Inspiration {no words, just a scene}

[Why did dusk and fir-scent and the afterglow of autumnal sunsets make people say absurd things?"

— L.M. Montgomery (Emily's Quest)]

Vote! {an ad}

Well, I'm back! (you can view my apology for my week of silence here)

I think one of the best assignments I've had this year was writing an advertisement to get people to vote. The ad had to include the words:

   Absentee Ballot        Congressional District

General Elections          Nominee            

 Platforms                Political Party 

Referendum   and    Suffrage       

I thought I did a pretty good job (if I may say so myself!):

Have you voted yet?

Come to the referendum and hear your favorite candidate speak. Candidates will share their platforms and you can hear the plans that they have for your congressional district. Take advantage of your suffrage and come vote.

You can vote in the primary election, you can vote in the gubernatorial election, and you can vote in the general election! Take advantage of the right to vote and decide who will govern your country! Vote for the nominee of your political party!

Don't forget; if you are unable to attend the election at your local polling place, absentee ballots are available.

 Price and participation may vary. Must be a US citizen of at least 18 to be eligible. Cannot have incomplete confinement or parole (if convicted of a felony), and must have registered six days prior to election.

We'll see you at the polls!

and now...

[to be read in announcer voice]
...and now, after a week of silence: we find out that indeed, the writer of this blog does still care about her readers, and , not only is she very sorry that she hasn't said anything, she hopes that her silence has not offended anyone. Now,  the moment you've all been waiting for: Dancing Through Life speaks!

"Yes, hello everybody. Thank you for the wonderful introduction, I feel so...'loved. Well, folks it has been a very busy week and -embarrassingly- I've been on the computer only to do research and if there ever was a time that I was able to have a bit longer (on the computer) than 'research time' it most certainly wasn't enough time to write an entire blog post! Yes, well... I would like to say to my dear, dear readers that I hope you will be able to forgive me for my lack of attention to the blog (in the past week) and I offer my sincerest apologies!"

That from her most recent 'speech' to her readers and followers. The first post since her week of silence, and now she's back, [hopefully] better than ever!

Snowed in Suspense!

All right, all right, I shall now reveal how much snow we got, but...please don't read the rest of this post, unless you've read this one.

.  .  .

 It was snowing all day (on Wednesday) and by dinnertime, I'd say we had about 1' 5" of snow...as my friend said about the storm; "be careful what you wish for!" SO, I'm sorry that the photos are all grey and monotoned...but that's what snow looks like!

[...and it's still coming down hard!]

[Where did the porch steps go?]

After attempting to shovel the driveway in two layers (my back still hurts), I went across the street to see my friend she and I tried to play in the snow...but it was very hard given the fact that we couldn't walk a step without being sucked into and buried in a snow drift!

[I hope that wasn't a squirrel's nest!]

[Our garage was buried alive...I sill can't open the door to get my sleds out!]

My friend and I soon realized that there was just a tad too much snow for sledding, so we  decided to make a village of snow homes, under a pine grove, next to her house.

(About the sledding: Yes, we tried, but it's terribly hard to get out of a sled when the snow is higher than you while you are kneeling down.) 

[A tree as seen through the icicles]

While we're on the subject of icicles: the day after the storm was beautiful with the brightest sky of blue imaginable! The sun was shining on our many icicles and let me tell you; besides the cold, it was quite the photo op.!

[My best icicle picture ever taken...I haven't taken all that many!]

[My second best!]

[The snow, no longer on the pine tree (pictured waaaayyy above!)]

[One of my favorite views to take a picture from, it's surprising how many pictures I have from this point of view!]

To take advantage of my New Years resolution: One of the things I have been grateful for this week was the large amount of snow and snow play... I'm also thankful for having had the chance to build a wonderful igloo. But, that's a different story!

For real!?!

Hey, guess what? You know how weather.com and all those weather sites tell you that there's a blizzard coming, then they postpone it until 7PM, then10, then (oh what the heck) to one the next morning? Then everyone gets all excited and there's a billion cars in the parking lot of your super-market, 'cause everyone wants to stock up on flour, milk, eggs, and hot coco? Then, you wake up the next morning and there are five inches of snow on the ground and there are only a few schools closed because the storm actually hit the town five over and one up to the right?

Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

So, the same thing happened on Tuesday , everyone got excited, the weather people kept saying, "Oh wait, actually the storms coming in three more hours......no, actually six......well, more like 12...but it's coming!" Let me tell you, after the last 'storm': grocery store parking lots weren't exactly full.

We weren't going to be fooled this time, this time we knew that it was a hoax.

However, Wednesday morning......
[stay tuned ladies and jellybeans to find out exactly how much snow we got!]

Four things!

First of all, can I just say that I am immensely sorry for not writing (almost at all) during winter break?

Second of all: in honor of the New Year I just want to tell all of the people who are either following this blog, reading this blog, or commenting on this blog that you guys are awesome and I am very grateful to all of you!

Third of all: HAPPY NEW YEAR

Fourth of all: Lets get to the point already!

  This year, after many years of resolving to be a healthier person and to start flossing my teeth more often, etc.. I decided to resolve on something new. I decided to make myself a better person towards family, friends, and animals, partly by being thankful for the small things that make every day special!

 Hence 'second of all'. (Though I really do mean it.)

Today, I am thankful for:

• The beautiful day
• My (crazy) cat
• Getting most of my work done (before lunch)
• The fact that I am now blogging again
• much, much more!

What are you thankful for?

      What are your New Years Resolutions? (If any.)