Out in California we have gotten up to the mountains to see snow a couple of times, and might have even had some a time or two visiting back east, but not like I've seen over the past couple weeks.

I forgot about icicles! They're gorgeous. They're hanging off the roof of Bob and Helen's house, off the house we want to buy, and in many other places. I was plucking them off today and admiring them. So sparkly and shiny and cool in the bright sunlight we have today.

Shelley's mom drove out from near Albany to play Devil's Advocate during my second visit to the house we like. She stayed overnight with us because the roads turned bad. Many, many thanks to her for lending a hand. And although she would not touch the place with a 10-foot pole (because of the long driveway needing effort in the winter) she found nothing to flag it as a bad buy for us.

We walked over to a cafe for brunch this morning, then spent an hour or more outside playing in the snow with Adam. We made snow angels, and got pushed over, and threw snowballs, and ate snow and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the white stuff. I look forward to doing the same with Kelley and Baby X next winter and more after.

Before leaving Ithaca last time, Shelley and I had been playing volleyball regularly with a nice group of players at Ithaca High School on Sunday evenings. I went back last week to see who was still around, and had a splendid time playing there: it would be harder to find a more evenly matched 14 people (unlike in CA where the group had distinct levels and cliques).

Also, today for the first time in many, many years I have a ponytail again.

:-)