Well Winter, It's Offical...

view to our backyard

And I seriously thought about hanging laundry out all Winter.

I laugh at my ignorance :)

I am completely done with this winter. Often lately I feel like a big whiny poo, complaining about the cold and the snow. This winter has really been dragging me down and the other day I sat down and tried to figure out why. I'm done with dealing with illness. Between Sam, Rachel, and me we have had very few healthy days since mid-November. I'm so over shoveling and trying to figure out where to put all the snow. I'm completely fed up with the extreme cold. I'm starting to launch a serious campaign of "Let's move somewhere without Winter."

And when I read the blogs of other people, it seems that I'm not the only one feeling a little down from the effects of this cold spell we've all been experiencing. Misery loves company, I guess :)

our former front steps

We only use our back entrance and, 

until this becomes a shoveling priority, our guests will too.

So on Tuesday I went out and took some pictures (in the -32 windchill) of the snow that surrounds our house. I feel a little more justified complaining when I look at these pictures. A little. That's a lot of snow.

And let me be clear, if it was just Dave and I, this weather would be annoying but easier. (This is not to say  it wouldn't be hard, but I don't think I would be so discouraged by it.) I find this winter, with a lot of snow and cold weather, way more frustrating because I have to get Sam to school and back twice a day, and normally Rachel comes along on that trek. I feel like I am constantly bundling and unbundling them, trying to convince them to keep their mittens on (Rachel way more so than Sam) and trying to navigate sidewalks (which usually aren't cleared enough for a stroller to get through but often cleared too much for a toboggan) with them.

Can you even tell our car is in this picture???

And those ornaments are staying on the tree until Spring!

Thankfully the weather seems to be taking a turn for the "slightly warmer" and being outside will be just a little more pleasant for the next while. Also, earlier this week, I had a brainwave and asked my friend who lives three doors down if she could watch Rachel when it's below -30C with windchill and I need to get Sam to, or from, school. That's worked out well so far and Rachel isn't spending half an hour at a time outside when it's so frigidly cold.

I promise that tomorrow I will be a lot cheerier, but today I just needed to get this out there. Have I mentioned that I am just really ready for Spring? Until then I going to be working a little harder on that "Let's move South" campaign...