Ok, I’ve had my fill of enjoying freshly fallen snow. The moment has passed. I might still be enjoying it had I the luxury of staying in today. But I had to visit my local Midas shop since driving in the snow yesterday jimmied my tension-pulley-thing and I had to have it replaced. After a thrilling hour at the car shop I got to clear the driveway and sidewalks of almost a foot of snow. I’m trying very hard to be thankful for that experience. My love for snow goes only as far as the living room window – the inside of it. I hate being cold, wet, and in snow that covers my boots, therefore, I hate clearing the driveway. Fortunately, this is the year we broke down and bought a snow blower (don’t tell my parents who’ve lived in Alaska since pre-statehood days and never owned a snow blower). So, I spent a little under an hour on our driveway and sidewalks and now I don’t have to feel guilty for skipping the gym. The bright spot of the whole ordeal was watching Goose jumping through the spray of snow like a dolphin putting on a show. The little character was having so much fun…I’m glad one of us was!

Hooray for homemade hot cocoa and an evening all to myself! I have plenty to celebrate today – namely that my car, a fabulous little Ford, got me home despite an awful lot of complaining from a disgruntled belt. I’m especially grateful considering the DH is out of town, geeking it up for the weekend on a light rig at a conference a couple hours away. Although I live close enough to my office to bike to work, the prospect of walking home on this snowy, sleety January evening was less than appealing. The kind gentleman at Midas who took a quick peek under the hood, despite trying to close up his shop, said I’d be fine driving the rest of the way home and they’d be able to fix it in the morning. So, here I am, enjoying a cup of spicy cocoa next to the fireplace, neglecting the work I brought home, catching up on some reading and watching the snow fall outside. I couldn’t ask for more!

Sometimes I feel no satisfaction when I choose my actions purely out of discipline. Like the 30 miles I rode last April despite 28 mph headwinds and light drizzle. Or the 2 hours in the dentist’s chair that I willingly submitted to last Saturday. I’m writing about celebration and gratitude right now simply because I said that I would. Today was filled with a series of unfortunate events at work and I just spent the last three hours in an uncomfortable seat, stumbling through several how-to-knit tutorials with only moderately recognizable results to show. I’m not feeling very grateful or celebratory right now. Quite the opposite, really, so in an effort to be grateful for something I’m savoring one of the last ginger snaps that my dad bought while he was here for Christmas – so crispy and spicy, mmm! And looking forward to the morning which will herald the close of a really long week. Today rates pretty high on the lousy meter, but at least I have a warm bed and a God who’s bigger than a bad day at work, or a bad economy or my bad knitting – that is definitely worth celebrating.

We woke up this morning to a light coating of lovely, fresh snow and my heart felt a twinkle of childlike glee. I love the first few moments of a new snowfall. If it’s a really good snowfall, like 12 inches or more (and I don’t have to leave the house), I might even love the first few hours of a new snowfall. For me and all of my aversion to being cold, those beautiful snowfalls are best enjoyed once every few years when I visit my hometown. I’m not a skier so there is no lure in fresh powder – what I really love is the soft, clean, monochomatic haze that takes over the landscape. But I only love it for a moment. Before footprints mar the surface, before the roadside turns to slop, before I head out into traffic that’s forgotten the fine art of driving in winter. I love the snow for those precious few moments. This morning, I savored the quiet softness on the way to the gym at 6:15; but the drive home at 7:45 was another story – by then it was droopy and turning brown and traffic was moving slow and I wasn’t loving the snow so much. Thank goodness for catching the moments worth celebrating.