You know your furnace is broken when...

-the honey in the kitchen cabinet has solidified
-you come inside to escape from below freezing temperatures only to find that when inside the house you can still see your breath
-you take very long, very hot showers or baths to "thaw"
-you're in the habit of putting on a coat and either slippers or boots before leaving the bedroom because it's the only room in the house with a space heater (in the last few days we've acquired a new space heater for the kitchen...doubling our warm space)
-the clothes that have been hanging out to dry all week are still damp
-you find yourself painting your daughters bedroom wearing fur boots and sweats...and you're still shivering
-you hear yourself saying "I wish I had an electric fireplace" (you know, the tacky looking plug in fireplaces complete with a mantel at Costco).
-You spend an entire day running errands, some more important than other, and stalling in every store because you know the sooner you finish the sooner you have to go back home
 -yours is the only roof on the street that is still covered in snow from the storm that was 5 days ago

note: these events are not fictionalized but come from actual experience

Snowfall

 

 

 

 

First Saturday in December - 2009

One year ago, on the first Saturday in December,  Chris took me to see the Messiah performed at Washington's National Cathedral.  After the concert, he took me to the gardens outside the cathedral and asked me to marry him and gave me a diamond ring. It was a magical moment, made even more so by the brand new snow that had fallen that day.  It was the first snowfall of the year. 

Exactly one year later, on the first Saturday in December, we had our first snowfall of the year. Here are some pictures to document our progress over the last 12 months.

First Saturday in December - 2010