It's Official! Aaaaand... More Signs of Spring

Look! We officially got the Coldest Winter on Record!

Having lived through Fairbanks' Coldest Winter in Recorded History (records starting in 1904) has gotta be some real bragging rights! OK enough of that. Now we are transitioning to spring. This upcoming weekend may be our last weekend skiing until the creek opens up and we lose trail access. The snow has gotten hard packed into ice and I am walking the girls in Icebugs. Snow is dripping off rooftops and making icicles. For us it's our drainspouts!

DL has to cut a channel to drain this one, otherwise it makes a patch of ice behind the house.

It was "only" this amount of total snow accumulation though. It would have made for nicer skiing, had it not been so cold.

Last weekend I felt confident enough in the spring that I put away my heavy coats and boots and got out some lighter clothes and unlined Bean boots. I'm ready for mud season!

Last weekend, DL and I joined the 1200 in Fairbanks and 8.1 million nationwide to stand for democracy.

I like the UU church. :)

The girls' winter coats will start dumping soon. I thought I'd photograph peak fuzzy paws. Here is Cricket's peak fuzz:

And here is Raven's:

Here they are snuggling with Daaaaaaaaddy:

And here is my midterm exam prep!

When I was in my 20s, the "common wisdom" for women in male-dominated fields was to dress like a man and act like a man and for Heaven's sake quit bringing cookies to events. It undermines you and makes you look like you are a server not an engineer in your own right. Well screw that! I want to bring cookies because I'm nice, and my students deserve cookies!! And I have tenure now so!

A few weeks ago I attended the thesis defense of a very bright young lady I had known since she was a freshman. She wore a flowy, floral dress and I was sort of fascinated and delighted at how much times had changed. I'd *never* have worn a floral print dress when I was her age. It would have been considered unprofessional. But now it's 30 years later, and women can look feminine if they damn well want to! I took photos of her standing in front of per presentation and sent them to her and told her I was so proud.😍