I think I'm onto something...

This is my lovely husband. Isn't he cute?

Four years ago during the winter Olympics, my mom said, "Doesn't Matt look like Bode Miller?" By Bode Miller, she meant the delicious American skier.

I've been thinking about Bode lately (no, no, not like that)...but he did just win the Bronze today. And I thought, my god, he does sort of look like Matt...or maybe I just have a thing for Bode.

This is Bode. He's cute, no? In an all-American sorta Matt-y way?

They both sort of have these slanty eyes. And sheepish smile. And I mean that in the most complimentary way.

So, yeah, I think my husband looks like Olympic skier Bode Miller. And that's not too bad in my book.

Digging Out

After the storm, the sun was bright.

My two furs (the dog and the human); looking very stoic.

We shoveled...by hand. Snow blowers be damned! And YES, I did help.

The reason I do what I do..... (not really).

The downed large branch, in the glistening light of day. Suddenly, it's not so irksome.

Matt, at the end of the drive, conquering the dreaded mound the snow plow leaves behind. (Would you believe I did the rest? No? Well, I did.)

She's usually not so stern in real life. She doesn't like her photo taken.

Yep; she's a bit irked.

Whiteout

Look, it's hard to get a clear shot in blizzard conditions. Plus, my dog model wasn't cooperating at all.

This is the shot I used for my updated winter banner, above. This is our backyard, with a tree about to come down. I heard some creaking, so I made like a bandit and got the heck outta there. Note: It's hard to run in two-plus feet of snow.

Oh, lookie here. This is a 40-foot "branch" that came down in the back. This is when I started shrieking and told Matt and Penny to get out of our rinky dink sun room for protection: it was like a blitzkrieg of falling trees!

View from my bedroom window. It looks more elegant from above. (When you go to street level you see all the branches are drooping haphazardly to the ground. It's all very disconcerting and pathetic.)

These are the first branches that fell. They fell on our roof, but that's okay. "You can take our shingles, but you can't take our freedom!"

I thought I'd leave you with this glamorous self-portrait. I need some mascara and a shower, but gosh darnit, I was going to brave this storm and take ridiculous, unflattering photos! You can thank me later.

A wintery mix

On Friday night when Matt was going out to pick up our Chinese take-out, he mentioned he was also going to get "some necessities" for the storm. The Chinese place is right next to a grocery store, so I just assumed....I dunno....chocolate milk, or something. Or his favorite cereal. But no. He drove another couple miles to the beer distributor. Here's his "necessity". But of course...

Philadelphia got 28.5 inches. We live in the suburbs and got perhaps 20. You say potato, I say pa-taut-o...tomato, ta-maut-o.

When I was shoveling, Matt was doing this.

And a bit of that. (He has big nostrils.)

Here's Penny the dog, supervising the shoveling effort (without much success)...but doesn't she look so stern?

Winter Wonderland

Matt shovels as I take out-of-focus, silly pictures.

Our backyard.

Front yard and street.

Penny enjoying the snow.

Penny VERY angry at me for:
1) throwing snow on her face, and
2) making her sit on the cold snow as I snap annoying photos.
(This is the angriest I've ever seen her!)