Where is Winter?

The state of mud duck has the real 4 seasons......at least it is supposed to.

Today I spied a female jogging down the sidewalk in shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Nothing to strange in that unless you take into consideration that we should have about 2 feet of snow and be barely above zero on the thermometer. I even saw folks out tooling around on their motorcycles for Pete's sake. One unfortunate (i.e. STUPID) soul drove his brand new truck out onto the ice....and promptly went through.

While I'm not really complaining about the mild winter we are currently experiencing, it is a little odd. My sweetie has spent quite a bit of dough for this fantastic ice shack and all the creature comforts you could think of to go in it. But he cannot use it....and give me some blessed alone time.

My SIL purchased a new sled (mud duck speak for snowmobile) and all the gear for her family to safely ride it. No snow. And they are about as far north as you can get and still be in the continental US.

My son received a sled (no mud duck speak here) as a present this year. He thinks it is a surfboard.

At times these mild winters that we have been having are starting to scare me. I mean, how badly have we messed with nature to where she changing the climate. What is winter going to be like in the state of Mud Duck 20 years from now???

Don't Expect Mail

I got a butt load of Christmas cards in the past two days. Most of them were those adorable pictures of families in a winter setting or of the family pet with an appropriate seasonal hat.

Some contained those yearly letters. You know the ones where they tell all about the fantastic things that have happened over the past year. I must confess that I love to read these, especially if they are written with some humor. All that bragging must be accompanied by some humor. It's a rule.

One even thanked me for some charitable work I had recently done AND berated that work all in the same sentence. Yeah, Happy Holidays to you too!! Nothing like the nicely sarcastic Christmas wish to get you in the holiday mood.

Anyway, I admire all of those that make the effort each year to have their holiday cards made. And then take the time to address, seal and stamp each card. On top of that, those of you who sit down and take the time to produce these newsletters full of pictures and astounding accomplishments utterly amaze me.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm a touch lazy? No? See the previous post.

I don't do Christmas cards. I have really never understood the whole concept. I'd rather spend my $50-$100 on gifts for ME! And there isn't anyway I could sit down and write glowing praises for my families accomplishments right now. (Maybe late at night when they are all sleeping)

Why doesn't anyone write that their dog is still pooping in the house, or how their 4 year old son has mastered the "F" word to the delight of his Grandmother. How about teenage daughter deciding that she wasn't going to come home one night or the youngest has turned into a gold miner......trying to get it out of his own nose.

Heaven help my family if I ever decide to give this annual newsletter/Christmas card thing a shot. But for now, don't expect mail from me.

Twinkle Twinkle

I hung Christmas lights on my house this year for the first time. One unseasonably warm day in November, I got a bug up my butt to hang lights. I have always loved driving around at night and seeing all the brilliant twinkly lights. I thought, "We must have those too."

So I spent the afternoon going up and down the ladder so much that I realized I don't use my butt muscles that much. (Going up and down the stairs the next day was quite the treat)

I attached the little clips the specified 6" apart on the shingles of the roof. I ran the icicle lights through the slots and dutifully backtracked to straighten out said lights so that they all hung down beautifully.

I made a run to the local mass merchant to get more extension cords. I decided against getting a timer because really, what lazy person cannot plug in their lights? Oh and I just happened to pick up 6 more boxes of twinkles.

I made sure that my extension cords were hidden from view. I wrapped and re-wrapped those 6 new strings of lights around bushes and miniature Christmas trees. I even unearthed from the bowels of the garage a hideous yet endearing plastic Santa that LIT UP!

I was so pleased with my accomplishment. I envisioned how beautiful my house would look to others driving by at night. How they would point and say, "How pretty." or "Ohhhhh, look."

Did I happened to mention about not getting the timer? And how I thought people who bought those where lazy and I felt very smug for saving my $20 for something else?

Ask me how many times my house has been pointed at because it looks so lovely with the lights aglow? Ask me how many nights those lights have actually been on? I wouldn't need all five fingers to show you.

Hello nice to meet you, I'm LAZY!!!!

All that work and those lights have been plugged in a handful of times. (Yeah, that's pushing it) And now it's a sure bet that when it comes time to take 600 hundred feet of lights down, it isn't going to be unseasonably warm. I'll be lucky if it is above zero out.

Hmmm, I wonder if I could be that neighbor that never takes down their lights............because hey, I'M LAZY!!