Happy holidays to all, from our Never-ending Two Story.

Wisconsin was recently hit with a blizzard, which dumped up to 20 inches of snow on the ground in less than 36 hours. We ended up getting about 16-18 inches, and it was VERY heavy stuff. The temperature was just below freezing when it came down, so it ended up sticking to everything. It's great stuff for building snow forts and snowmen, but when you need to shovel it off your sidewalk or driveway, it's hard work. Thankfully, we bought a snowblower a couple of years ago, and it is serving us well. Many family's little 2-stroke snow throwers couldn't handle the amount we got, so I helped clear the sidewalk, nearly to the end of the block in 2 directions, then opened up three neighbor's driveways, before finally finishing our own.

All the snow on everything inspired me into the White Christmas spirit, so I surprised Z. with a real Christmas tree! We had earlier settled on putting up the plastic tree, which was somewhat of a disappointment. The last time we put up the fake tree was before we bought our house. There's nothing quite like the smell of a real tree in the house.

Happy Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Squidmas, or any other winter celebration you're into.

Stay warm!