It's melting, melting...

The worst is over.  So they say.

The snow has been glorious and I have felt extremely blessed to be home with my husband to enjoy it.  We may or may not have gone sledding down our hill at 11pm lastnight.  On a huge Hefty bag.

Okay, we did.

But while we were out taking our walk yesterday, I was struck with another memory from our time in Haines.  As I looked down at the gear I was wearing, I had to smile.  You see, donning the snow boots, ski pants, ski coat, gloves, and hat is the norm in the winter in SE Alaska.  Every day.  To go to work, to go to church, to take out the garbage.  A pile of winter wear was always by the front door in various states of defrost. 

Yes, I got used to this in the winter of '07.  Leaving the house with a wet head was not an option if I expected it to dry instead of freeze and my backpack was never without a change of shoes/pants for once I reached my destination and left my boots/ski pants at the door. 

There was one particular weekend, however, that I was over it. 

I wanted to wear a cute outfit, not longjohns.
My "cute sweater" pile had gone untouched for months in favor of more practical layers.
I wanted to go on a date with Kenny and wear shoes that weighed less than 5 lbs. each.

Since we walked most everywhere every day, we had planned to take Kenny's 4Runner out and about on our special evening in order to leave some layers behind. However, we didn't end up on the same page about that dream  and after a nice dinner at my house, we were getting ready to go and it appeared that the 4Runner had been left out of the equation.
I ended up irrationally upset.
"I just want to wear normal shoes!" I was sharing.
But in a huff, I piled on the snow gear, ruining my hair with a hat,  and took off stomping through the snow to the community play.  Imagine my reaction as I proceeded to slip on some ice on the way and cut my hand, bleeding all over my favorite wool gloves from Ireland (no getting a replacement pair) and bruising my talebone.

[Um, current Natalie is not proud of past Natalie's handling of the situation from this point on.  Just let that be noted.]

Tears.  More sharing.  Then the silent treatment.  For the rest of the evening.  It only got worse when we tromped home and as I was cleaning my gloves, I realized I had lost my new favorite lip balm in the fall.  That was it.  I took off without a word to poor, baffled Kenny, weakening my "I'm ready for marriage" argument and determined to find it in a snow bank even if it meant digging all night. 

And I did (find it, that is).   

Overreaction?  All of it.  Justified? Not really.  Really the only blemish on a memory bank full of snowy adventures in beloved Haines?  Yes.

And worthy of a chuckle as I excitedly "trudged" through our meager 6" (by Haines status) yesterday, appreciating every second of it and thankful for my snow boots.

Though it still ruined my hair...   ;)

shouting

shouting

Snow gear? Bathrobe.

 Bathrobe? Check.
Husky ski hat? Check.
Snow boots? Check check.
No matter the weather, the chickens are first on the list in the morning.

Second?  Tea.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love this guy?

And since our little hens were not about to leave their cozy coop for any food or water, they got some special treatment this morning.

Coop service.

[No husband's egos were harmed in the making of this post.  All photos used with permission.]

Like a kid on Christmas.

I am probably more excited than I should be.

Winter Storm has "hit" Seattle.  However, it is sure a lot less than they were predicting and it was completely unnecessary for Trader Joe's to be inhumanely PACKED lastnight with people stocking up for a big day of snow.

I just wanted a gallon of milk.

But, I still got up way too early in order to watch it fall.  I get major FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) when it comes to snow.  I couldn't sleep, thinking it would stop snowing by the time I got up, and I have only had snow coverage on the television since 6am. 

I'm one of those people.  Totally into it. I am very jealous of Olympia (supposed to get over 8"!) and hope my husband gets up in time to walk with me before it stops.  But really, my heart breaks a little that the "dump" we were supposed to receive seems to have travelled a bit more south.  It's like you were promised a trip to Disneyland, but then your parents decided to give it to your way-less-cool sibling at the last minute.

Seriously.  I take these things pretty hard.

But for now, looking out onto my street, everything is the kind of peaceful that only comes with the white stuff and we are living in a snow globe. 

And it's snowing all over my Gmail inbox.  Love it.

