Snow!!

I haven't had a white Christmas for nine years and still counting.  I *thought* I'd finally get it this year when the weather forecast predicted SNOW on Christmas day, but it came a day late.  I was rather glad in the end, because it was quite a storm and a lot of people would have had to cancel their Christmas plans.  Oh, and when I say "quite a storm" it was just an average day in Ontario...but here, it's a big deal.  And I say that without mockery, because snow in a city that rarely gets it, really is a different ordeal than Canada, where it's expected, dealt with, and life goes on.

Last year we got several feet of snow in just a short time, and even this Canadian girl was impressed (though I was unimpressed that even several days later when the roads were 100% clear, schools were still canceled and stores were closed...but that's a whole other story).  We were definitely unprepared for that storm.  The highways were a mess and John ended up spending two nights in the city because he couldn't get home.  When he did get back, shoveling himself in was quite a chore.  Shoveling himself out the following day, after yet another big dumping was an even bigger chore.  It took several hours.  The snow was heavy, and the plows went by (we park on the street, usually) and packed the snow in even harder around the car.  I insisted that most of the problem was a lousy shovel.  Seriously- it was lousy.

So this year, when my mom asked what John could use for his birthday in June, I said a snow shovel!!  Dad bought one that he really likes from the lumber yard he works for, and they bought a small red shovel for Joshua to help.  This, of course, thrilled Joshua to bits and pieces.

John's new shovel DID make a difference this year.  He likes it.  He also likes having Joshua by his side.  And by the way, his poor bare hands aren't really poor bare hands.  It was 55F that day and the snow was already melting when I took this picture.  

He hates his mittens; then again, I made a bad choice in style.  They have the fingerless gloves under the mitten-ed flip-top and they're a pain to get on.  The whole ordeal leaves Joshua quite frustrated.  I'm going to have to find another pair.  His current ones will be better next year.  

I'm loving the snow- it's so much prettier outside when a blanket of white snow covers an otherwise bleak and wintery world.  And maybe next year we will have a white Christmas!  Or perhaps we'll just have to go north to find it.  (I doubt it though- I'm not that desperate)