Oh, you're all wonderful!

Thank you so much for your comments. Forgive the outburst of self-loathing--it's passed by now. All is again well! Though now I've rediscovered my chronic inability to forgive myself for being human... I shall work to improve upon that deep fault.

Today as Arlene, Sarah and I walked over to Notre Dame, I couldn't help but smile at one of their remarks. The two ladies have never really experienced snow. They're from areas where people actually create fake snow so people can go skiing, shockingly enough. I'd heard of such things distantly, but never come across personal testimonies of their existence until today!

Anyway, it snowed last night and all morning, so by the time we started walking down the avenue, the field next to us was covered in a fresh layer of powdery snow. Sarah stared out into the field for a few seconds, then said, "Wow... look at all that snow."

Arlene turned to look at the snow too and whispered, "Yeah... there's so much all in one place!" I stared at the two of them in disbelief, wondering if they were being sarcastic (I've always been slow to pick up on sarcasm, though I've gotten better of late).

"Girls... you can still see blades of grass..." I said, looking at them with raised eyebrows. They protested my remark, and then Sarah made a comment about there being more snow than they'd get all winter in Georgia. I started to laugh - I couldn't help it! There is seriously about 2 inches of snow on the ground. It's next to nothing, in my Wisconsin-grown mind. I told them "Just wait until we walk past this field after there's a foot of snow," and their eyes got really wide. I can't wait until that moment!

The snow is really beautiful though, in spite of the fact that I've grown up with it my whole life. It'll never grow old. I love the intricate designs. It's hard to believe it's winter already... I've been here nearly four months, and the time has flown faster than I could ever have predicted. So much has happened and changed in such a short time. When things calm down more I'll share more stories from my time here. Trust me, there are plenty.... you'll enjoy them! For now I need to get back to the million little things I need to get done within the next 24 hours. Perhaps I'll just get some sleep right now and wake up extra early to get work done... yeah. That sounds like a plan to me.

Sweet dreams all!