I've been a bad, bad girl

I know, I know...I haven't posted in FAR too long, but thus far, 2008 has been all work and no play. And some of that work has been shoveling, because WE'RE STILL GETTING SNOW!!!

See, poor Leo is belly-deep in one of the areas that we actually clear for the dogs "bathroom" purposes. It was still coming down at the time of the picture, so we hadn't cleared it that day.

And here's Roscoe, with his little ears held in that "Mommy, come pick me up!" position. When he does that with his ears, I know he wants SOMETHING because he's trying his darndest to look cute.

Once Leo got ahold of him, he had more reasons to want me to pick him up. Leo really wanted to wrestle in the snow.

This is Roscoe telling me that he's EXTREMELY upset that I didn't save him from the wrestling match, because HOW DARE I let him get covered with snow.

Don't you love the ice in Leo's whiskers??? I find it adorable, but I'm his mommy.

My cousin Kristi e-mailed me a few days ago with pictures of herself and her three kids in the "snow" in Birmingham, Alabama. I think she said it's been seven years since they last had measurable snow (here, it's been since yesterday). Her kids were totally pumped about it...they went out and used up all the snow in the yard to make a snowman (although it was really more of a snow-and-dead-grassman). Can you imagine what they could do with the more than four feet of snow we have here? Below is Audrey (my second cousin) with her snow-and-dead-grassman. And in Maine, that amount of snow would be recorded as a "trace."

OH! The big thing that we did this month was help our friend John move out of his beautiful house in Maine so that he can go to Las Vegas. Why anyone wants to move to Vegas is really a bit of a mystery to me, but Nate and I are supportive friends, so we helped him clean his house to get it ready to rent. This is the outside of the house:

I love the house; it's really spacious and open, and the land itself is wonderful. What wasn't so wonderful is John's housekeeping skills. EGAD! There were petrified bumps of strawberry-banana yogurt on the counter and spaghetti sauce marks on the walls (NOT in the kitchen!!!) I spent 2 hours just cleaning the kitchen sink...AND I'M NOT bothered by mess. But there's a difference between "mess" and "petri dish" -- and John's kitchen crossed that boundary.

All I can say is: John, if you move BACK to Maine, I'm there to help. But if you ever leave Maine again after that, YOU have to clean the kitchen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR...Grab a shovel.

Hi, everyone, and happy new year! Sorry I haven't posted recently, but between the holidays and my sinus infection, I just haven't felt up to it. And then there's all the snow...


I do believe that if we get much more, no one will be able to see our house from the street. It will look like we live in a snow fort. We had a 10 inch snowfall on Sunday, followed by a 13-14 inch snowfall on Tuesday. Our whole world is nothing but snow drifts. The streets are lined by piles of snow about four feet deep, and it will only get deeper. December 2007 was one of the snowiest Decembers on record in the Northeast. Lots of towns and cities around here broke records for snowfall. We had more than 40 inches just in December (not counting the latest snow).

That's why it's been so important for the dogs to cuddle up. You know, they have to stay warm, too. Aren't they cute?

Hey, Mom...I decided to be a redhead for a while. It feels weird, but it's a good warm winter color, and it will probably change again in a few months.

Leo didn't seem to mind the color change, but he felt the need to rub his whole body against my head (after a few kisses). The shampoo my stylist had used wasn't a familiar smell, so he wanted to cover over the scent.

Roscoe didn't care about any of it. He just wanted snuggles and food.

Have a peaceful and glorious 2008, everyone! Nate, Roscoe, Leo and I are sending you warm thoughts and much love from the snowy woods of Maine! Now I'm going to go blow my nose.