If I hear "how are you surviving the snow?" one more time I'll scream!!!

I and my kids just had our very first white Christmas ever. And it was every bit as magical as all the songs describe it, as all the Christmas cards pictures show, and all the talk about it. It snowed on Christmas Eve, and it was just like a Norman Rockwell painting. We were sitting around the tree in our living room, fire in the fireplace, the dog curled up in front of it, our three cats sacked out in varying places around the room (one under the tree among the presents). I took some pics and we all just for a moment, watched the snow coming down outside the window, and just took a deep breath, taking in the whole beauty of the moment. We laughed and wondered how the heck we ended up here, but glad we were. Then we started tearing open the gifts--and the magic of the snow was soon relegated to back burner status.

We are one month into our first winter here in Wisconsin, and so far so good. We are actually enjoying the snow SO much, the kids and I all commented that we can't imagine not living where they get snow in winter! Seriously! We have a huge backyard, 1 acre, and we have a little hill that's great for sledding. The kids spend hours outside sledding. They have gotten very creative, making jumps and icing their sleds so they'll go faster. Ian took the wheels off his skateboard and made a make-shift snowboard, and he's gone from crashing constantly to being able to stay up all the way down without falling! We think he's ready for the real deal. Jenni has a need for speed and begged us to take her to a REAL hill, so Tim found a couple challenging ones. We all piled in the car and went together. It was snowing hard, which made it even more spectacular. I don't think I've ever had more fun in my entire life than I did that day, watching my kids scream down the hill, sharing a sled with my daughter, seeing Tim on a dinky sled with the biggest smile I've ever seen on him, it was just so so so much fun.

The view from my kitchen and living room is breathtaking. We still don't have any curtains or blinds, so everywhere you are, there's nothing but windows and white snow. We traded palm trees for evergreens, and honestly, I've never seen a snow-covered evergreen that wasn't fake flock. Even Ian can't stop marveling at their beauty. Every time we get in the car, we just still gasp at the beauty of everything covered in white.

I am proud of how we've acclimated. Myself actually. When it's around 24-32, it's comfortable. I'm still wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and just a light jacket. I have traded my Converse for a pair of Uggs, and that's the outfit. Perfect. We've realized that snow, as it's coming down, is not wet like rain. We hate rain now. We prefer snow. Also, when it's snowing, you don't need to use your windshield wipers. It just bounces off the car. And let's face it, snow-covered cars look soooo cool. Like Jenni said, "Mommy! We live in a snow globe!!" That's exactly how it feels. Well said darling.

Now, wind chill is another thing entirely. I have gotten so acclimated, I can guess the temp. We came out of the movies yesterday and it was colder than when we went in. I said to my daughter (who loves to check them temp on her new iPhone), "Hmm, so it's 24 right now? Feels like 15 with wind chill." And guess what???  It was 12! (insert smug face here). Wind chill means if you don't have your gloves on and every inch of skin covered, you will be a popsicle in less than 15 seconds. I had no idea what frozen fingers really felt like. Yikes!

Ian only covers up when he's going outside to play in the snow. He looks absolutely handsome in his knit cap, jacket, ski gloves,  ski pants and boots. His white teeth sparkle and he's got the happiest face i've ever seen on him. Jenni's beauty comes alive with her adorable peach hat with braided dangly things bobbing as she flies down the hill. She's fearless.

Ian turned 15-1/2 in November and got 100% on his driver's permit test, and so guess what?? He's driving! It's been soooo surreal. Any parent who's been through this stage knows exactly what I'm talking about. It's all new to us, and it's exciting and scary. Ian's is a good driver, although he's got his mommy's impatient streak. I gotta work on that myself. It's a reminder how kids really take in what they see and hear on a daily basis.

Driving in snow, no problem. Driving 3 days after it snowed, after a sunny day that melted some of said snow, not so easy. I have been afraid of black ice since we first knew we were moving here.  Tim versed me well in how to cope with different driving situations, but it's not till you actually are IN those situations that you learn how to cope. I was careful, going way under the speed limit, and I saw other cars spinning out of control. It was soooo scary. I only slid once, going downhill to a stop sign. I was already breaking, going like 3 mph, but still my car wasn't stopping. I just came to a stop inches from the other car's bumper so that was scary.

I also didn't know that WALKING was dangerous!! Jennifer had lost her cell phone out sledding in our backyard, and we knew we'd never find it till spring, so we stopped looking for it. Then we had a big rain, which washed away lots of the snow, so smart me decided to go look for it.  I never found it (of course) but while I was looking, my boots slipped on the icy snow and just like a cartoon, they whipped me flat on my butt. Which, if you didn't know this, your butt has a little bone in it called a TAILBONE and let me tell you it HURT LIKE A MF!!! OMG I never knew how important that little bone is to a multitude of activities. Like sitting down!!! Sitting anywhere (use your imagination). Not to mention doing my ab crunches. Yowch!!! It'll be weeks before I can do those. I Googled "broken tailbone" and it says there's no treatment, just basically take Advil 24/7 and it'll fix itself. Psshhhh wonderful. What a dork I am. I can't even walk without hurting myself.

So now, forget fear of driving. I'm scared of walking!!! I look for ice everywhere. Getting out of the car and going to a store or wherever I shuffle like an old man. Pathetic. The farthest I really ever need to walk is the mailbox and the newspaper, and most of the time I just drive to it anyway. Works for me. Will my life really be that affected if I skip reading it a day or two?

Well, it's the end of December, and we've made it this far. When we get back from California, it'll be January, and we've been told the worst is yet to come. That "first snow" is the soft, pleasant snow, and that the rest is going to be cold and miserable. All I can say is, thanks for the heads up people. I'm taking it one day at a time, one snowfall and one icy driveway at a time. This lifelong California girl is doing the best she can, trying to stay optimistic and try to find the joy and beauty. Would I be me if I did it any other way??