NEVER GIVE UP!

We hadn't had snow in a long while, so the streets were bare, which was heavenly for walking. However, yesterday -- what happened? It started about 11 AM, and by 1 PM, it was a veritable blizzard! It wasn't cold, but there was a bitter wind, and I needed to go for a walk. I know -- what a crazy person I am! The snow was wet, almost like ice pellets at one point. When I got home, my jacket was nearly soaked through! 

I picked up two books from the library and then decided to trudge off to the post office one more time. On my way, I noticed a single set of footprints in front of me. Good grief -- how tall is this person? I had to take at least 2 full strides to match theirs. They must have been running! Probably a student from the high school who didn't have a jacket and didn't want to stay out in the blizzard for long. 

I'm not sure what time the snow stopped, but it was like a tap. One minute, there was a blizzard; the next, nothing! It took me a half hour to shovel the driveway and I shoveled the sidewalk two doors down since no one lives there. So there really wasn't much that fell. 

OK, so I arrived at the post office, and there was still no package. I was about to leave when the clerk noticed that the post office on the card was NOT THAT post office. Good grief! She was right! I never noticed, and why the heck would they send the package to a different post office? Guess where I'm going today! We used to go to this other post office, but many years ago, they added a new location, and that's where we've gone ever since. I must be more careful the next time I get a card. But why? 

DH and I are playing the 2022 EXIT Game Advent Calendar. At the rate we play, it might last until December 1, 2024. Some of these puzzles are tricky, but they are not tricky when you realize the answer. Our minds just don't go there. The night before, the "room" was related to music, and of course, DH went down a rabbit hole, which I told him he didn't need to do. Then he gets all huffy when the final answer has NOTHING to do with the musicians we spotted in the room. Although he unearthed some interesting facts about them! 

I often need time to mull the puzzles over, and that's what happened. We left it, and yesterday afternoon, during my break, I stared at the box, trying to figure out the solution. We've tried everything -- well, obviously, we had not since we didn't have the answer. Then, POOF - I saw something I had seen every time I looked at the box. Could this be the answer? And YES!!!! Good thing because I was tempted to look at the next clue, and I would have been super disappointed if I had. 

The EXIT Game Advent Calendar

Of course, I was all excited, so when he got home and I coached him into getting the answer, we excitedly opened the next room. Good lord -- we're mulling that one over today. It's deceptively easy to get steps one and two of the clues, but the third one? That's tough, but I love it and have fun. We won't run out of EXIT games any time soon!!!

It appears that Lexi has been waiting for snow to spend any time outside. The snow comes, and she wants outside. She plunked herself down on the deck in the snow and was quite happy. 

Lexi in the snow

And later, she was up by the fence to survey her kingdom. 

MOM -- just checking out MY kingdom!

I don't know what it is about Murphy and Lexi, but they cannot come in and out at the same time. And they almost seem to want to be outside by themselves? Although they play together outside. I think they do this to irk me!!! 

So when Lexi decided to come in, Murphy ran out and plunked herself in practically the exact spot where Lexi had been. 

MOM -- this feels great on my tummy!

And even Little Bear was excited about the snow. He'll run outside when either of the girls and happily tries to get them to play with him. Murphy wants to play rough, but Bear is too little for rough play. 

Open the door - I'm coming in!

Good thing he has his sweater on, or we would lose him outside! 

Little Bear is off exploring

And this is Lexi, who thinks it's OK to hang around the table, hoping that some food will drop. I did NOT teach her this -- we can thank DH for that. We could NOT take him to a place where dogs roam the streets as he'd want to save them all. Where did that come from? He was NOT a dog person. 

MOM, I'm just checking in. Do you have something for me?

I had to chuckle as I received this text yesterday. 

It made me think momentarily, but my kid doesn't even live where those number prefixes are. However, in today's world, that doesn't mean anything. The second clue is that if you dropped your phone in the toilet, you'd need MORE than a new sim. M is on the other side of the world right now, and her only means of communicating with us is WhatsApp! BLOCK, and DELETE. 

It's shocking the amount of crap that one gets on the phone, and I will NOT answer the phone -- well, I can't because of my service, but if I don't recognize the number, I ignore the call! So, if you are sending me a text for the first time, you need to identify who you are and talk about something specific; otherwise, I will delete the message!!!

So you know how much I love The Great British Bake Off, and I suspect there's a new season I haven't had a chance to watch. Well, look at this -- some very creative person created the SET of the show in LEGO!!!!

There are little camera people, Kitchen Aids, food - the whole nine yards. It's incredible. OH -- I see the glass cake plate!!! This is NOT an actual LEGO set you can purchase right now. It's one of those on the voting block. If the set gets 10,000 votes, LEGO will produce it. Check out the details; they're incredible. I'm curious to know how they make these --- does the person get creative and 3-D print LEGO pieces? Can they buy the bits? I'm not sure, but this is incredible. 

I had a great Zoom last night, and it's all about ME today! Well, not exactly -- I have no appointments or Zooms, but I have a lot of work to do. And where has this week gone? It's already Friday, and it seemed like it was just Friday. There are three Zooms this weekend and one in-person event. 

Next weekend is the Virtual Retreat, so be sure to put that on your calendar. And for those in the Panel class before Christmas (Hobby Horse), we have our show and tell next weekend. I'll email them to remind them of the date and time!!

Even with the reduced workload, it still seems I'm behind, but I'm not. It's just that there is no time to take a break. By that I mean, an entire day when I don't have to be prepping something. But maybe next week, after my Facebook Live, I can take a break. 

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!