Enough Snow Already!

Another big snowstorm! We've had rain, freezing rain, sleet, and snow every day this week.

My guys hard at work.

The plowed snow almost covers our mailbox. It was still snowing while they were clearing.

Meeting My Idol

Carolyn invited me to come to Paramus to attend her local Celiac Support Group Meeting because author Annalise Roberts was going to be the guest speaker. The weather forecast was bad for Tuesday so I drove there on Monday afternoon so I wouldn't miss it! I've met Annalise two other times when she gave baking demonstrations at the Flemington support group. I've been exclusively using her recipes for the past few years and haven't had to throw out any failed products!
Annalise spoke about her newest book, The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook. She's an excellent speaker and knows all about celiac disease. She and her son both have it. Even though the weather was bad, the conference room was completely filled. Reservations were required. The organizers are very nice and everyone was friendly. Several vendors gave out delicious free samples. This was Carolyn's first support group meeting because she's been so busy with school, work and family. It was the first time she'd been in a room with maybe 40 other celiacs! She was able to give advice to the newly diagnosed woman sitting next to her. The Northeast NJ group has over 350 members (celiacs and their families).
Above we pose with Annalise and her two latest books: Gluten-Free Baking Classics, 2nd Edition; and The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook. I've made many, many of her recipes with great success even though I have to make them non-dairy. She's given me some great hints and advice via e-mail, too. Her new book is about eating healthy and balancing your diet for optimum health. Her Manhattan clam chowder was a big success with my guys. Roasting veggies is now our new favorite way to prepare them. Some of our (me, Mom, and Carolyn) favorites from Baking Classics are orange juice bread, angel food cake, sponge cake, gingerbread cake, English muffins, cinnamon buns, bagels, pie crust, foccacia, corn bread, dinner rolls, sub sandwich bread, challah, Irish soda bread, babka, biscuits, and quite a few more!
Oh, and it was wonderful to visit with family :-)

John's Birthday Weekend

"I hope the Yankees win the World Series again this year!"

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!"

"Wooooohoooo!"

Trenton and I had a great time sliding on saucers in our front yard. He's really into snow play this year. We had some great rides out front; we threw snowballs at each other, at trees and at the saucers stuck sideways in the snow (Trenton's idea); he rode his bike on the driveway; we played with icicles; and he smashed the last of the fall pumpkins open for the deer. We worked up quite a sweat inside our snowsuits and had to stop twice for drinks of water. Playing with Trenton brought back so many good memories of playing with Jim and Jason.

Jason gave Oliver some gentle rides. Oliver liked the rides and walking around on the driveway but he's not yet into snow play like Trenton.

Oliver loves his daddy to give him horsey rides!

It was a wonderful, fun-filled weekend. Jim, Sheryl, Trenton and Oliver arrived for dinner on Friday. We celebrated John's birthday even though he was at the Club doing his workday requirement. The key lime pie and ice cream cake were devoured! When John arrived home the little boys were asleep and the big boys played hours and hours of pool. John is the speed pool champ! Jim and Sheryl went to visit a friend and her new baby on Saturday. Trenton's a week away from his 4th birthday. He's growing up quickly. He enjoys helping feed the wildlife around here so this time he made homemade suet with me. He loves seeing the birds and squirrels come for the peanuts he throws out, too.

Snowmageddon

About 17 inches of snow fell from 7:30 PM on Tuesday until 8:30 PM on Wednesday on top of the 9 inches or so we had on Saturday.
It sure was nice to see the sun come out this morning even though it was about 25 degrees with 20 mile an hour gusts. Our garbage can was practically buried up at the street. There was no mail delivery or garbage pick up yesterday.
The birdbaths are almost completely buried. Next time I can walk out back without the snow going up to my knees I'll measure the height of the birdbath pedestals.

Jason worked on snow removal for 3 hours. I was out for 1.5 hours taking pictures and shoveling a path on the deck so we can feed the birds. John continues to recuperate from knee surgery.

Wonder how long it will be before we see our lawn again?

Being situated directly in the bend of Winding Way means the plow puts more at the end of our driveway. Or at least it seems that way to us...

Deer made these tracks like they usually do. We're looking forward to Trenton's next visit. He loves to play in the snow :-)

Good thing we're not leaving for Florida for a few weeks. I'm ready to start getting ready, I'll do it all indoors for now.

2010 Poll

2010

The question was what do you say: twenty-ten or two thousand ten?

Eight responded "two thousand ten" and five responded "twenty-ten". Some say both. That's what I've noticed on TV and radio; that's what prompted me to ask the question. I started the year saying two thousand ten but then heard people saying twenty-ten. It'll be interesting to see what develops as the years go by.

There were some good comments but I don't seem to be able to cut and paste them here so they'll be e-mailed to you. Thank you so much for participating.