Snow

Finally the meterologists knew what they were talking about! They said we were going to get snow and we did! I think somewhere around 4 inches? They said it could be anywhere up to 7.4 inches! My body is completely worn out! After we got home from picking up Gage at school, I went straight to the garage and got out the snow shovel. Unfortunately the other day when Scott shoveled, he did not work too hard at it and there was a lot of packed, drifted snow on the steps up to the front door, and scattered throughout the driveway. It is a bit difficult to get that up when there's 4 more inches on top of it! My shoulders are killing me. We have 2 snow shovels. One is the Dakota Snow Blade. That is THE most awesome snow shovel around; however, it didn't work too well for me today with the packed snow underneath. Our second shovel is pretty crappy with a plastic scoop on the end. That doesn't work too well for chiseling up the packed snow either. So, when my neighbor Dave got home from work, I asked him if I could borrow his metal snow shovel. The name of it, labeled right on the handle, was Brute. Let me tell you, it was a Brute! Whew! I got nearly all of the packed snow off the driveway, as well as the 4 inches on top of it. I started at 3:15 and ended about 4:45! I was seriously sweating my butt off and had to shed my scarf before I was through. My stocking hat would have gone too if my hair hadn't been looking so fine! :-) When I was finally done, I went into the house and couldn't believe the mess! There was dog hair EVERYWHERE! I am not kidding! This week we are dog-sitting for Brie's sister, Nel. Apparently they got to wrestling and dog hair was flying everywhere. You know it's bad when Gage and Emma are commenting on it! I got out the swiffer (another wonderful invention) and swept up a huge pile of dog hair! Nel is a very well-behaved dog. (Unlike her sister!) She has been following me around the house all evening. She seems to be curious about all of the commotion that goes on in our house. She lives at home with Johann and Amy, and their daughter Caity who is 13, so I'm guessing it's fairly quiet around there in comparison to here! She was very interested in bath time and had her nose right in the middle of everything giving Emma kisses that she thoroughly enjoyed! Finally at bedtime, things quieted down and Nel was able to lay down and relax and Gage was quite thrilled when she layed down right beside his bed, just as Branta used to do! He asked if I would let her stay there so he could sleep with her like he did with Branta. I have been sneaking quietly around the house so Nel won't get up and leave his bedside to follow me around. So far, it's worked. She's probably completely exhausted from her chaotic day since she is typically in her kennel all day while her family is at work and school! She'll be ready to go home next Tuesday when her family gets back from Texas, I'm sure!