cried. What a loser, I was. When my brother said bye to me, I said, “So, you’re not gonna hug me?” Bad idea. Okay, not really, but emotionally, it was a bad idea. I started tearing up like the cry baby I am. Ah, man. I swiftly walked outside towards the car because I didn’t want to start losing it. Although, I already did lose it.

(Back story: I remember when my brother got the internship back in 2007, and as it was the last day of a mini-vacation, we said goodbye and I sobbed. I couldn’t stop either. I was quietly sobbing as we were driving back to his apartment, and I just couldn’t help myself. It was the first time my brother was going to be nearly 2,000 miles away from me. He then gave me his penguin in which I slobbered and such into. Saying goodbye is so hard.)

We left on Saturday morning at around 3am. It was dark and cold. I was tired and emotional. I didn’t want to leave such a fantastic place yet. It didn’t last long enough, and yet it last enough. It’s a weird complicated matter. We left the hotel, but I didn’t look back. To see such a wonderful experience and memory simply fade from your view, is like deliberately making that amazing time you had disappear from you forever.

We drove and drove. – Just like on the first day, except this time, we drove the whole way home. All nearly 2,000 miles of it. We arrived at the house roughly around 1am. I was tired, but I wasn’t sleepy. I’ve slept too much on the ride back, but when I got into my bed, I slept right away. Well, back to reality. Back to school, back to being in Oklahoma, and back to my non-Disney life. 

Honestly, I would love to spend a month at Disney World on vacation. It would seem that there wouldn’t be much to do for the whole month. However, there is an endless amount of activities. For one, hotel hopping is fun. Okay, it doesn’t sound as much fun, but trust me. It is. Disney’s Polynesian Resort is so beautiful. They’ve got a grand fountain in the middle of the lobby. There’s also the Kidani Village in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. Going in the back of the lodge, there you can find animals roaming the grounds. There are many more hotels in which you can find many amazing things. (All the hotel hopping I did was in the summer.) Also, there are two water parks: Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach for water-filled enjoyment. There’s also miniature golf and actual golf. Let’s not forget the “free fifth park”, Downtown Disney. From Cirque du Soleil and nightclubs to dining and shopping, D squared’s got it all. It’s nice there – to get away from the crazy crowds at the parks. It’s a different environment there unlike any other. See, there are loads to do at Disney World, and going on one trip simply isn’t enough to take everything in.

I believe this concludes my wonderful, amazing trip to Walt Disney World. I’m excited to start my next semester in college and in my next chapter in my Disney experience. :)

40/365: 1 1/2 books read (I usually won’t do halfs, but I didn’t want it to be “1 book read” for the three posts. xD)