Winner, winner, chicken dinner! :)

Nope, we're not in Vegas.


But on Tuesday night, it DID snow in Wichita, and if you will refer to the list of dates, you will notice Karen won. :)

I actually LOVE how we have friends and friends of friends who know about our nutty competition, and when they spy snow, are sure to let us know.

Thanks, peeps!

With this win, it brings 2 Bonar names onto the traveling trophy. Erik is quick to point out this is the second most frequent name to appear on the trophy (after Mikols) ... but let's not run percentages, because it'd be tiny.

Sooooooo close :(

There was a chance of snow last night in Wichita.

The ever compassionate Baby Paul sent this along to me.






Stinker pants.

I have another 10 days or so left in my slot for this year, but it looks like it'll stay warm. :(

The dates are in!!!!!

Alrighty!

We opened snow dates yesterday, and here's the 2011 rundown:

Karen: Now - Nov. 10 at Noon
Paul: Nov. 10 at Noon - Nov. 10 at Midnight
Robin: Nov. 11 - Nov. 16
Grandpa Benny: Nov. 17 - Nov. 23
Carl: Nov. 14 - Nov. 29 at Noon
Wayne: Nov. 29 at Noon - Dec. 6 at Noon
Erik: Dec. 6 at Noon - Dec. 12 at Noon
Chris: Dec. 12 at Noon - Dec. 16 at Noon
Kathy: Dec. 16 at Noon - next year

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read a bit about the contest HERE.

I gotta say, my dates are early ... after this hot summer, it's a bit of a risk. But we'll see. I really like Erik's dates. I think he has a really good shot. This year, everyone (except for poor Paul) has a really good spread of dates ... so let the games begin! Or, more clearly, let the SNOW START FALLING!!! :)

And in an effort to have a more neutral source for the weather/snow, Dad tromped around to the TV stations and tried to talk to meteorologists; all of whom wouldn't even see him. Even if he'd wait. Nope, they didn't want any part of this madness. He finally found a sympathetic ear at the airport, and they have some sort of hour by hour observation of the weather ... so this seems to be a good solution, because there is ALWAYS arguing & bickering about if it snowed or not.

Imagine that. ;)

We have a winner!!!!!

Ok, so for those of you who don't know, my family has a competition every year (for the last 12 years running) to see who can guess when the first snow will fall at my parents' house in Wichita. I'll go into details later if anyone is interested.

Suffice to say, there is a winner: Mom.


Congrats, Mom! While I'm sad to not win this year, I *have* had my name on the traveling trophy 2 times before ... and poor mom? NONE. Nope. In 12 years, everyone in our family has won at least once (well, except for my brother-in-law). Some of us have even won twice. But mom? Nope. Nada. Zilch.

Well, the streak ends. Good for her!


I'm a little bitter, but when I was in college, my awesome roomie, Jeanel, suggested we start a side pot with money. Well, the money pool is optional and while I didn't win my name on the traveling trophy, I DID win the money this year .... so losing is less bitter with President Jackson in my pocket.

But the quest continues for me .... I want to be the first person with a new last name on the trophy .... so if you have any inkling of when the first winter snow for 2010 will be, DO let me know!

Erik is sad the trophy will leave our house, but he's comforted to know it will still be in the state .... and not in the netherworld of Oklahoma (I feel so DIRTY just typing that here). ;)~ Robin, Erik remembers your ability to keep track of the noses and he doesn't trust the trophy in your hands!

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to some more ERB love.

One of the first things Karen told me about when we were dating was her family's "Snow Breakfast." When she first mentioned this Mikols family phenomenon, I was scratching my head. Did their whole family sit around and eat snow and snow-related products? Did they eat things out of the freezer and call it snow? I was confused.

Luckily, Karen straightened me out. The "Snow Breakfast" was a family contest dating back more than a decade. The Mikols' family members (or those married into the Mikols family ... meaning Chris Laws, Robin's husband, and myself) get together in the fall and attempt to guess the first day it will snow in Wichita.

Long story short — The Notorious ERB (me) was the first individual not named Mikols to win the "Snow Breakfast" trophy when two independent sources confirmed snow on the east side of Wichita on Friday, Nov. 28. Now, the trophy will be prominently displayed at our abode in Salina. YES!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels good to be a part of the family. :-)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!!!!!

I don't have time now to recount the history of the Mikols Family First Snow Competition ... but if I find a column I wrote about it, I'll post it later. (these first two photos are from the annual snow breakfast, which was held the day after our wedding because everyone was in town)


So .... it's MY TURN right now ... and it needs to snow in Wichita PRONTO! I have until noon on Nov. 10 for it to snow. Then we have to wait a week ... and Erik is in on the contest! E has from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, which are excellent dates.


And here are Erik and Chris. These two fellas are the newest participants in the contest. Poor mom hasn't won yet, and it would probably make her green if one or both of her sons-in-law won before her.

Last year, "the family" (yeah, don't I sound like someone from The Godfather?) didn't allow Chris to participate because he married Robin after the official opening of the snow dates. I would have let him participate if he picked a date after their wedding, but the family was firm. Chris could NOT participate in 2007.

There was a *little* rumbling this year because the opening of dates was less than 24 hours after Erik became a member of the family ... but whiners can just deal. ;-)