My husband reminds me of the energizer bunny--always going, always moving. I love that he does all the housework, washes our car, takes care of the yard, walks the dog several times a day regardless of the weather and but today he added a new activity. He actually shoveled the snow off our grass and into the street!
It was his idea to take the video of him doing this--he was very pleased with himself. He said, "I'd rather see all grass than that clump of snow. Does anyone else do this? The temperature is close to 58 degrees so far so I'm pretty sure it would have melted on it's own, but he didn't want to wait.
We had about six inches of snow here yesterday and it was HEAVY. Fortunately, I got out of work early at 3:30 and was home by 4:30. I spent one hour of my free time shoveling while Gerard walked the dog. Then he took over for another hour when he got back (don't usually get home until 6 p.m.). There was A LOT of snow! I sure got a good workout in that way. Fortunately I did not get a heart attack!
I wonder if there will be snow in heaven. I don't thinks it's mentioned in the Bible and even in the accounts I've read of people who died, saw heaven, and were revived never mentioned snow: Flight to Heaven--A Plane Crash, Lone Survivor, a Journey to Heaven and Back by Captain Dale Black, Heaven is For Real For Kidsas told by Colton Burpo, The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin and Alex Malarkey and Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent. Just beautiful bright flowers and colors, no snow. Yet, I wonder if there may be a section of snow in heaven for those who like it. I must admit it is pretty falling from the sky when it first comes and is kind of fun to walk in if it's not cold and windy. I know one thing for sure, we won't have to shovel snow in heaven! Yea!!!!
I highly recommend all the books I've mentioned. Click the links to see our reviews of them for further details. Here are a few teasers I thought I'd share with you:
While everyone was talking about my not living, Jesus said
to me that I would survive the accident. He also told me I would
breathe on my own after some time had passed.
From p. 30 of The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven by Kevin & Alex Malarkey
Suddenly I found myself suspended in midair, hovering over
the wreckage of my body. My gray pants and short-sleeve shirt were torn
to shreds and soaked in blood and fuel.
From p. 29 of Flight to Heaven (A Pilot's True Story)--A Plane Crash...A Lone Survivor...A Journey To Heaven--and Back by Capt. Dale Black
What do you think about snow in heaven? What is something you wonder about concerning heaven?
We got lots of snow yesterday but the temperature got up to 40 degrees so I got to go to West Creek Park. As you can see from the video, I like the snow. It is great fun to walk in the deep snow and I like to dig into it with my snout. Sometimes I get snow on my face and head which makes my humans laugh. Since my mom's New Year's Resolution this year is to move more, I'm hoping I will get to move more too. I will try my best to get her to come along on my walks this year. Do you think she will?
Just yesterday when it was so cold outside I said at least we didn't have snow. In fact, we made it all the way to Dec. 11 without having to shovel here in Parma, Ohio. Then this morning, we woke up to this:
Although the temperature is only 11 degrees, I am thankful there is no wind today because I cleaned off the car and shoveled without getting cold. I dressed very warm. Got in some great exercise this way too to start the day!
Friday Fragments is hosted my Half-Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. Here we go:
Malawi
We were notified that our Operation Christmas Child box was sent to Malawi. I never heard of this place but it's in Africa. Forty-five percent of Malawi’s 16.3 million people are 14-years-old or younger.
Now the urgent need is to provide the volunteers and follow-up material to teach the children to become faithful followers of Jesus.
We Got Snow!
We were blasted with snow on Wednesday. Gerard is off all week but I had to go to work. I was surprised when the office closed at 2:00 p.m. and we were told we could go home! Usually, downtown is like a parking lot when a snow storm hits, but today the traffic was light and we moved along pretty good. It was great getting home before dark! Gerard wore his new boots today and was amazed that his socks were dry after walking Abby in 3-4" of snow and shoveling the drive.
Cats and Google
Cats are the most popular animal on Google! According to the Freekibble site, When you google "cat", you'll get more than 2.4 billion "results"... almost double any other animal!
