In the land where "Yes Ma'am's and No Sirs" are tradition.  Where the house wine is an ice cold glass of sweet tea in the midst of pig pickins with fried okra and sweet potato pie.
     Where the summer nights are dancing with fireflies and the lazy warm days lead to trips to the beach.
     Snowmen aren't found very often.
     When they do happen to come around however, the whole world stops, (like literally) while family and friends gather together to play.  
     Snowmen are but a temporary fixture in this great land, and they usually bid their farewell all too soon.  
     They sure are fun while they last though.

Dear Neighbors,
     I'm not quite sure where to begin.  When you came over to help the other day, you were met with a pretty typical day in our house.  I'm sorry if it frightened you, but you couldn't have known.
     You couldn't have known that earlier, I decided to start working out, like first time this year working out.  Getting dressed in my yoga pants and t shirt, I faced our treadmill head on.  After a good stretch, I climbed up to push start, only to begin running with a new sense of empowerment.  This sense was immediately met with a fuse blowing, causing the treadmill to stop on a dime.   
     After literally face planting it, (that'll teach me to work out), I was met with an annoying *beep* for the remainder of the day from some random smoke detector.  It was incessant, but oh well. 
      You couldn't have known that our cat, who is 1000 years old, is on her last leg.  All four kids sit around her petting her nose as she lies on the floor while I struggle with whether to take her to be put down or keep her home.  It makes our dog, who just turned one, crazy by the way, because all she wants to do is push the kids aside, so she can lick the cat...I'm not quite sure if it's for support...or as an appetizer.   
      Speaking of appetizers, you couldn't have known that I was trying something new for dinner.  Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes.  Who would've thought that by cleaning and stabbing sweet potatoes, they would drip down onto your oven, causing the most horrible smell and smoke all throughout your house.
      Guess what happens when smoke occurs?  Yep.  Smoke detectors.  Even though I know that a smoke detector should NOT be used as a timer when making meals, in this case, no matter what I tried, opening every window, door, fanning every pillow...the timer (ahem) smoke detectors would not shut off.
     So, dear neighbors, needless to say, as you stood in your driveway and turned to see the chaos that ensued while four kids in shorts and t shirts ran around outside in the freezing cold, screaming "FIRE!", while the windows and doors were open, me with a pillow chasing the dog down from flying through the yard from ear splitting pain and a limpy cat trying to hack up a fur ball, you didn't judge.
     You did what any awesome neighbor would do and came in, without thinking, tsking or shaking your heads, you helped chase down a runaway dog, stepped over a dying cat, ignored putrid smells, walked through a smoky house...all while dodging wild children to go into the garage and flip the fuse box thingy.  (Why didn't I think of that?)
     In literally one second, there was peace.  For one split, glorious second, the alarms stopped and it was quiet.  I can't thank you enough for that one and only fraction of time, but it meant so much.
     Thank you again Monica and Matt!  The world is a better place because of friends like you.  I would make you dinner, but well, you know.  XO 

    I never used to understand when people had birthday parties for their dog.  That's before we actually had one.  This month, our 'puppy' Lilly turned one.

    During a recent conversation with one of my friends named Gretta, I was complaining about how crazy our days seemed to be and how life seemed to get away from us.  She smiled and said, "Long days, short years".
    I had never heard of that expression before, but Gretta was right.  As long and monotonous as the days feel right now, with the backpacks, lunch boxes, homework, sports, meetings, work and so on and so forth...the years sure do seem to be flying by at the same time.
    One of my favorite people ever, is 95 years old. She saw what kind of day I was having early one morning after all of the hustle and bustle with dropping the kids off for school.  Taking my hand with her New York accent she smiled, "I know how busy you feel right now.  If I could go back though - I'd give anything to have a house full of children with laughter and love - and just be able to make one batch of cookies in the midst of the chaos....as crazy as that seems to you right now, that would be the best day of my entire life."
     That hit me.
     The kids didn't have school today due to snow and ice, which in North Carolina is a rarity.  Instead of feeling bothered by the disruption of the small amount of routine that we have, I decided to love every minute of it.  I didn't mind the day being long and drawn out, because I knew that all too soon, these years will be a memory.  

