Rick did not go to work today. A state of emergency was declared by the state of New Jersey. We got dumped on royally. Hammered. Slammed with snow. At least it wasn’t heavy, wet snow.

Would someone out there please remind me the next time I want to get more or less snowed in? Would you remind me that sitting by the fire with the snow falling outside and watching Lord of the Rings is a lot of fun and all very nice but the price one has to pay the next day is not as fun? Digging out is hard work! We probably got about 20 inches of snow on the level and drifts that are much higher. The snow on our deck is around 30 inches I think because it blew off the roof and drifted pretty badly.

And the price one pays for having a cute little sports car sitting snug in its little cover in the garage is digging out the poor old Suburban that now lives outside in the driveway. Mia, I hope you realize how good you have it!

I tried to get on the deck from the driveway but I had trouble getting up the stairs so I had been letting the dogs out the basement door since we could not get out the sliding doors to the deck without letting a lot of snow fall inside the house. I let Bella and Hailey out downstairs, then came back upstairs thinking I would let them in in a few minutes. I heard Hailey bark and it sounded like she was down there wanting to come in, so down I went. Bella was happily laying in the snow bank, but no Hailey to be seen. I went back upstairs and it occurred to me that she might have tried coming up on the deck and maybe was stuck. I went to the sliding door and this is what I saw. Hailey. Wanting in.

After seeing that sad face I couldn’t turn her away, so we let her in and dealt with the avalanche of snow that came tumbling into the house with her. At least now there was a path through all that snow! Oh, and by the way, she is standing up!

After I shoveled a bit it looked like this:

Poor Rick looked like the abominable snowman on Johnny with the wind whipping the snow around.

I don’t think we’ll be eating at the table outside on the deck anytime soon.

Or by the pool for that matter!

Bella is probably the only one who is having fun today.

We are as “dug out” as we’re going to be and are now in for the rest of the day! Whew!

We couldn’t let the dogs out this way this morning.

Or any way on to the deck.

Bella was the only one brave enough to go all the way out into the snow. We had to let them out the basement door.

Still snowing a little but I think it’s done. Not certain if we will try to blow our driveway today or not since the wind is still very bad and the wind chill around zero. Definitely a day for staying inside by the fire!

Huh? From “this storm is going to pass us by” to BLIZZARD? I’ll believe it when I see it with my own eyes! Just in case I guess I’d better charge up the battery on my camera, don’t you think?

But while we wait for the the “blizzard” to begin I am going to share some photos of the kids and their Christmas. I hope Rick will put together a video of them like he did last year.

First, here’s a photo of our living room.

On Christmas eve we brought out the new dog bed we really bought solely for Bella so she would not sleep stretched out between us at night. Bella did not get in it but it was a busy bed nonetheless. Alex was the first one to claim it.

Then eBay.

Then Sam joined eBay and it became a cat bed instead of a dog bed. (Sorry for the bad photo.)

Alex grew tired of waiting up for Santa to arrive.

He was glad when morning came and he could take over his job of being “chief package opener.” Bella did a pretty good job this year too. I frankly thinks she just likes ripping the paper off.

Here is Bella with her snowman that plays “We wish you a Merry Christmas.” Gee thanks Auntie Linda and Uncle Phil. With this toy began a new Christmas tradition with “Auntie Linda and Uncle Phil” of who can find the most obnoxious dog toy.

Alex opened his buffalo bone that we bought the dogs when we were in Laramie. Yummy!

Hailey got one too, of course, but she doesn’t do opening.

The cats got very drunk on their catnip pillows.

eBay becomes a nasty drunk and goes a bit crazy.

While Sam just chills out and becomes very mellow. I think he pretty much slept all day.

Bella and Alex chew on their bones together. They are really good buddies.

We hope you had a great day! I’ll keep you posted on the snow report.

We may not have snow, but look at our glorious sunrise this morning!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope your day is just wonderful!

P.S. We might just be expecting our first significant snowfall tomorrow! And with a sky like that, well you know the old saying: ““Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.”

The cats got an early Christmas gift the other day. Take a look at our newest iPad app:

The cat chooses which mode to play: laser beam or mouse. So far eBay has chosen the mouse hands down (or should I say paws down?) every time. Every time they hit the mouse he squeaks and adds up points. Such fun! I love that both cats have different approaches to playing with it. Frankly I am surprised at Sam. I didn’t think he was that smart!

What’s next? Surely not an iPad app for dogs! One slap of Bella’s huge feet and the iPad would be history. (That’s Bella’s nose that you can see in the video.)

And, no ... the cats do not have their own iPad ... yet.