Okay, so we didn’t blog every day, but we got off to a good start to begin with. There is still plenty of snow on the ground and this evening we made snow ice cream in celebration of David’s childhood memories. It was fun and easy and I am going to share it with you :)

In a blender place

1/2 orange (peel removed and diced), 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 3/8 cup milk, a splash of vanilla and a dash of salt. Puree.

Go outside and get clean, unblemished, untouched snow (several cups worth). Add snow in large spoonfuls to mixture and blend in between scoops until recipe resembles ice cream. Makes 4-6 serving

Eat before it melts. Enjoy!

     The original plans for this Saturday before Christmas was a trip to Baltimore to visit David’s cousins and some old fiends. But as any of you who have been following the news know there has been quite a bit of snowfall along the East Coast and David and I opted to play it safe and stay here at the homestead. We did wonderful things like make Chex mix and walk around while it was snowing. I really like how the snow crunches under your feet when it is freshly fallen. The snow is just gorgeous and it is still falling quite rapidly. David, John, and I are sitting by the Christmas tree watching the snow fall and listening to Linda practice for Christmas Eve service. It feels so picturesque. White Christmas here we come!

The theme of the day today was grocery shopping.  We (mostly Megan and my Mom) spent a while this morning figuring out what meals we would eat for the next several days, what recipes were entailed, and what ingredients were required.  In addition, there were several odds and ends that needed to be picked up as well, culminating in a massive grocery list.  All four of us embarked to the local McCaffrey’s, split up the list and began gathering up all the various items!

As it turns out, grocery shopping is not that exciting, so instead of describing the rest of our shopping trip in painstaking detail, I’ll share an amusing anecdote with you.  While Megan and I were in the produce aisle, I noticed an elderly lady reaching for an item on the top shelf and having some difficulty retrieving it.  I walked over to her and offered my assistance, but arrived just as she finally coaxed the item off of the shelf.  In response, she gave a stern look and said, “You should have gotten here faster.”  I told her that I was sorry and promised that next time, I would be quicker, to which she replied, “Apology accepted,” and went on her way with an ever so small twinkle in her eye.

In other news, the weather service(s) are predicting about a foot of snow tomorrow. (!!)  NJ snow predictions have a tendency to be over-inflated, but the storm system is already dumping on NC and VA pretty good, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow…

     The third day of our New Jersey extravaganza finds us mostly at the homestead. I went running (admittedly the first time since running the half marathon) in the frigid morning with John and then promptly fell back asleep and roused around noon (9 am in Seattle). David and I spent the afternoon wrapping gifts and spending time with Linda. This evening we went over Princeton to visit John and Lucy (longtime friends of David). We had a grand time chatting about home ownership, families, work, and life in general and realizing how old we are that this is the stage of life in which we find ourselves. It was a nice, relaxing day and now we must sleep in preparation for tomorrow which will be a flurry of planning and shopping.

     This post feels short so I will post a quick little story. David and I are staying in his old bedroom. There is a little wooden clock on the wall that makes a ticking noise, although not like a gentle tick-tock. The sound reminds me almost exactly of the sound that my toaster oven makes when it is running and I have found myself lying awake in the bed waiting for the *bing* letting me know that my toast is ready for consumption.