It's Finally Winter

Really pretty, really lots of snow!

Actually, it's been winter for a while.  But this morning it finally feels like it.  No more 50+ degree days - I think the highest it's been today is around 30.  And the snow!  The prediction was for 5-7 inches.  I think we got pretty near a foot!  The Husband spent about 3 hours this morning out shoveling, I shoulda been out there helping him.  But if I had been out there, then we wouldn't have had enough shovels to loan the new neighbors, they had the whole crew out working on their driveway.

And it's a wet, heavy snow.  We were amazed at how low the pine tree limbs are hanging, touching the ground all across the backyard.  And as inconvenient and messy as it is, it also is so pretty when it first falls.  The air is quieter, the house feeling more still and the trees and ground all around just lovely.  Yes, it does feel like a winter wonderland.

My new toy!

• And I finally did it.  Been thinking about an Instant Pot (or some version of the electric pressure cooker) for some time.  Both the sons are super pleased with theirs.  I finally settled on the Instant Pot brand because of the built-in safety features.  I had a gift card from the last money earned from walking (from The Husband's previous employer) and have been tracking the inventory at our local Target.  Finally, they got some in stock - I bought the last one and was glad they had the particular model that I wanted.

Flowers-in-progress

It took some figuring, I'm not as bright as I used to hope to be. But I cooked some eggs in it yesterday and was really pleased with the results.  Tomorrow will be the "great pork roast experiment."  And I hope it works out ok.

• We spent about an hour at a local mattress store trying out various mattresses, as we continue to ponder whether or not to replace ours.  We've been looking on and off for months.  Had almost decided on a particular one, but just didn't feel quite right about the price.  Good thing we kept looking.  We decided against that specific mattress and feel good about not spending all that money for it.  And for now?  I think we just might "sleep on it" (see what I did there?) for a while longer before deciding.  I'm not anxious to spend money.

•I'm grateful today for communication with our friends back east.  The surgery went ok but the few days post-surgery has been a bit rough.  I'm glad that we get to hear each day how things are going, and be able to focus our prayers on their well-being.  It has to be hard to be so far away and so alone.  (Hope she doesn't mind my sending her pictures, I just want her to know we have her back as best we can!)  I'm grateful for the snow; this is after all, a desert.  We'll need that moisture come summer if we want our lawns to be healthy (which we do because I firmly maintain a house surrounded by green growing things (like grass) feels cooler than one surrounded by cement. I'm grateful that one of my orchids has a blossom stem growing - it'll be so lovely if it actually blooms, it's been a while.  I'm grateful we have an Even Stevens sandwich shop around.  We love their pot roast dip sandwich (though I'm not especially fond of the way I always smell like food after visiting a restaurant -have to change all my clothes so I can breathe easy) so much that sometimes we split one just to treat our tastebuds. I'm grateful that we had a day where we didn't absolutely have to go anywhere and now we can just snuggle in for the duration. I'm grateful for some comfy pajamas I'm going to don in a bit.  And for ice cream in the freezer.