This is one time I hope the weather man is wrong!

Here we are at the end of January with still no end to winter in sight.  The past two winters, by mid-January we had a bit of a reprieve.  We were past the bitter cold and most of the snow.  We got 10 inches of snow 12 days ago, and it has not all melted yet.  Another storm of "historic proportion" is supposedly headed our way.

Here's the word from one of our local news stations, KSDK:
"A Winter Storm Warning is in effect Monday morning through Wednesday morning.  Significant ice accumulations (.25" to .5") Monday into Tuesday will be followed by a powerful snowstorm Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon with most areas getting 8" to 12" and some, especially north of St. Louis, 16" or more. Tuesday night through Wednesday morning very strong winds are likely further stressing trees and power lines."

Ugh.  James and I spent a little while this evening getting prepared for the worst.  If we loose electricity, we will still be able to cook on our gas range.  It just has to be manually lit, and we tested it today with no problem.  We will still have some heat too, thanks to our gas fireplace - it has to be manually lit no matter what.  I went to the grocery store to get my staples for bad weather: canned tuna and peanut butter.  And, no I do not eat them together :-)  It is going to be so cold that we will just move the food in the fridge out to a cooler in the garage, if need be.  James went out to get some other items.  We've got plenty of candles, flashlights, and batteries.  We should be OK.  I'm just ready for winter to be over.  I've got an appointment in the city (40 min from home) tomorrow morning, and I really want to be able to make it there.

January Snow

We had snow on Christmas, but we were not here to see it.  It started snowing last night.  I took the day off, and stayed inside for most of the day.  I think the snow is beautiful, but my body doesn't adjust well to these cold temps.  Growing up in the south, I never thought I would ever come to think of 30 F as "warm."  Well, 30 degrees is warm to me now.  In fact, I make myself get outside with the dogs and walk them along our walking trail whenever it is above 30 F in the winter.  I cannot stand to be outside long at all when the temperature is below 20, and that's what it has been today.  I wanted to take a few pictures of our doggies playing in the snow, so I bundled up and went outside.  I put on long socks that went up to my knees, two pairs of pants, two shirts, a hat, a jacket, and hiking boots.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

 backyard

 front yard

 I want to go inside!

 We are going to mail the photos of the two of us and one with both of the dogs in it to our Compassion child in Ethiopia.  It never snows in Ethiopia.  There is not even a word for snow in their national language.  So, I think he will enjoy these pictures.