Ending the Year with a Blast .....

.... of winter, that is.   We are enduring our third consecutive winter that is unusually brutal.   Honestly, I think this is the worst one yet, although up until yesterday most of the snow that fell, came straight down, without a lot of wind.   But now we are in the midst of a good old-fashioned blizzard, complete with heavy snow, 40-50 mph winds, and arctic air.   We are presently in a bit of a lull between the two-punch storm, so I decided to go out and at least get a start on dismantling the drift in my driveway.   What I didn't know was that there was a heavy coating of ice underneath the snow; which was polished to an unbelievable sheen by the wind.   When two little corgis cannot even walk on the driveway without falling over, you know it's bad!   Dee Dee was making her way up the driveway and literally fell over on her side.   Too funny.   It wasn't nearly as funny when I fell on my keister. 

Yesterday was one for the record books.   I made it to work in the morning (which is on the far, far southwest end of Fargo, out of the city limits).  It is more developed out there than it was ten years ago, but still, when the wind blows, it is a totally different experience than it is in town.   I worked a few hours, got the most important things done, and by noon I realized that I either needed to leave then, or plan on spending the weekend there.

 I had the girls with me, but with plans to leave for Michigan on Monday, I really needed to get home.   It was a white knuckle trip, on glare ice, with zero visibility at times and ice pellets pounding the windshield.   And, on the car radio, I was hearing reports of a 100 car pile-up just a few miles west of where I was.   Needless to say, I was happy to get home.   I crawled under my down comforter with the girls snuggled up beside me, and we enjoyed a quiet evening listening to the radio and following the reports of a major rescue operation going on at that accident site.  Some people were trapped in their cars for a number of hours, but by 11 p.m. everyone had been rescued and injuries were minor.    This picture of the girls was taken out at work.   I let them go potty, but didn't let them out of my sight. 

 The girls have had fun playing with their Christmas gifts from their best friend, Sadie, next door.   They got plush animals with two squeakers and no stuffing.   It's been almost a week, and the squeakers, so far, are still in tact!