Heeeere's Johnny!

Introducing Johnny the hamster.

When I asked Sammy what he wanted to name his new hamster, he didn't hesitate a second before replying "Johnny".  Why, I have no idea.  As far as I know, he doesn't know anyone named Johnny, and I can't think of a single cartoon that has a character named Johnny.  A few hours later, Sammy asked me if he could really name the hamster anything he wanted.  When I said yes and asked if he wanted to change the name, he said, "Yes.  His name is Johnny the cow."  Indeed.  But we're still calling him Johnny for short.

Today, it started snowing at about noon.  I'd heard we were going to receive 7 or more inches of snow, so it was no surprise and I was happy that I'd get home before the worst of it hit (as most of you probably already know, I leave work at 1:00 every day).  My bus was about 10 minutes late, and when it finally arrived - it was packed to the gills.  No room for any more people.  That really stunk because the next bus wasn't for an hour.  Thankfully, Ron is home with the kids for now so I didn't have to worry about having to get the kids from daycare on time.  So I took advantage of the unexpected free time and walked over to the IDS center, bought myself a cup of coffee and sat down to relax with my book.

2:30 came - time for the next bus.  I walked to the bus stop, but walked all the way to the second stop on the line this time, figuring that way I'd for sure get on the next bus.  At 3:05, over half an hour late, the bus finally came.  Again, it was jam-packed full of people, every spare inch of space filled with a commuter eager to get home before the storm got any worse.

By this time, I was getting disgusted.  Fifteen minutes later, another bus came and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was finally a double bus.  Finally, there'd be room for me.  Nope.  Not a chance.

I walked to the first stop on the route - an indoor, underground ramp - and could hardly step off the bottom of the escalator for all the other people who had the same idea.  I'm happy to say that I finally managed to get on the next bus, at 3:30.  Then it took another 45 minutes for the bus to travel the 12 blocks to get out of downtown.  And another 45 minutes on the freeway.  And then another half an hour for me to drive home from the park & ride.  All in all, it took me four and a half hours to get home tonight.  Spring can't come soon enough this year.

One funny story to end this post.  It was beautiful outside...was it just yesterday?  Maybe the day before?  Right now, it seems like it's been snowing forever and it's hard to remember.  Anyway - whichever day it was, it was about 40 degrees outside and the snow was nice and sticky, just right for making snowmen.  Sammy wanted to go outside and make Frosty, so we did.  When we finished our snowman, Sammy watched for a few minutes, then asked why he wasn't moving.  He couldn't figure out why Frosty wasn't coming to life like he does in the song.

  

If I Was a Sculptor...But Then Again, No

In a normal winter, we have a one-week January thaw. This winter has been anything but normal. So when we had a whopping 12-hour winter thaw on Saturday - the very last day of January - I could hardly contain my excitement. However, you could almost hear the weather forecasters sighs of disappointment, since if we'd made it through Sunday without temps above freezing, it would have been the longest such stretch since the history of recorded temperatures. Personally, I'm glad we didn't make that record.


Because it's been too cold all winter, the snow has been powdery - good for skiiers, bad for wanna-be sculptors. So we took advantage of Saturday's weather to do some sculpting.


My feeble attempt at making a snowbunny - I think it looks more like a cat pregnant a dozen babies. (I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do....)




My husband, the artist, did a better job with his snow-lion.


Sampling the snow.


My view from the ground, when I was making a snow angel. The snow was such a gorgeous blue color that day.

Then, the cold winter winds blew in and all that we're left with is the memory of that beautiful day. And a yard full of ice.

Living in a Winter Wonderland

It has been so freaking cold this winter.  I'm disappointed, because we couldn't go to the Holidazzle Parade this year, and we also haven't been able to take advantage of free ice-skating. You see, I'm rather fond of my kids - I'd hate to lose them to hypothermia.  So we've been spending A LOT of time indoors.  My sanity is suffering because of it.  Do you know what it's like to be trapped inside a smallish house with two kids under the age of three for AN ENTIRE WEEKEND?  I'd imagine it's a lot like being pecked to death by chickens.  Really loud chickens.  Who like to risk their necks by climbing up on tall things, and also? pulling every single tissue out of a Kleenex box, one by one, leaving a sodden mess on the living room carpet.  Because OF COURSE Kleenex must also be shredded into tasty bite-size pieces, then chewed up and spit out after the flavor is gone.

But!  On Saturday, it was actually warm outside.  (Ha - everything is relative.  Three months ago, I would have called 20 degrees unbearable.  Now, I'm all like, is that with a minus sign in front or not?  Did you say above zero?  Pour me a pina colada!)  

In addition to being warm, we got about 5 inches of snow.  So we bundled up and went outside to enjoy the brief respite from below-zero temperatures.  Approximately 12 hours later, the temperature dropped 40 degrees and we were dropped harshly back to the reality that is winter in Minnesota.

(Not long after this picture was taken, Natalie realized there was no hope of getting back up on her own while wearing all that clothing.  After that whenever she fell, she lay on her back, like an overturned turtle, waiting patiently for someone to come and help her stand up again.)