"At least it's not snowing..."

"Well...  At least it's not snowing!"  I have heard that phrase quite a bit in the last week and I (for one) am tired of hearing it.  For the last number of days it has done nothing but rain and be cold at my parent's house and while there is still a little bit of snow on the ground (they had some pretty good snow last weekend), it is difficult for me to think that Christmas is a few days away.  Because of where I grew up, I have almost always equated snow with the Christmas season.  Living where I do now, I find it difficult to get excited about Christmas when the temperature rarely changes and the most precipitation you'll get for the holidays is rain (maybe fog but more likely it will be rain).  I love snow and while there was quite a bit on the ground and more falling when I was visiting my Grandma, I'm going to be a bit greedy and say that I want more snow before I leave next week...

This past week was a whirlwind of driving to see my Grandma (my Mom's mom) and coming back to my parent's house.  Dad went with me and we had a very nice trip in my opinion.  He drove the areas along the way that I wasn't thrilled with traffic wise (which I greatly appreciated) and then he let me drive through the blizzard as he took a nap.  =)  After getting past the area along the trip that I didn't really want to drive, Dad said it was time to switch so he could close his eyes for a bit.  Since he had driven that section that makes me tense, I quickly hopped in the driver's seat.  He laughed when I got super exited that I didn't have to move his seat so I could reach the pedals but I could move the pedals themselves (yes, I was easily impressed)!  I began to drive and he shut his eyes.  As I was driving along, the sky was getting more and more grey.  Then the snow began to fall - little flakes at first but then they got bigger and more of their friends came to play.  There were places I was driving where it was difficult to see the person driving in front of me and where the white lines along the side of the road were.  Despite that, we made it safely to our destination.

Yes, there were some moments of very tense shoulders and hand cramps from gripping the steering wheel but I would have much preferred to drive through the snow that I did than drive in the rain.  I am one who when it's raining is not a happy camper.  I know lots of people who love the rain - the love watching/listening to it; they love to be out in it; they just plain enjoy the rain.  I am definitely not one of those people...

I had a great time visiting with my Grandma (it's been a number of years since I have seen her) but it was too quick of trip in my opinion.  I knew it was going to be a whirlwind of a trip from the start but I wish that I would have had the opportunity to spend more time with her.  My Grandma has always understood me in a way that only my parent's have understood me.  While it was a little strange for me to be in her house again (it's been some time since I've been there), it was full of childhood memories and we had nice long conversations.  I had the opportunity to see one of my uncles and aunts and their daughter while I was up there too so it was a great trip!

Driving back to my parent's house we stopped to have a quick meal with my Grandpa (my Dad's dad) and we ended up spending the night in a hotel.  Dad was flipping through channels and we came across an Aliens marathon.  We watched the end of the first one and the beginning of the second one before deciding to turn off the TV since it didn't make sense to keep watching it if I haven't seen any of the Alien movies.  Next morning, bright and early, we were back on the road.  Luckily there wasn't another blizzard but we ended up coming across quite a bit of road construction.  One of the things that helped to pass the time was an app Dad had on his iPad called Waze.  Shameless plug -- if you don't have this app it is a TON of fun if you have to drive any sort of a distance because you have other people telling you about travel conditions ahead of you and if you warn other drivers about hazards, you get points (SIX POINTS!)  Even though we didn't ever really figure out what the points were for, it was still fun (we figured we were having so much fun with it since we were pretty loopy from our whirlwind trip at that point).

Back to the rain...  Standing in the cold rain last night for about an hour and a half solidifies the fact that I do not like the rain.  I asked my sister if I could take my oldest nephew to see live reindeer in an open shopping plaza last night and she thought he would love it.  He invited his Oma and Opa along (my parents), so the four of us went.  While it was lots of fun to watch him pet Jingle Belle and Candy Cane (the two reindeer), it was not fun to do so in the cold rain.  We then saw a group of people lined up to go into a small gingerbread looking house nearby.  Of course we joined the line of people who were standing in line to see Santa.  Luckily we were some of the few who had umbrellas but even huddling under them we were freezing.  Santa (when we finally go in to see him) was fabulous and was everything you think Santa looks like.  My nephew and his Oma had matching reindeer hats which Santa loved!  The picture of my nephew and Santa is adorable (the only good thing that came from standing outside in the cold were his little cheeks were as rosy as could be) and I'm excited that I get to take one of the prints home with me (it will probably find itself sitting on my desk at work at least for a little bit once I have to go back).

One of the other things that has happened this past week is I have been introduced to another TV series.  I was introduced to it against my will, been forced to watch episodes of it and I hate to say I have been sucked in...  My parents (and a couple of other family members) couldn't believe I hadn't watched any episodes of Dr. Who so I had to be introduced/indoctrinated.  We have almost completed season one of the new series and we will probably watch more episodes tonight.

Well, if I am going to watch more adventures of the TARDIS tonight and with another whirlwind week ahead, I should probably bring this to a close.  Already planned for this upcoming week is a birthday party for my oldest nephew, ice skating with one of my brother's and his girlfriend, Christmas festivities, a basketball game and who knows what other sort of troubles we'll find ourselves in.  I wish each and every one of you dear readers a very Merry Christmas and I hope you are able to spend time with loved ones (and that there is no rain but there is snow).