Starting Over

I started this Blog last year thinking I would create this wonderful site filled with all kinds of thoughts about my life and where it has taken me and what it means to be at the point I am now. But it never really went anywhere, and looking back at it today, I flushed it down with the DELETE button and thought I would try again.

So...I will start over, and see if it can take a more enticing direction.

I have lived in Vermont for just over 5 years now. And I should mention that's "Northern" Vermont, because we are only 11 miles from the border of Canada. I will never be a true Vermonter because I wasn't born here to a generation of people who had lived here since the middle ages, or something like that. But that doesn't bother me because I have moved constantly my whole life, and always managed to make just about anywhere I was my home. This feels pretty permanent right now, and I am rather certain only a few things would prevent me from being here for nearly forever. I really like it here, and should probably say I really love it here. I could go on and on about the beautiful blue skies, small towns, great people, breathtaking scenery, and on and on and on. But I think anyone who loves where they're living could do the same thing. Maybe you could even do it if you didn't really love where you're living. But this works for us, and that is all that counts.

We had a major snowstorm yesterday. That big, monster storm that covered the US from Texas to Maine. We got about 16" of snow, but this is Vermont, so nothing about our part of the storm made any national news. We didn't have any building collapses that I heard of, no horrendous car accidents or 60mph winds. It was just a really snowy day. I work at a mall that is 35 miles from my house, and I should have worked the afternoon/closing shift yesterday, but they closed the whole mall for the entire day. It never even opened, except for IHOP, Kohls and the nearby grocery store. I got up at 6:30am, and calling the mall office at 7am was like finding out we had a snow day from school when I was in high school. I say high school, because snow days then were so much more appreciated than in elementary school. I told my daughter (who lives in Texas) that my mall was closed and she was surprised, thinking that Vermont can handle anything, especially a mere foot of snow. We can, but we also know when to sit back, wait, and let nature run her course first. Maybe that's why things seem to get back up and running so much faster here, why it feels like they can handle it so well. While in Texas, despite the threat of a ticket if you slid off the ice covered roads and the police responded to it, my daughter was told she had to report into her office. And, the evening news featured several cars on Dallas roads sliding right off the pavement!

Snow falling around our house.

So, what did I do with my snow day? What nearly every other woman did who found herself with an unexpected day at home did-I baked cookies. And spent time outside shoveling and walking the dogs, and sat by the fireplace reading and drinking tea. It was a nice day. Today I had my regular day off from work, so I did my regular day off stuff, then tomorrow its back to work for the next 6 days. And yes, we have snow in the forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But its February, and this is Vermont.