Snowing

I found some more pictures from the first snowfall.

These two pictures of Claire are fun.  I like to think she's trying to decide who to hit with her handful of snow.   Her father, who has definitely thrown his fair share of snowballs at Claire and deserves some retaliation,

or her unsuspecting, attention getting little sister, heh.  

But she must have been thinking something else, because no one ended up with a face full of snow.

We were hit with a big storm this weekend.  The girls and I were visiting my parents, and I made what was probably a bad decision that thankfully turned out fine: driving home right at the beginning of it all.  I figured I could beat most of the storm by leaving early, and if I stayed, I'd probably be there until Monday.  The trip started out fine, but quickly got bad, and then worse.  The slower I went, the longer I was out there, and the worse the roads got.  I believe in the end, it was probably a four hour drive that usually takes two.  It would have been fine if there were a plow or two out, but in the four hours I was on the highways, I only saw one, and it was on the other side of the highway.  On the positive side, the new Pilot handles really well in terrible conditions, and after logging all those hours behind the wheel, I am now at least twice as good at driving in the snow than I was a few days ago.  

Today I was more than happy to stay in the house, so although its beautiful outside with all the snow in the tree branches, I don't have any pictures.  Maybe tomorrow.

Welcome Back, Winter

So the 'Picture of the Day' was actually taken today (04-05-07). Overnight we got 10 inches of snow. I'm sure it won't stick around long, the snow already looks to be melting off the roads, but it doesn't exactly feel very much like April anymore. On the other hand, we'll soon be in Hawaii, so I can't complain at all.

In the mean time, we are having an incoming resident and her husband (Sadie and John) stay with us for a few days while they job/house hunt. They drove up from Washington DC last night, and a trip that should have taken 8 hours lasted 14 due to the weather. Then today they found out that a number of John's interviews as well as some showings were canceled because of the weather. Seems like its been a rough start for them, but hopefully they find something they like in both searches. If not, I really think John is all set to just move right in with us.

Valentine's Day

Our plan?

Stay in the house.

Its pretty wintery out there today. Turns out the weathermen weren't kidding this time when they said a storm was on the way. I can't say I'm not enjoying it, though. It isn't often that I get to look forward to a solid 24 hours of snow. Its like a permission slip to stay in my pajamas until noon and completely write off anything productive. And being Valentine's Day, Claire and I cooked up some special treats. We did have a party planned with some of Claire's friends, but nobody wanted to come out in the storm today. Not that I blame them, I wouldn't have either. So we made cupcakes anyway, and then some chocolate covered strawberries.






































Since we finished those, Claire hasn't talked about much else.

"Those strawberries with chocolate on them sure do look delicious, Mom."
"You know those strawberries in the refrigerator? They sure do look yummy."
"I sure am hungry for a strawberry with chocolate on top."
"Is it tonight yet? Maybe I can eat just one strawberry."

Happy Valentine's Day.