2008: The Year Winter Never Ended

Not that we're complaining, mind you . . . . Any precipitation is good given the drought we were in the past three years. BUT, considering that the bugs will be out within a month, the late winter hasn't allowed us much springtime during which to get those myriad of springtime projects done!

Anyway, nighttime temperatures have still been in the teens, and, while the sun FINALLY popped through yesterday, the daytime temps have still only been hovering around the freezing mark. So, point being, the 8+ inches we got on Friday aren't goin' anywhere very quickly. It's still winter at Swamp River Ridge! And, while our surroundings will, undoubtedly, change a huge amount within the next month, there remains some doubt whether the inland lakes will be open for fishing opener!

You've seen the video I took Friday morning of the snow. I also took one while I was plowing that morning. You got to go on a "ride-along" with me! :) Click here to view it. I'm sorry the coloring in all of them has been so dark so far, but that's been reflective of the weather . . . .

Other than the weather, it just doesn't seem like I have much to post about this past week.

We missed three more birthdays . . . two on Friday and one yesterday. Yesterday's was Tom's niece's big day. And, Friday brought the birthday celebrations of our dear friends J and P. J is the mama to the peanut for whom I used to nanny. In lieu of posting a picture of her mother (which I don't have!), I'll post a recent picture of the peanut in question . . . who I babysat a week or two ago. (Now, granted, I'm a little biased, but isn't she a natural beauty? [So's her mom!]) Then, dear British P (wife of our Best Man) got to celebrate on Friday, too. They were our dear friends when we lived in Minneapolis. Now, we've all relocated - us to here and them to the Southwest. Busyness and distance have prevented reunions, although Tom did get out to visit them (combined with a business trip) last year at this time.



Here are two pictures of the snow yesterday morning. They're kinda goofy 'cause I had to take them through the door screen, but you get the gist. It's snowy!

The house is such a disaster right now that you wouldn't even believe it. So, instead of getting overwhelmed with one task, I've divided them up (by room or task, such as 'food prep') and thrown them all into a jar. I'll draw a job and work on it for one hour, then repeat . . . until the day is through. That way, none of the icky (but must-do) jobs will seem too horrible if there's a time restriction to them. So far, I have 19 rooms / tasks on the list. Hmm, 19 jobs = 19 hours = . . . ! Hey, I know it's a psychological game that I'm playing on myself, but - if it works!