Layers of Winter

Winter in Minnesota brings about quite of few "layers of responsibility."

Layers of snow and ice to shovel, layers of clothes to put on every time a door is opened, layers of snow and ice to carefully drive on, layers of freshly piled snow to scrape off of windshields and vehicles...the list could go on and on.

Can I just say that the blustering, freezing temps to venture out in to grab a carton of milk or drop a parcel off at the post office has fared better on other days. This Southern gal has had just about enough of this 10 degree and below weather. From what I hear, the temps tonight will drop to -20.

I'll be honest; the last two days have been rough. Some great moments sprinkled --no, make that showered with-- frustrating occurances. I've decided this freezing cold weather has played a big part in it. Ok, seriously this is just the outerlayer of what I have to put on to go outside and get my mail. This for the girl that never even owned a coat (we never needed more than a jacket) growing up in Mississippi, until heading out on my first ski trip to Colorado with our youth group.

 Seriously...it's mid-afternoon. Really?

Now don't get me wrong; I like to get my hands dirty. I don't mind hard work. But ok, shoveling our driveway every other day is getting a little old. Yes, sometimes it's not too bad...it's actually quite the workout, but having the longest driveway on our street and probably the only one who doesn't have a snowblower is getting a little frustrating.

I actually really enjoy the snow...it's just the darn cold that is so irritating. When hubby is home it's actually  not too bad and quite fun sometimes. We have exciting family adventures; however, when he's gone (which is A LOT) the snow, ice and cold is not something I am too fond of. I think it's actually the responsibilities that come with snow, ice and cold here that I'm not the fondest of. :)

I am very thankful though for our freshly stacked firewood that will keep us nice and toasty inside the house. (Thank you Nana and Poppie!) There is almost nothing as awesome as a warm fire on a cold night, pjs, fuzzy socks, a good book, family together...LOVE those nights!

Just so I don't have to venture out to the woodpile every hour, I have a nice little stack of prepared wood sitting right by the door so that the boots, coat, hat, scarf,  and gloves can stay right where they are...

Now, I may not be the fondest of the Minnesota winters, but my eldest son thinks it's the next best thing to Chuck E Cheese birthday parties. Yesterday, while I was trying to catch up on laundry (from the huge stockpile that had somehow accumulated in 2 days..seriously, how do we do that?) Parker got to go out in the backyard for a little playtime with his bucket and shovel. He was quite the happy one. Luckily hubby had shoveled the backdoor walk so that we could open it and not worry about 20 something inches of snow falling inside onto the floor. It was quite humerous watching Parker try to crawl/jump onto the snow from the lower level of pavement.

Another funny...seeing Parker turn around every couple of steps to look back at his footsteps in the deep snow. The snow seemed to get softer in certain areas and he would sink down to right below his waist which also made for some mid-afternoon humor. However, I knew the smiles and squeals of delight would only last a short time before the tired-legged, cold to the core, runny nosed toddler came wailing to mom to come get him. Therefore, the hot chocolate with extra marshmallows was ready and waiting for when the time came...tears dried up, and cold, pink cheeks grinned again. "Thanks mom," he said.  :)

And so, yet more sweet memories for my little man. I guess for that, the layers of clothes, the shoveling of snow and ice, and the cold are worth it. :)
Happy Winter All.