WHITE, FLUFFY, & COLD

Oh boy. It is snowing. When I looked out the window this morning I let out an audible scream. Think shriek of horror, not squeal of delight.

Suddenly the beautiful, glorious golden fall has been hijacked by winter.

This presents a problem for our family on several levels. Yes, snow is pretty, but I am only able to joyfully interact with snow in the month of December. It is very bothersome to me at other times. Like in October.

1) We had a minor fireplace explosion last week. The fireplace people can't fix it until Novemeber. Grrrrrrreat.

My one consolation in snowy weather is sitting together around the fireplace with huge mugs of hot chocolate, watching football, and playing Corn Hole indoors. So technically, I guess we can still do that...but the fireplace won't be on and we'll have to watch out for shards of glass.

I suppose I need to explain our wacky fireplaces to those of you who live anywhere besides Metro Denver...it is against building code here to have a wood-burning fireplace. Apparently the climate is so dry that the fire hazard is off the charts. So they have these nice little self-contained units that you turn on with a light switch!

When we first moved here, it seemed so very wrong to take all romance and danger out of the equation with these self-contained units. No lumber, no matches, no stray sparks flying wildly into the living room. Bummer.

2) No coats. With the prospect of a move to warmer climates looming, we hadn't pulled the trigger on coats for the kids this year.

"Have them wear last year's," you might suggest. Jackson was on Year Three of his coat (size 4) and Lilly was on year 2 (size 2T). Their current clothing is in sizes 7 and 5T, so shimmying into their old outerwear isn't really possible.

Also, I sold them in a garage sale last spring.

3) Minimal heat. The upstairs furance is working (kids are warm!) The downstairs furnace is not (Brad and I are mostly numb). That means Brad will abandon his side of the bed and snuggle with me for warmth. Never mind that one of my love languages is Personal Space.

Thank goodness for our heated mattress pad--the most life-changing Christmas gift EVER. (Wait, maybe tied for 1st with TiVo).

I have been writing awhile now. It is still snowing. Not stopping. The lamp post in our front yard is giving me flashbacks of Narnia.

I'm so grateful it will all melt tomorrow.