Its a winter wonderland

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it seems funny that I worried so much about it. It was one of the best Thanksgivings of my life. Mr. J and I drove to my Dad and Stepmoms farm in Wisconsin. It is a beautiful place. Before they bought it, it used to be my grandparents vacation home, and we would spend Christmases there, so I always love going back. The food was great, but certainly not the best part of the weekend. After dinner, it's family tradition to watch a James Bond movie, and during that I had my Aunt and Grandma both sitting on the couch with me, all knitting away on our winter projects. The next day, we went out to the shooting range and destroyed some old computers, a car door, and a scarecrow. We also shot at some targets my Dad had set up, and Mr J. got it in the center ring with my Grammys old Smith & Wesson. That night, we all went to the bar, except for Mr. J who caught cold. It was a fun time, because I got to hang out, play pinball, shoot pool, (and lose by one stinking ball!) with my cousin Tim who I barely see. I always think of him as much younger than me, but I'm only two years older, and we had a great time.

The next day, we went back to the woods and cut fresh evergreens and berries to make Christmas wreaths and swags for the house. I even made a few to take home. After that, we all shot skeet. My dad has a range right there on the farm, and he coaches the local High School's shooting team. We all practiced from the easy spots, then Dad and Tim shot a whole round. After that, I elbowed my way into the next match, and for my very first round of skeet ever, I shot a 13! Once again, Tim beat me by one lousy point.

The next morning, I helped clean out the horse barn before leaving. The whole weekend was amazing, and I'm so glad we were able to go and have that time with my family.

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A funny thing happened here this year. Throughout November, the weather was pretty warm here in Michigan. As Mr. J and I drove to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, we didn't even bother to put on our warm coats when going in to stores. (Wisconsin itself was a different, much colder story). Anyways, November was very mild, and as soon as the calendar rolled over to December, the snow started falling. I literally woke up on December first to snow on the ground, and thats as it should be! Lets hope its gone by March.

You know, you can tell that you're getting older when you start to hate the snow. Part of me still loves it, and it certainly is beautiful, but a much larger part of me likes being warm and able to drive without sliding all over the place.