Last of the snow-blogging for today. Consider it a service to my friends and family in the South who may only have a passing acquaintance with water in this particular frozen form. 

Our terrace patio sometime today. Yes, the snow is getting close to a foot deep on the table. It has been snowing for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT. I am handling it pretty well, only feeling a little frayed around the edges. Coffee helps. 

The neighbor's yard this afternoon. (It's on a slope--it's not really 10-feet deep in snow, as might appear.) 

See the view out Hannah's bathroom window? No? That's because it is SNOWED OVER. 

Mid-snow today. Compare to the photo from yesterday. You can't see the bottom of the valley. 

It's War!

Hannah and John have had a battle of wills going over the state of her room for a couple of days. So far, to get out of cleaning up, Hannah has:

1. thrown a giant tantrum and locked herself in her room.

2. taken a 2+ hour bath.

3. read a Swedish book, because she knows that her dad would NEVER make her stop doing anything she willingly chose to do in Swedish. Closely related to this is 'learning': "Dad, I can't stop using the computer--I'm learning!" Yes, PBS is supposed to be educational, but playing games with Arthur and Buster may be a borderline case.

But John finally pulled out the big guns and told her no tv and no newest installment of her favorite film series if she doesn't get busy. So at least we can see the living room floor again. The movie may have come out on video by the time she finishes her room, though.

It's been snowing for THREE DAYS. If you don't hear from me for another week, assume I've gone insane. 

That's My Girl!

Despite having a friend over, Hannah was a bit bored yesterday afternoon (it was snowing), so she entertained herself for a few minutes by flipping through my unabridged dictionary. The pea doesn't fall far from the pod, eh?

Too Much of a Good Thing

We recently received a couple of belated Xmas presents in the mail, so we are now overflowing with love and macaroni and cheese. And garbage, because if you haven't heard, the garbage-men in Germany are on strike. But at least it snowed again, so the rats can't come out until it warms up a little.

But, the point of this post was to beg our loved ones not to send anything to us by mail anymore. We love all of the gifts, and they show that you obviously know us well and love us enough to choose them, but we have had a series of small cows on seeing how much people have had to cough up to the USPS to send them. Save your money and our blood pressure!

Thank you for your attention.

Strife at Chez Nee

On Sunday, John accidentally leaned on the shirt Hannah had just decorated with glitter glue and macaroni and had draped over the back of the couch to dry, smudging said glue and sending Hannah into an incoherent rage. She packed up her suitcase and declared her intention to run away to her friend's house a few doors down. Fortunately, it was already around 9 pm, so she decided to wait until the following day. She still hasn't completely made up her mind, but she's still here. Then again, I think the suitcase is still packed, ready and waiting to be called into action. So if you don't hear about Hannah for a while, it's because she has chosen to live with a new family, one that will not ruin her artistic endeavors.

It Never Fails

I posted the picture of the snowdrops last week, and we've had brief flurries of snow *twice* since then, including as I type. Un-believable! Well, not really, but a bit depressing nonetheless. Come on, Spring!

The Everyday at Chez Nee

Hannah's after-school program needs eggs for their East craft projects (blown-out, like for making cascarones). Even though I've mentioned it to him a few times, John keeps forgetting and cracking the eggs in half. So I asked if it would help him remember if I wrote on the egg carton: "BLOW ME!"