"It is snow to be shoveled, to make driving even worse than usual, snow to be joked about and cursed at, but unless the child in you is entirely dead, it is snow, too, that can make the heart beat faster when it catches you by surprise that way, before your defenses are up. It is snow that can awaken memories of things more wonderful than anything you ever knew or dreamed." — Frederick Buechner

 

I was like a little kid the past two days being excited for all the snow that was coming down. I got to have two extra days off of work. I think the staff are almost as excited for snow days as the students are even if we have to do some work from home. 

Once I got my school work done I just enjoyed the days for what they were...free days. 

 I made Rochester Cookies, my all time favorite cookie. And after I made them I tried to stop myself from eating them all without much success. 

I sat around and read my book Feral By Emily Pennington 

It is a great book and loved that I was able to just relax and read the day away. 

We got so much snow that it has almost buried our  four foot fence. I am glad that my dogs fall though the snow when they try and walk on it. And I am glad that they do not like the snow because otherwise they might just walk over the fence and out of the yard. 

Rick on the other hand did not enjoy the snow as much as me since he cleaned it all off the driveway. He is such a good guy, he even went over to the neighbors and helped him clean off his huge driveway and deck. 

The dogs were also not so pleased with me being home because I gave them both a bath and a much needed haircut. But I think they forgave me because they both look so cute now. 

This afternoon I bundled up and went for a walk. I was very happy that the city had already plowed the bike path and most of the homeowners had cleaned off their  sidewalks. When we get 12 plus inches of snow it is a lot of work to clean up everything so fast. It is so peaceful walking in winter. 

I hope you all bring out the child in yourselves and go out and enjoy the snow a little. 

Go make a snow angle...

Sharon 

"This morning, with her having Coffee." -Johnny Cash (WHEN ASKED FOR HIS DEFINITION ABOUT PARADISE)

 

Happy 13th Anniversary to my favorite person in the world.  It has been a great year and we have had so many adventures. 

You go along with all of my plans even when it involves longer then I may have told you hikes..

You let me go out fishing with you and even let me out fish you every once in awhile..

You pretend that I am not the slowest biker in the world when you have to wait for me all the time. And you don't make fun of me when I am too scared to bike down the hills when we are mountain biking. 

You have taken over pretty much all the cooking in the house and make me brunch every Sunday morning and your fabulous pizza every Sunday evening. 

 On adventures or just everyday life you are always there for me, you are my paradise...

I can't wait to see what this years adventures will be with you....

Tell someone what they mean to you today...

Sharon 

“The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.” – M.K. Clinton

 

Today it is eight years since Otis came into our lives. When we adopted him we had no history on him other than he was turned in as a dog that had been on the run and someone picked him up. I saw his picture and bio on Pet Finders before we were leaving on a vacation. I told Rick if he is still available when we get back I am going to go meet him. Well he was and I did and I came home with him. 

They told me they thought he was one to two years old. I would say he was closer to one year old because he was all puppy. Well really he may have been a puppy but he has always acted like a crabby old man. 

But we love him and all of his antics. He has so much personality. He can be totally stand offish with you but once he decides you are worthy he will let you touch him...will he has a rule that he will come sit by you and you are allowed to touch him up to three times after that you get a look that says if you touch me again I am going to bit your finger off...

But once you are on his good side he will be your friend for life. 

We have taken Otis with us on all of our travels. He is a great travel dog. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of Otis and Morgan. We were at White Sands National park in New Mexico and we let the dogs take off running. They were so happy to run free. 

Otis will claim that he does not want to go on hikes with us but I think he secretly loves it..

But the thing that is most important about Otis is that he is a best friend to Morgan..

Happy Adoption Day Otis! 

Give your dog a little extra love today...

Sharon 

"Happy or unhappy, families are all mysterious. We have only to imagine how differently we would be described - and will be, after our deaths - by each of the family members who believe they know us." -Gloria Steinem

 One of our local news papers, the Waseca County Pioneer does a feature each week called "Meet Your Neighbor". It is always fun to read about people that we may or may not know and find out just a little about them. They put it out on Facebook that they wanted people to submit the answer to the questions they ask and send them in. I thought it was fun to answer the questions here, because I don't want to be in the paper :) 

So here you go, here is a little about me....

Name: Sharon 

Town: Waseca, MN

Age: 60

Birthplace: Faribault, MN

Family: Married, three daughters, three son-in-laws, six grandchildren ranging from 16 to 3 and two dogs 

Occupation: My retirement job is a Paraprofessional at Waseca High School in the DCD room. Before that I retried from Carleton College after 19 years working as a Security Guard 

Hobbies: Reading, sewing, walking, running, hiking, traveling in our camper van, biking and fishing

My dream vacation would be: Traveling to Croatia

The best thing about small town living is: Being able to walk the whole town

Last Good Book I read: Sinister Graves (A Cash Blackbear Mystery) by Marcie R. Rendon

Favorite TV show: Alaska the Last Frontier

Sports Team: Waseca Bluejays Boys Tennis team 

Favorite musical artists: John Denver 

My favorite activities when growing up: Biking to White Sands swimming pool with my cousins and swimming the days away. 

My biggest pet peeve: When people say to me "your really tiny, how much do you weigh" 

The best advice I've ever received: From my Grandpa, he always said travel now and see the world while you are young  and heathy because you don't know when your health will fail and then it will be too late. 

If you could have lunch with any one person, living or dead: Gloria Steinem

Something about my that would surprise people: That I never ran until I was 40 and then went on to run several half marathons and countless 5K and 10K races 

What is your biggest regret in life: I don't really have one, I always say I would not do anything different in my life because then I would not be me and I would not have learned from my past. 

What is your favorite quote: "To many people think life is a spectator sport" -Katharine Hepburn

What's the one thing you would tell your 20-year old self: Be yourself and stop worrying about what others think of you. 

So there you have it, a little bit about me. It is kind of fun to think about all the questions...

Keep moving

Sharon