Happy Friday!

We survived the windstorm.

I'd say that more flippantly but I'm kind of freaked out by the fact that several people actually didn't survive it. All of their deaths unexpected and unavoidable--a woman in her basement, trapped by a river of water pouring in; a man in bed; two people in their cars.

Meanwhile, here on the cusp of Shoreline, our power flickered repeatedly but never went off for more than a minute or two. I lit a bunch of candles in preparation, but never really needed them.

I woke up this morning and got ready for work. Having seen on the news that Seattle Public Schools were closed, I tried to call work to see if we (who closely follow the school district's schedule in times like this) were supposed to come in. The phone rang repeatedly but never went to voicemail. I was about to call my supervisor at home to check in, when he called me to say not to come to work today. (Brief cheer.) (Karma wins!)

Then he said it was because several areas at work had flooded. Not so good. Still, having offered my help and been told it was kind but unnecessary, I was guilt-free about enjoying my day off. I spent a few hours of it doing this puzzle, though. Oy. I made it as far as level 18 before I had to head to the party. But I still have two whole weekend days ahead of me to forge ahead in puzzle world!

I saw a tree down across a main arterial not far from home, but no trees came down in our immediate few-blocks neighborhood.

Mr. Thel's workplace holiday party was tonight at a fabulous mansion on Capitol Hill undergoing renovations to make it even more glorious. I'm told it's about ten thousand square feet; it has three stories plus a basement, two decks with views of Lake Washington and the Cascades, and lovely detailing inside. It was fun to wander around in.

And then I got home, posted babblingly to Holidailies, and went to bed, the end.