Old Boots
When I got to work yesterday, my socks were all wet. Then I looked at my boots and no wonder! The sole was all cracked. Guess it's time for new boots. Fortunately, I had an extra pair of socks at work for just a time as this. I have more to tell about this, but will make a whole post about it.
The day after New Year’s we were both off work and we had snow. I figured I didn’t have to go out at all so it didn’t bother me, but then in the afternoon, I felt like I should at least go for a walk and get a little exercise in. I joined Gerard and Abby, our dog, for one of their afternoon walks. I made it to the corner of our street and decided it was too cold, so let them continue on without me and I went back to my warm house.
Unfortunately, when I got to the porch I realized that I didn’t have my keys with me. Not intending to go outside, I left them on my dresser that morning. UGH! Well, off I went to track down Gerard and Abby. It actually was kind of fun following their footprints in the fresh snow. They were the only ones there which made it very easy which was good because they always go different ways.
In my desire to catch up quickly before they got too far away, I even ran! This was way more exercise than I planned on having, but was kind of fun. They were pretty far along by the time I caught up, so then I just kept on going along with them for the rest of the walk.
One of the benefits of having a dog is that you do actually get more exercise. Because the temperature warmed up to 30 degrees today, we took Abby to the park for the first time this year. I seriously doubt if we didn't have the dog that we would have went. As you can see from the video, we had about six inches of snow on the ground. Abby loved it as you can see by her tail constantly wagging. Gerard and I enjoyed being out together too and we only saw four other people and only one other dog as we were leaving! It was pretty deserted.
Abby wants to add her comments:
Abby Dabby Doo Enjoying The Snow
I am very lucky to have such a good home. I hope you liked my video and it inspires you to take your dog to the park. Did you see my legs were all hidden in the deep snow? I like the colder weather so much better than the hot. I could be out here for hours! Karen really wanted to get a good picture of the snow on my snout and finally got this one right before we left. I just was so excited and happy, I could hardly stay still long enough and so much to see and sniff! Happy snow days to you! Woof! Woof!
We had a good snow fall here--over 4 inches at least and the two things that drive me batty are back: (1) people who walk in the street against traffic and (2) people on bikes without even any reflective clothing!
It's hard enough to battle the snow, black ice and potholes without these two things yet. Am I wrong?
I could moan and grown about the snow, but instead I choose to enjoy it and make the most of it. When at the eye doctor last week I happened to pick up a magazine that had instructions for making a snowman that I thought I would try. I always thought you just rolled the snow into three balls and stacked them on top of each other, but this article said you should do it this way:
1. Use a shovel and pile up the snow in a big pile.
2. Use your hands to sculpt your snowman.
3. Make it on a platform so it's not right on the ground.
4. When finished, our water on it to make it last longer.
Yesterday the snow came and came and came in Cleveland. When I talked to Gerard at lunch time, he said he would leave the car in the corner parking lot for me and would call me probably a little after 5:00 when he got there to let me know he made it okay. Well, I got my cell phone ready at the bus stop and waited for his call, praying for him to get home safely the whole time. At 5:40 he called to let me know he was STILL downtown, not even to the ramp yet to get on the interstate. Traffic was not moving.
Why is it on snowy days people don't want to stop for the red lights at major intersections? This is what causes the gridlocks when drivers continue going when there is no room to go so they get stuck blocking the intersection. One lady actually stood in the middle of the street trying to direct traffic and get the drivers to stop at the red light before blocking the intersection. She was very brave but it was a futile effort. She kept yelling for the drivers to stop but they wouldn't! I was hoping she wouldn't get hit! The streets were snow covered and slippery. Finally, a policeman took over and had a little more success than the lady did.
It snowed the whole day and Gerard had to drive home in white-out conditions. On days like this, I am thankful I take the bus. Although I had to wait 50 minutes for the bus to come, at least I was in a bus shelter, dressed warm enough that I wasn't cold at all and even was able to sit down to wait for it. Mostly, I was worried about Gerard because I was in good shape. When my bus came, I could sit back and read my book while praying for Gerard to make it home safely. It normally takes me an hour to get home, but yesterday it took me 2 1/2 hours.