I swear I will be back to regularly scheduled posting soon enough, but for today- to snow!  It makes me think of miss Haines terribly and just want to crochet while watching Little Women.   I think I shall.  *raises mug of cocoa*

Snow Day 2012

Snow came to Seattle this weekend!

It was all over Facebook, people Instagramming it up and whatnot, and I gotta tell ya- I. was. giddy.  We were already excited for what we had planned, but the fact that there was snow made it marvelous. 

When we got our first dusting on Saturday, Kenny was out with his buddies playing soccer and I stayed behind to bake and watch Downton Abbey.  And watch the snow.  I mean... heaven.

And yesterday was one of those days where your plans fall apart and you get to run around in the snow with your husband and enjoy life. 

You know, one of those days. 

We woke up to snow and headed off to church, where we saw family and learned my niece was under the weather and we would't be spending the day with her, poor lamb.  So instead we headed over to Redmond for Kenny's soccer game, sans Emma, which we learned was cancelled right as we pulled into the parking lot. 

We played some soccer anyway.

When we were pretty frozen, we found ourselves at one of the best coffee shops. Ever. The owner of Victor's Celtic Coffee Co. rang us up and I could have listened to his Irish accent for the rest of the day.  Instead, we consumed hot chocolate topped with chocolate whipped cream and talked about the future.

The couple next to us was NOT having a good time, but we pretending not to be listening by taking pictures.

We left them to work out their problems and walked through Redmond, landing in a Half Price Books and finally solidifying our Julia Child obsession by purchasing our own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  It was momentous. 

Kenny cooked a fish dish in honor of our purchase and even though I can't decide if it looks gross or good in the picture, it was delicious.  Very rich.  Very French.

The perfect weekend, in the most unexpected way. 

Thank you, snow.  Please feel free to stick around.

Movin' and Shakin'

Good morning, all!

(or afternoon, or maybe even evening if that's when you clicked my way, but anyway. Heeey!)

I'm blogging with zeal today, folks, for a few reasons.  First, it was a great weekend.  Food, family, christenings, winning football games, more food, coffee, walks, and finally...some decorating.  I'm still not quite sure what got into me, but I was decorating with gusto yesterday after having a vision for the living room.  I was unable to stop myself.

This, in fact, caused me to get behind on NaNo and therefore I am panicking just a little about finishing by Wednesday, on top of some other writing assignments that are due, but let's just focus on Christmas.  Pretty.

After taking down everything Thanksgiving, I grabbed our Christmas stuff from the shed and went to it.  You know the phrase "It gets worse before it gets better?"  Well, I lived it, friends.  Again.  But at least this process went much faster than the office.

I got organized, put lights up around the front windows, and all while Kenny remained obliviously occupied in the office*, I rotated all of our furniture counter-clockwise.  This was taken about 1/3 of the way through the process:

Sorry for such poor picture quality- phones can only do so much.  Seriously. I know they're bad.  [That's what happens when you have your camera in your pocket while jumping up to catch a baseball- it falls on the concrete and then buttons don't work.  Just to warn you.]  And no, that is not an angel or a star hanging out in the corner- it's a floor lamp. And please notice the television in the fireplace and there is another television on the floor in front of the sun.

But I kept moving, sweating up a storm and vaccuuming every nook and cranny I could find, all while Hallmark Christmas movies played in the background.  And, finally, this happened:

Again, the pictures look so much better when they're all tiny on my phone.  I need a real camera.  But you get the idea.  Moving two fairly large couches and our "entertainment center" (term used loosely) later, I think I am happy with it. I did have a minute of mover's remorse when I stood back to survey my work, but I think we'll live with it for awhile.

And on that note, I have to scurry and start vomiting words onto paper to catch up by Wednesday's deadline.  I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and if you are having a hard time with this particular Monday, I am right there with ya.

*Kenny's reaction was priceless.  He came out of his cave after several hours and just stood there....looking...for the longest time...then he would look back down the hallway as if checking to see that he didn't walk through a magic wardrobe and then back at the living room.

Me: "Didn't you hear me moving the furniture and vaccuuming for the last few hours?"

Him: "No."

Me: "Wow."