Winter blues

One of the things we hated most about living in Kansas City was the winters.  I remember my very first winter in KC...boy was it a rude awakening!  I never even owned a heavy, winter coat until I moved there.  My husband, being a California boy, hated winter just as much, if not more than I did.  Last winter was the absolute worst.  There was a blizzard over Christmas.  Fortunately, we were in Florida visiting friends, but the remnants of the blizzard waited to greet us when we got home; giant piles of snow everywhere!  I was stunned.  I remember driving down Ward Road thinking, "I've NEVER seen the snow piled this high."  Just a few short days later, we got another 8 or so inches.  I remember because I was planning a surprise 30th birthday party for my hubby on the 8th of January, and it was almost cancelled due to the snow.  Fortunately, it was a huge success!  Usually in Kansas City, we get what I referred to as "freak nice days" during the winter months.  That's a day in January or February when the temps soar to the 60's and the sunshine is plentiful!  Last year, we had none.  In fact, I don't think we got above freezing the entire month of January.  We spent most of our days in the single digits and teens.  We even had a late season snow!  My baby shower was March 20th, and it was almost cancelled due to the ten inches of snow that fell that day!  When my hubby was offered the job in Austin at the end of January, we were tempted to move right away!  We despise winter!

So far, we've loved the weather in Texas.  It is so beautiful!  We actually had a very mild summer.  We only had about 25 days with highs in the 100's.  That may sound like a lot, but it's really not.  We also had a very wet summer, which is unusual too.  After the beginning of September, the rain turned off, and we enjoyed a span of perfect weather.  Sunshine and warmth were the norm.  Last week, we even had five days in a row in the 70's.  We were playing outside with Juliet every afternoon and wearing shorts, t's and flip-flops!  It was amazing!  Then over the weekend, we got hit with this nasty cold front that has conquered most of the country.  Of course, I can't really complain.  Today's high was near 40 degrees, which isn't bad at all.

What cracks me up are the locals.  They are so funny to my husband and me.  "Tomorrow, we will finally break this cold snap after being below zero for almost 80 hours." Said the weatherman last night.  We laughed!  80 hours???  Try the entire month of January!  They also had about 30 straight minutes of discussion on the preparation for the "deep freeze" and the snow that was forecast.  We were expected to get 1-2 inches; we only got about 1/2 an inch.  I was supposed to go to the gym this morning to meet with my trainer.  When I turned on the news, ALL the schools were closed, plus the two major highways in town were shut down in various places due to fatality accidents.  What??  All because of this dusting?  When you don't have plows or salt, it really makes a difference.  Needless to say, my appointment ended up getting canceled. It made me laugh a little because I can remember driving to work (as a teacher in Kansas City) in much worse weather.  So, we've spent a nice cozy day at home.  My husband even spent the morning working from his desk upstairs, only going in to the office around noon.

Of course, we couldn't let the photo op pass us by.  We bundled Juliet up this morning and took some pictures of her and the snow.  I told my hubby that when she's older and complains that it never snows here, we can show her these pictures!  She did not like the snow much.  She's definitely a Texas girl.  We put her hand in the snow so she could feel it, and after squishing it around in her hand for about fifteen seconds, she started crying.  Needless to say, she was glad to be back inside the warmth of our home.  But we got our photos!  The best part about living in Texas is that I know the cold will end expeditiously.  In fact, tomorrow's high should be around 60.  While I enjoyed the little bit of snow we received today and I'm thankful for the pictures we got, I'm also glad it's mostly melted now, and we have warmer weather in store for tomorrow.  Yup, I think it's safe to say, I'm officially a Texan!  Winter be gone!!