snow messages and low batteries.

This was a message I found in the snow when I opened the blinds to the back deck the other morning. :)

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Mike called me from New York this morning. I had my cell phone laying on the bed after I talked to him. I went about some morning stuff, took a shower and sat on the bed for a minute. I hear my phone make a noise. I look at it and the screen is telling me "battery low." I laughed for a second and said, "I know the feeling." My battery is low too. Working this season has been a little rough. I keep thinking that it will be over soon, and that I am grateful it's only a temporary thing. Seriously, staying open until midnight.....and people STILL come to the door 10 minutes after you have locked the doors.

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Only a few more days until Christmas. I think I am done with shopping, but have really dropped the ball on getting things out in the mail. I really have not had time. I know this sounds awful and like an excuse, but I work, I come home and sleep, I try to do important errands in the few hours in between getting the kids to school and returning to work again. My good intentions of picking out Christmas cards at the beginning of December fell through. They still need attention. I hope to get to those later today while I am sitting on the couch with Mike and catching up on some missed TV. (I haven't even watched the reunion show from Survivor this past week! I KNOW! ME! I live for Survivor.)

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Christmas spirit.

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OK, I forgot to mention that last night as I was working on the register that I am grateful for a job at a place that I am allowed to say "Merry Christmas" to people. It's a small thing really. I remember the first times I had somebody say it to me here I always stumbled on what to say in return. I think over the past several years (and maybe some of it is geography, and it was more confusing on the West coast compared to here) I never knew how to react to a simple gesture from somebody wishing me a Merry Christmas. I never thought of it as somebody pushing religious beliefs on me, but rather a nice wish for a special season. And Season's Greetings never gave me that warm fuzzy feeling as much as something I grew up used to....Merry Christmas.

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Also, I can't say that it is necessarily in the spirit of Christmas because really Kentucky people are a certain type of people. They like to talk. They like to be polite (for the most part) and like to be helpful and courteous to others. It's definitely something I have noticed since being here and having spent so much of my life in Phoenix. There is a different vibe here. I can tell you only TWO stories of somebody being an all out jerk to me. But when I have been stuck for one reason or another, there are always people willing to go above and beyond.

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He won't see this....but I am thankful for Tim. I went to take some papers to the kids' school that Trevor forgot to take with him earlier. Returning to my car, it wouldn't start. Ugh. Battery issue. Ironically after posting about my phone battery this morning too. I think a theme for the day is to recharge ALL batteries around here. Phone, car, body and mind.

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Anyway....after calling Mike in a frantic freak out while he is sitting in a terminal at JFK, (sorry Mike. lol) I go back into the school office. The secretary calls somebody she knows, and a man with a huge work truck comes to the school. He's a local guy that everybody except me must know. He is like the Walton go to guy. He pops out with a toolbox and looks at the car. Fixes a loose cable on my battery and the car starts. Christmas miracle. He was so nice. He only drove out to help me after the secretary had called. Thank you Tim!
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While this was going on, Megan made a new friend. We overheard a mom and her daughter in the office at the school. This girl just moved here from the district we used to live in. She went to the same middle school Megan did, and heard that she was in the 7th grade. This girl looked just like Megan did this time last year when we moved down here....nervously waiting in the lobby of the school and trying to peek into the hallways. We broke the ice by saying that she'll like the principal at this school much better than her old one. The girl seemed a bit more relieved that somebody was talking to her.

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When we were leaving the parking lot the girl and her mom got into their car and the girl waved at Megan. They waved at each other and when the mom accidentally set off the alarm on her car both girls laughed and waved again. Megan said she'd look for her when they go back to school so she'll feel comfortable knowing somebody right away. That's one thing I love about Megan....she is compassionate. Such a good girl. (With a really messy room right now. hint hint....)

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I think I need to go visit my friend June at the Richwood Mcdonalds and get a soda to kick start this day off.