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     Hell hath no fury like a grocery store in the South when there's a chance of snow.  
     Here in North Carolina, we're evidently getting ready for Armageddon.  Yes, Old Man Winter has threatened us with a hint of snow and if you didn't know any better, you'd think the end of the world was coming.
     Keep in mind if you will, that meanwhile, back in the North, entire towns and cities are covered in record breaking weather.  Here though?  There's a chance of a few inches for tonight and maybe tomorrow - and the schools were let out early, people are taking off from work and everything is already closing for tomorrow.  The craziest part?  Not one flake has even fallen from the sky yet.  I'm not kidding. 
     I naively made the mistake of thinking it would be nice to make a big pot of chili for dinner tonight since it'll be good and cold outside.  I quickly remembered, that about the last place you want to be however, is between a Southerner and a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread.  WHY milk and bread?  I will never know.  It's the universal rallying cry for survival skills down here for some reason.  
     I think they teach it in Boy Scouts or something once you get below the state of Virginia.  
     Just pulling into the parking lot of the store brought visions of panicked masses, foaming at the mouth with white knuckles clenching onto their steering wheels, ready to pounce on any given sign of an open parking spot.  The entire lot was full while the 'lucky ones' who had already parked, were bustling about in head to toe winter gear worthy of the Iditarod.  
     Everyone had that crazed look in their eyes as if they'd hurt you, really, really hurt you, if you got in their way.  
     Two people right in a row cut me off when a parking space became available.  I was sitting there waiting for the other guys to back out when, bam.  They pulled right in and glared with such carnal snarls, it would've made your mouth drop.  
      Yes, there's no getting between a Southerner and their groceries before a storm.  
      I don't dare say that being from the North, I actually hope for a ton of snow.  People down here don't seem to like to hear that.  Then again, around this same time last year, we actually got a few inches of snow and it turned into this...

                       and this...

                   and yes, even this...

    Come to think of it, I guess that pot of chili can wait for just a few more days. 
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    You know those tiny samples of perfume you get in those little tubes?  The kind you carefully pop the top off of, so they won't spill all over the place?
     Ummm, yeah.  I had one of those in my bathroom drawer of a scent I wasn't particularly fond of.  Why haven't I thrown it away?  Good question.  I'll never know, but I can tell you one thing for sure, tonight I wish I had.
      If you've ever been around a little girl, I think you already know where this is going.  
      Our five year old daughter was planning a wedding with two of her stuffed animals this evening and it was quite the event.  All the dolls were coming.
      Stuffed kitty was planned to marry stuffed lion so she needed to be "really pretty".
      What makes a bride pretty?  You guessed it.  Going into my drawer, she found the perfume that I've told her I didn't want.  Now you and I know this means, I don't like it...what SHE hears is that I don't want it so she can have it.  
      Like some sort of nuclear blast, in a split second our entire house smelled like something from the fragrance section of the mall exploded.
      You know how you can always tell when there's an Abercrombie and Fitch within a three square mile area?  Well that is now our house.  Except it's AWFUL.    
      Running to her room, I gasped as Lauren Elizabeth stood there beaming, "She's PRETTY!  She's ready for the wedding!"  (As we all were now evidently.)
      I have a pounding headache, I have no idea how to get rid of the stench and all six of us smell like...well...you can imagine.  
      How one tiny little bottle could emit such a stench will forever be a mystery.  It's really bad though, like, I'm worried we're going to get letters from the school tomorrow, bad.
      If you happen to see one of us, just give a wave from afar.  You don't want any of this.
      Maybe in a day or two it'll settle down, but for now, being a wedding planner is definitely out of her future.  Come to think of it, we should probably keep her away from the fragrance department as well. 
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 Dear Scarlett,
     Just a note to say Thank You.  It doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, you always have a smile and kind heart.  
     Thank you for always taking the time to say "Hi" and for giving a hug that's true.
     Your influence on everyone around you is nothing less than wonderful and your light shines through to anyone you meet. 
     When I'm having a bad day or I'm stressed up to here, it's always nice to see you to remind me of what a good friend should be.  
     So to you, Dear Scarlett and to people like you in this life, again I say Thank You.  You're who make this world a better place to be.  XO
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