Snow to me is a given in Winter. I love snow, actually. Snow means skiing and a reason for wearing warm handknit items. I'm not a big fan of ice, but it usually can't be avoided. Yesterday morning it was freezing ice on the roads and the salt trucks hadn't been out in our area yet, but the kid had an orthodontist appointment. I started out driving, skidded badly twice and then saw a Fed Ex truck rear end a car, all within two blocks from our house, so I turned around and drove home and rescheduled the orthodontist appointment. The kid celebrated the fact that he gets a reprieve from braces tightening until after the New Year. It snowed on top of the ice after that, and that helped the driving. I hope that it snows again on Christmas Day, because a white Christmas just seems right. Anyway, my point is that snow is just a part of winter. My brother lives in Utah and sees even more snow than I do. Granted, my dad lives about one mile from where President-elect Obama is vacationing right now in Hawaii, so he likes to tell us about his sunny weather, but he's retired and he's earned Hawaii. Both my sisters now live in Portland, Oregon, which doesn't normally get much snow. In fact, my sisters and I tend to make snarky comments about the way that Portlanders respond with terror to just a dusting of snow. We may just be a bit sarcastic about it. Yeah, one of my sisters lived in (obviously) snow-free Malaysia for a long time, but she used to live in Minnesota, and we're all from the midwest, so we know what real snow is. That's why I was a bit surprised at the panic in my sister's voice when she told me that Portland had gotten over a foot of snow. (Maybe it wasn't panic, but rather desperation from a mother who has been trapped indoors with two small children for a length of time.) At first I thought my sisters were both being melodramatic. I mean, hello, it's just snow, remember? You've dealt with a foot of snow before. But then they explained to me that Portland isn't equipped to deal with the snow like we expect from our cities. There are no snow plows or salt trucks or even drivers who know how to drive in snow. My brother-in-law doesn't even own a snow shovel, which is hard to comprehend. I guess this snow has completely incapacitated their city. One of our friends was stuck in the PDX airport for two days waiting to fly out. There was a groom on the news stuck at the airport who wasn't going to make it home for his own wedding. (My sister said that she bets the bride is really pissed.) A fire truck got stuck in the snow directly in front of my sister's house for an hour and a half. She said that Portland's mayor was on the tv, asking people if they can walk to any small business, to do so and support the businesses that have been hit so badly by the snow right before Christmas. Perhaps I wouldn't be such a fan of snow if I had to deal with all of that.
We're pretty snugged in here for Christmas. I've got a pecan pie baking right now for my husband and plan on putting in a pumpkin pie for the kid. I've laid in several bottles of merlot and a favorite cheap champagne for myself, heh heh. (No, I won't be the only one drinking it. Sheesh.) Tonight we're cooking good cuts of steak and tomorrow we'll fry up shrimp using a breading recipe that my husband got from an old veteran who used it for frying his catfish. I've got some guilt going that I didn't get around to Christmas cards this year. I'm ferverently hoping that no one crosses me off their card list for next year because of my holiday indiscretion. Our gifts are wrapped and under the tree. There aren't that many gifts, not necessarily a reflection of the poor economy or the fact that I sort of feel like we've been hemorrhaging money this month with the house renovations and the taxes due at the end of the year, but honestly, we try not to overdo it with gifts. It may be a reflection of how we were brought up. I'm one of four kids, so my parents couldn't really overdo it. My husband's parents simply didn't have the money. I will say one thing about the kid, even though he often drives me crazy, he certainly isn't a greedy child. His wish list included some books he wanted. (Okay, not to digress here, but one of the things that I'm deeply thankful about is that my child is a reader, a true book lover. Even though I stress, or obsess, constantly that the kid doesn't care enough about school and doesn't take grades seriously enough and I worry about his future, I am thankful that most nights I have to flip off his light in his bedroom because he's stayed up too late reading.) His one big gift is an iPod Nano. He's getting slippers because I'm tired of him always taking mine. My husband, a man of few needs, says he doesn't want anything and that the fancy Japanese toilet can be his gift. (I may put a bow on it.) I just got him a few small things. Me, if I'm going to be perfectly honest, I tend to buy what I want. If my husband is going to get me something, I'd want it to be personal, something I wouldn't buy myself. I did get a fabulous early Christmas gift, though. I found out that I got a spot for the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling in St. Louis in April. My friend, Jane, got a spot, too, (hooray!) so it will be wonderful to room with her and visit again.
Happy holidays to you and your family, regardless of the holiday you celebrate this time of year. My extended family celebrates it all and it's all good. Happy holidays!