2/2/11
Happy Groundhog Day from our home to yours! Patrick and Ellie are staying home from work and school (respectively) because we want, as a family, to observe and celebrate this blessed holiday.
Well, that and because the weather forecast is for like TWO FEET OF SNOW ON THE GROUND! Ha! Ha!
Which, with the 40 mph winds is going to make the hanging of the Groundhog Day decorations outside really freaking difficult! We will do it though, somehow. Despite the blizzardous conditions, the Great Land-Beaver will still come bearing gifts and we for sure do not want him skipping our house entirely!
Anyway, this year I fell behind on my gift-buying for Ellie, so instead of singing woodchuck carols I spent Groundhog Day Eve shopping for snow toys. What a mess that was! Thanks to the dire weather forecast for Chicagoland, all the inner tubes and children's sleds were snapped up well before I hit the stores! Too late to turn back and maybe catch the tail end of some woodchuck caroling, for by then I was trapped in a sheer mass of panic-stricken humanity from which there was NO ESCAPE! And that was just in the PARKING LOT! Once inside the store, I was absorbed into a juggernaut hell-bent on snatching every last soup can and bread loaf! Aaaah! If it weren't for the fact that zombies don't eat canned soup and loaves of bread -- for those of you unfamiliar with the culture of the undead, zombies eat BRAINS -- you would have sworn a zombie apocalypse was nigh instead of a snowstorm!
Phew!
Fortunately I got out -- just barely -- in time to make it home for Groundhog Day Eve supper. Having found a chairless parking spot on the street, I felt free to relax and enjoy the festive meal with my family. With any luck, tonight the Great Land-Beaver will leave Ellie an inner tube or Boogie board to make up for what Mommy did not find at K-Mart, Target and Toys "R" Us. Can't wait to find out!
On that note, I am off to leave a delicious plate of leaves and twigs under the Groundhog Day bush. Best wishes for a lovely day, and a happy, healthy year to follow!
Love,
Jackie
PS: Yesterday, the Governor pre-emptively called parts of Illinois a disaster area - and judging from the thunder and lightning and virtual white-out conditions that followed, it looks like Guv'nor Quinn's capable of quite a self-fulfilling prophecy! Maybe for his next trick he can pre-emptively call the State's budget "balanced", or its politicians "not corrupt". With that, I'd be impressed.
Well, that and because the weather forecast is for like TWO FEET OF SNOW ON THE GROUND! Ha! Ha!
Which, with the 40 mph winds is going to make the hanging of the Groundhog Day decorations outside really freaking difficult! We will do it though, somehow. Despite the blizzardous conditions, the Great Land-Beaver will still come bearing gifts and we for sure do not want him skipping our house entirely!
Anyway, this year I fell behind on my gift-buying for Ellie, so instead of singing woodchuck carols I spent Groundhog Day Eve shopping for snow toys. What a mess that was! Thanks to the dire weather forecast for Chicagoland, all the inner tubes and children's sleds were snapped up well before I hit the stores! Too late to turn back and maybe catch the tail end of some woodchuck caroling, for by then I was trapped in a sheer mass of panic-stricken humanity from which there was NO ESCAPE! And that was just in the PARKING LOT! Once inside the store, I was absorbed into a juggernaut hell-bent on snatching every last soup can and bread loaf! Aaaah! If it weren't for the fact that zombies don't eat canned soup and loaves of bread -- for those of you unfamiliar with the culture of the undead, zombies eat BRAINS -- you would have sworn a zombie apocalypse was nigh instead of a snowstorm!
Phew!
Fortunately I got out -- just barely -- in time to make it home for Groundhog Day Eve supper. Having found a chairless parking spot on the street, I felt free to relax and enjoy the festive meal with my family. With any luck, tonight the Great Land-Beaver will leave Ellie an inner tube or Boogie board to make up for what Mommy did not find at K-Mart, Target and Toys "R" Us. Can't wait to find out!
On that note, I am off to leave a delicious plate of leaves and twigs under the Groundhog Day bush. Best wishes for a lovely day, and a happy, healthy year to follow!
Love,
Jackie
PS: Yesterday, the Governor pre-emptively called parts of Illinois a disaster area - and judging from the thunder and lightning and virtual white-out conditions that followed, it looks like Guv'nor Quinn's capable of quite a self-fulfilling prophecy! Maybe for his next trick he can pre-emptively call the State's budget "balanced", or its politicians "not corrupt". With that, I'd be impressed.