Snow day

We were pounded with a big snowstorm on Friday. It started with freezing rain, laying down a good layer of ice, then moved on to heavy snow. When it was all finished, we had probably about six to eight inches at my house. Doesn't sound like *that* much, but remember there was that coating of ice, and the snow was *heavy*.

Silly me, I declined when a neighbor-boy offered to clear my driveway for $20. I had a new Toro electric shovel that I'd picked up at a garage sale for $1 over the summer and I was eager to try it out. (For some reason, Dave and I have never invested in a snowblower.)

Well the electric shovel worked great, but the snow was just deep enough that I had to make multiple passes with it to clear all the way to the pavement. Plus, it shoots forward only, so it took a while to figure out a clearing strategy that didn't leave me blowing the same snow around all the time. And clearing our two-car driveway was a workout. I'd soaked my sweatshirt by the time I called it quits. The weathermen weren't kidding when they called it heart attack snow. But, hey, it saved me a trip to the gym. (Lesson learned: Pay the neighbor-kid next time there's a heavy snow like this and save my electric shovel for the four-inch fluffy snow.)

Where was Dave while I was clearing the driveway? He was stuck in Dallas. He tried to out-think the airlines and regretted it, twice. He was supposed to come home Thursday night, but an ice storm in Dallas messed up the flights. In a preemptive move, he switched to a Friday flight. Turns out, the flight he would have been on Thursday was one of the few that got out of Dallas that night. Then, the storm in Chicago messed up the flights on Friday. After a few hour wait at the airport, he decided to spare himself some grief and switched to a Saturday flight. Guess what? His Friday flight ended up being one of the few that got out that day, too. (Lesson learned: You can't outwit the airlines.)

Loki and Thor couldn't have been more pleased with the weather, though. Being good Bernese mountain dogs (think Swiss Alps), they romped and played. And when the weather took a colder turn, dipping down into the single digits, all the better. Loki laid outside the door, giving me that look that said: Just keep the door open so we can come and go. It's too warm in the house anyway. Oh, and by the way, can I have a treat here? (Did I ever mention that Loki is an excellent trick-or-treater? Paw at the door, door opens, stand there looking cute, wag tail, door starts to close, insert paw in opening, continue to stand there looking cute, wag tail.)