I know tonight is one of those nights where I will finally feel like I can breathe. Everybody will be under one roof and things are beginning to level out. :) and yes....get those cards in the mail!!!

Snow day!! - and dorky the snow dog.

Well we knew it was coming. It was so strange after yesterday being a nice day with sun and bright blue sky to think that the next day would be so....not. It doesn't bum me out though because I really like the changes in weather as often as it happens here. - and I still kind of like the snow.
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Everybody was talking about this big storm coming. It was supposed to get ugly. Lots of snow and ice. 100% chance. There was no getting around it or 'hoping'...it was going to happen. Of course the stores were crazy. Even work last night.....I guess people trying to finish up Christmas shopping early if we get stuck for a few days before Christmas and people couldn't get out easily.
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I ended up at the register more than my department last night simply because it was so busy. Everybody would plop down their purchases saying the same thing, "Almost done....shopping before the storm gets here....etc." On top of toys, housewares and stuff....there's always the people who find themselves without winter gear. Like me...who has come home almost every night from work with gloves, hats, earmuffs, snow pants.....etc. Every day is like Christmas coming home from work lately. lol.
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Teachers at the schools yesterday were already talking as if there wasn't school the next day. The bus driver even said to Matthew, "See you on Friday!"
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Of course they couldn't make it easy and announce it last night before bed, making it a frenzy of the kids putting jammies on inside out, flushing ice down the toilet and sleeping with spoons under their pillows. Then the phone rang at 5:00 this morning. Even when you expect it, being woken up by a ringing phone from sleep scares you. I picked it up and heard that school was closed. Then went back to bed, got all warm.....and the phone rang again. Telling me school was closed again. Ugh.
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I have to go in for a few hours today so I went out to shovel the driveway. Plus if we are expecting more snow tonight, at least I will have gotten 5 inches of the stuff ahead of the game. This is Piper's favorite thing.
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As much as I threaten to send her away to my parent's house in Phoenix this time of year (more because of us having to wait while she sniffs and plays when she is let out in the morning) I think this dog looks forward to this time of year. She sits in Megan's room and stares out the window when it snows. She just sits there still and watches it.
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She goes nuts when somebody has the shovel. That is when it is time for serious play. She'll hear that door open and she bolts out the door and plows her face through new snow and leaps like a deer.

She will stand near you, crouch or circle you while you shovel. She'll even bite at the snow you are trying to scoop up. She LOVES when you fling a shovel full on her.

snow day...continued.

Just in case you thought this was animal abuse....she is definitely asking for more. ;)


I loooove this picture.

again...again...again....

Finally I threw a snowball at the bush and she spent a long time looking for it. That is about the only way to get rid of her for enough time to actually do productive shoveling.

Snow day.....day 13

The kids had a snow day today. The first one of the season. We'll see how many we end up with since this is supposedly going to be a very cold and snowy winter.

We have done gingerbread houses every year, but I have gotten smart and started buying them early and hiding them until we had a day off from school. They are a good snow day craft. In the past I have bought one big house that all three work on, but this year I was excited to find a kit that had five small houses in it. Each one got to pick out a house and have one of their own. It works out perfect because they each have their own style. Matthew is very meticulous about his house. Trevor.....not so much. His kind of looks like somebody shot at it with a paintball gun by the time he was done with it. The way the red frosting came out of the bag and on to the roof I thought looked like he was trying to build Chilis.

Megan went with very simple decor this year and glued the sides and roof together, frosted the top and lined chocolate chips along the roof.

The boys both went out and played for a long time today. There is a small hill at the end of the road where they spent most of the afternoon with a couple of friends. Luckily friends who have extra sleds. (I think they are getting sleds for Christmas this year since I keep seeing them at Kroger and make a mental note that we need a couple.)

No snow day planned for tomorrow....and after two whole days off I go into work for a few hours.

I'm not doing such a good job with my Daily December project like I had hoped. I do have stories to write down, but in a way that is the point of my blog too. A place to keep these stories. I'll have to go back and put it all together sometime after Christmas.

