December snow

We have wanted to see snow. We have wanted to ski on snow. We have wanted to get kids happy and giggly about snow. We have had none thus far. Light sprinkling that disappears within a day does not count.

Waking up, therefore, to falling snow feels grand. Even though the rate of snowflake-hitting-ground-and-staying-there is, at this point... modest.  I doubt we will be skiing this weekend, but you never know!

Holiday ups and downs: this is so common for December! On Tuesday, I gave the kids those twinkly, jingly winter caps. Cheaply made, cheaply sold on Amazon. I'm sure their warmth value is low, but it is thrilling, I suppose, to parade up and down with blinking lights on your head. Sparrow was especially delighted. He wore it to school. He fiddled with it. The battery connection broke. Irreparably. He found this out just as they were all heading out to school this morning. I hear he was inconsolable. 

The various cat factions are fighting again (after declaring a truce for a solid month or so). Pancake the Super Feral is terrorizing Friendly the Farmhouse Cat. Dance is hissing (through the window) at Pancake. I open the door for poor terrified Friendly, who then is chased by Dance -- the same cat who, just minutes ago, was standing up in his defense. 

I have an early delivery of groceries. They sent the wrong milk. Would you protest and demand a dollar refund? (They sent the cheaper brand which in my opinion sours earlier than the other brand.) Ed says to skip it. We'll drink it after all. And here's the thing: I clicked a few keys and promptly this morning groceries appeared on my doorstep. Such luxury! Am I the type to then complain about the wrong milk in the bag? I am not.

Ed wants to bring the old truck home from a repair shop. It is now fixed and he wants, therefore, to sell it. After all, he has the newer old truck in the space allocated for trucks in our three car parking lot at the end of the driveway. This means that until he sells the old one, we will have keep it in the front yard, underneath the maples, where it will rust some more. Our place will look like one of those properties where guys (it's always guys) leave old machinery out, to rust and rot until they "get around to fixing it."  True, this truck is in fact fixed, but it looks like it rode through a tornado and back again. You will not see many photos of the front yard in the coming months (or however long it takes him to sell that horror).

I wrap presents. I remember how I swore last year that I would not get anything larger than the size of a book for anyone. It's so hard to wrap large items! And yet -- this promise totally went out the door.  How many do I finish off in the course of the morning? Three. 

And speaking of gifts, there's one in the mailbox today. A box, from Poland! Inside? A few of these... So beautiful...

I pick up the kids. It's slow going because of the snow, which by now does resemble a snow storm. 

 

 

 

Oh, how they love it! Snowdrop especially is snow-crazy. 

 

 

Sparrow is a little more reasonable. 

 

 

 

Too, he hates having the white stuff melt in a trickle down his back and of course, a big sister might just be inclined to make snowballs.

I take them home tonight and I pause to chat with my older girl -- something I haven't done for a while. You don't mess with working moms in the Christmas season. They have time for no extras. But, tonight, I'm there for a few minutes, if only to make sure we have our schedules set for next week.

(Sandpiper is there -- he's very self sufficient in getting his own cup!)

And now I'm home again. The snow continues it's slow but pretty fall. All those songs on my holiday playlist delighting in a snowstorm? Well, we're not quite at the blizzard level (which, perhaps, is a good thing), but yeah, it is still snowing and our cheeks are nice and rosy
And comfy cozy are we
We're snuggled up together
Like two birds of a feather would be...

Just not in a sleigh. On the couch. Under our blanket (quilt, actually) of blue...
Just you and I beneath the stars
Wrapped in the arms of sweet romance
The night is ours, yes
Under a blanket of blue

Wait, that's a whole other Ella and Louis song and it properly belongs to the summer season! No matter. Ed and I are slurping our soup, the blue quilt is out, we're happy and warm.

with love...