I shoveled the front while Gerard walked Abby, then watched The Biggest Loser and didn't go near the computer. Gerard shoveled the drive in the back and watched the end of the Celtics game. We were both so glad to finally be home and get to relax!
Doesn't this make you want to move to Cleveland? Gerard said this morning he wishes he were retired right now and living in Florida!
(Pictures taken on my afternoon break. It was 27 degrees and fortunately, not a strong wind. Didn't take any pictures at the bus stop because I was focused on waiting for Gerard's call so held onto my cell phone.)
I got inspired by Kathy's The Snow Thing post at the junk drawer and decided to try making a snow bunny of my own. My cats both sat on the dining room table cheering me on! Here is the snow bunny I made Sunday afternoon on our porch: I think his eyes are his best feature, but his ears aren't so bad either. After I got home after a hard day of work with my new assignment, I was saddened to see someone stole my bunnies eyes. Can you believe it?
The snow was very pretty on the trees when I was driving to church early this morning. I felt like I was on a country road and I wish I had my camera with me. by the time I went back in the afternoon to get a picture of the pretty trees covered with snow, it had melted. So sad. I am still trying to get in the habit of taking my camera along everywhere I go.
I am hoping we still have good snow for next Sunday when I have my boys over from my Sunday School class. We would play snow football and do some more snow sculptures. This is a picture of our front yard full of snow.
Abby's favorite activity is chasing squirrels plus she loves the snow so Saturday, we took her to Snow Road park and just let her lead wherever she wanted to go. It finally warmed up to upper 30s and there was still plenty of snow on the ground so I thought it would be fun to take Abby to the park.
She bounded right into the snow and started sniffing around. There were quite a few squirrels at the park on the ground and we would run after them with Abby leading and Gerard or me following along running as fast as we could to try to keep up with her. We had fun tromping through the snow too and of course, I bundled up so wasn't cold. We did manage to take a few pictures.
I sat on the swing for a little bit but then was up and running again when Abby spotted another squirrel. It's so fun to watch her run and enjoy herself outdoors! There were a couple other dogs there too which Abby had to sniff but she didn't bark at them. She did bark at the squirrels when they ran up the trees to safety.
It seems so unfair that we get to enjoy our days while over in Haiti, people are struggling to survive the earthquake and find their loved ones, hoping they are still alive. We need to pray for these people, their country, and the rescue workers that they will be able to get the help distributed to the people in need in a timely fashion. You can also help by donating to the effort through The American Red Cross site.
Life's Most Urgent Question: What are you doing for others? --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
First we had to dust the cobwebs off the toboggan which hasn't been used for several years. It was one of those things I left at dad's when I got married and only retrieved it when he died and I was going through his garage.
Gerard (as we were leaving): "We're too old for this. This is kiddie stuff."
Karen: "No we're not. As long as we can sit on the ground and still get up, we can do this!"
Gerard: The last time I went sledding was a long time ago with my sister when I banged into the tree.
Karen: Well, that's why you're a little scared. This is wide open, no trees!
We went to the Ridgewood Golf course nearby our house and were surprised to see we had the whole hill to ourselves! This was probably a good thing because we didn't have to worry about running into anyone or anyone running into us. I did think someone would be there that could take our picture, but we managed ourselves as you can see from these shots. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot but I don't know where all the people were that owned them. We saw one guy putting away his skis as we were leaving. I was just happy we didn't run into the water off to the right and neither of us got hurt--it was fun! The temperature was up in the 40s today too so we had a perfect day to go.
Afterward our conversation went like this:
Karen: This is fun!
Gerard: I had a good time. I had fun too. Thanks for taking me. This was a good idea you had.
Karen: We'll just leave the toboggan in the van so it's ready for next time when we want to go.
Gerard: I'm sure we'll get some more snow before the winter ends.
Take a look at the short video to see how much fun we had. Then we stopped at the Mall for a Valentine's gift for me and then off for lunch at Stake-n-Shake where we each got a free hot fudge Sundae and Gerard got a free Coke!
This sure beats shoveling!
UPDATED 2/19/10: I linked this up to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop because one of the prompts this week was to write about a February picture from another year. This is one of my favorites!