So....

Lots of snow today. I had the day off (on a weekend day!) which is totally strange right now. I am not complaining one bit.....and believe it or not I have tomorrow off too. Thankfully....because tonight while we were watching the finale of The Amazing Race the kids were anxiously watching the crawl at the bottom of the screen waiting to see the name of their school. Sure enough....school is closed for tomorrow. So our big plans are to sleep in a bit, do some work around the house and then decorate some small gingerbread houses that I bought earlier to work on. It's perfect for a day where we will be stuck inside.

We have milk, bread, chocolate and driveway heat.

Today the boys went to the park with a friend and went sledding. Just in time too as I had brought home some new hard core waterproof gloves for all the kids from work the night before.

I still love watching snow. I stood outside in my coat and watched it fall for a little bit. It's so quiet. I never get tired of that weird quiet. It's so pretty.

Day 8...Christmas mail and turtles!

There seems to be a theme... since yesterday had photos with turtles too. Turtles are pretty much the thing around here having a boy who has been obsessed with them for as long as I can remember. I've always like them too. Also.... I LOVE boxes. I love containers of all kinds. I love to put boxes inside of boxes. I can't get enough of them. Add my love for boxes with a love for turtles and you get the ultimate: Turtle box.

This is a great time of year to check the mail. It's not always junk mail or bills, and you instantly recognize a handwritten address on a different shaped envelope from the rest in your box. Christmas cards. I love them. They are always fun to get and they get taped on the backside of our front door every year for display.

Christmas packages are the best! I remember the excitement when I was a kid and knowing that my grandma had sent a huge cardboard box FULL of wrapped presents that we'd be allowed to open on Christmas Eve. But they were the presents that were allowed to sit under the tree until Christmas. They were the ones that you were allowed to sit near the tree for weeks - and shake, and guess what was in them. The suspense killed me each year.

I just got back from the store and noticed a small box on my porch. The item inside was not wrapped....so in my opinion that means I don't have to wait until Christmas right? I opened it and did a girlie high pitch squeal! Such cuteness contained in a little box!

That is a little bit of leftover snow on the deck off the back of the house in the background...(and a very dry hand that needs some lotion!)
My mom and dad recently went to Hawaii (twice this year...once for a first time there vacation, the next to celebrate Thanksgiving the Hawaiian way.) This was one of the little treasures that they found over there. I know my mom and how she includes little notes or something. There has never been a gift or anything that didn't include some sort of 'thing' or dollar bill or something in a pocket. I opened it and saw two little bags of sand from Hawaii. Which is so cool, and goes with my 'sand, dirt and rock' collection from other areas around the world.

Blue sky today and remnants of snow left on the ground. Work tonight....and surprisingly not getting tired of the Christmas music that the store plays. Survivor tonight, snuggling on the couch with the kids.....and a day off tomorrow to start some Christmas shopping. Including A TREE.

Day 7.

Not really Christmassy....but definitely a sign of the season. When it is cold outside, and the sun is out, we like to sit by the glass door and feel the warmth. It's a good time to get the tortoises out too. They had a little bathtub soak and then some time in the sun. Kind of a spa day for torts.
I think Jet must know without a doubt that she belongs to Trevor. She loves him as much as a tortoise can show affection I suppose. When he is in the room she finds him and burrows into him. I guess he is warm. She stays for a long time. Koopa comes and goes. He has places to go and potato sacks to climb.

There is still some snow on the ground, and I took the kids to school during flurries this morning, but the sun is out. A nice break from the gray skies for the past couple of days. It's still pretty to see things covered in snow.

I swear the turtles did this on their own. I was laughing at how long they stayed there looking at the pillow. I imagine they sound something like this:

"What does that say?"
"I don't know I can't read."


Cute little Jet monster enjoying the sun.

I have actually kept up with my daily December, but not so much in photos each day. I have done some writing that will go into my little album of the month. Just so you don't think I'm a slacker. ;)