Merry Christmas Eve

Here we are. Dec 24th ... already. I know we have a week left in this year, but my god this year went fast. 

The "excitement" over the last week has been the snow and ice. Yes! Snow! And Ice. Y'all know how much I loath snow and ice. It's beautiful. But it really doesn't belong on the roads. 

But before I get to that, let's talk about wine. 

Janet and I went wine tasting for like the second time this year. Far cry from years past where we got out a lot more to taste wine. I bought us the wine passports for next year so hopefully we'll get out more. 

We hit three wineries and I ended up bringing home 3 bottles of wine. And Janet actually bought a bottle of wine. 

As we sat at the first winery the snow started coming down. I was freaking out internally because I didn't want to drive in it. Thankfully it was still to warm so nothing was sticking, so we continued on to the other two wineries. 

I decided on the way home from wine tasting that, based on the forecast, I should probably go to the store and buy a couple more meals and the ingredients for Christmas dinner. The last thing I wanted was to NOT be able to actually cook Christmas dinner because I couldn't get out to buy ingredients. 

I'm so glad I did. Sunday afternoon the snow started. Just a skiff, but snow all the same. 

The snow started in earnest on late Monday night into Tuesday last week. I had 6" again on my back deck. It just kept coming. All....day...long. I shoveled my drive way three times during the day. Learning from last year that if I don't shovel as the snow comes down, then it's too heavy to shovel when it's done. I'm so very glad I did shovel. Kept my driveway nice and clean...for no one. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere, but just in case someone came to see me. 

On top of all that snow was frigid temperatures. It got cold. One day I woke up and it was 16 F outside. SIXTEEN! Reminded me of the days in Minot, ND and how much I hated snow then (I was in 2nd grade. You'd think a kid would like snow. Not this kid.)

The frigid temps caused freezing rain and all the roads in the Seattle area were covered in a thick layer of ice. I went out briefly just to see it and my clear driveway looked ok, but it was slicker than slick. I couldn't believe the number of people who were out on the roads too. Even though the advice was to stay inside. So I spent a good part of the day watching the news and seeing all these cars slide down hills and crashing into other cars. 

So, I've been stuck inside for almost a week. A week! Gah. While I've gotten out to walk around, it's not the same as getting in my car and going anywhere I want, like to go get coffee. Blueberry stopped by on Wednesday with a hot chocolate for me. She knows me too well. 

So here we are, the day before Christmas and it's finally raining. It's a balmy 41F outside this morning. My drive is slowly melting which means maybe, maybe, by tomorrow I could go out. Which is ironic since there's no place to really go that'll be open. 

And so on this melting Christmas eve, I wish all my friends and families (and my enemies) a very merry Christmas! Enjoy being with your friends and family. Hug them all. Tell them you love them and remember that before you know it, it'll be 2023!!