Sometimes the weather channel airs the segment called Storm Stories, or will give briefings on current storms, such as the recent news of Hurricane Bill on the eastern seaboard.

I don’t remember what day it was (Friday, or Saturday, perhaps?), but I came upstairs after changing the laundry from the washer to the dryer, and Doug and Dawson were glued to the weather channel. Dawson looked at me with panic on his face and said, “MOM! We CANNOT go swimming because of Herr-Cane Bill! He’s dangerous! There are rip tides that can sweep you into the ocean and you can drown!”

Doug was fighting laughter, I was absolutely stunned at my son’s ability to pay attention to such details, and Dawson continued with his warning.

“The Easter sea-bird is NOT SAFE, Mom. Not safe AT ALL! Do you hear me!?”

And then I fainted. The boy is too smart, too hilarious, for me.

Easter sea-bird. I am still cracking up over that.

At 6:00 a.m. the thunder began to rumble.  Lightning soon followed.  I was trying to work, but I’ve have this fascination with lightning.  I also have an irrational fear of it, too.  I unplugged the laptop and worked soley on battery power.

Then the sun decided to peek out for a second or two.  She left as quickly as she appeared.  Cloudy skies moved in, the thunder and lightning continued and at 7 a.m. -ish, the rain began.

It’s always so neat to hear the sound of heavy rain on the roof.  With no television or radio on, I heard the splattering and looked out the livingroom window.   At that moment thunder crackled and a bolt of lighting shot through the sky.  I leaped to the other side of the room.  I’m not in the mood to be electrocuted this morning.  Maybe next week. (Ha…)

Dawson woke up a minute later.  He came into the room, looked out the window and cried, “STOP the FUN-der!” in the same tone that Susan Powter exclaims, “Stop the Insanity!”

I started to giggle.

“Mumma, fun-der is not funny!  It’s scary!  No laughing!”

I’m still laughing when I think about it.  That boy of mine can make even the rainy days better.

Turns out he probably had the ear infection for a week or more and I just didn’t know.  I’m waiting for Dr. Phil to knock on my door and tell me I’m a terrible mother.  I felt like total shit, but after getting a prescription for some pink goop that Dawson refused to take willingly, I’d say I’ve been given a fair punishment.

After four days of medicine (amoxicillan), Dawson is feeling better, but I’m wiped out.  Yes, I’m still sleeping a lot.  And after talking to my sweet bloggy friend, I now realize pregnancy induced narcolepsy is a real thing.  I was just trying to be funny in my last post (because I still think it’s INSANE that I’m so damn tired…STILL), but now I feel like a total dork.

The weather is on the warm side today, it’s somewhere in the high 30′s-low 40s and I hope it stays this way.  I’m so over winter.  I’m sick of the stuffy noses, the dry skin, the gloomy days and I really think I need a good dose of sunshine to cure my winter blahs.  Also, Dawson keeps talking about how he wants the sun to come out and melt all the snow so that he can ride his bike.

I think the poor kid has cabin fever.  I do, too.

Hurry up, Spring!

A smart person would avoid all this freezing weather and take a vacation.  Bahamas?  Acapulco?  Take your pick.  Me?  I’m dreaming of a long stay on a deserted island.   (You know, because I haven’t got the money to fly south for the winter.)

(Photo by Aaron Escobar)

Oh, what a wonderful thought.  No whining children.  No demands for juice and cookies.  No chores.  No one making a mess that I’ll have to clean up.  No crazy people.  Well, other than me, I mean.  No television.  No internet.  Wait!  No internet?  Okay.  No internet.

(photo by StGrundy)

Just me on a sandy beach surrounded by warm water.  I can picture myself sitting under a coconut tree, reading all the books that are piled up next to my night stand — with no interruptions.

Or, I could bring a journal and just write.  Write like I used to, on actual paper, with a pencil.

Ooh.  I could sleep all day and no one would disturb me to ask ridiculous questions.

And I could swim in the ocean for as long as I wanted, without worrying about children drowning because there are no children on my island.

And I could wear my swimming suit without a shirt over it, because no one else is on my sandy beach.  Hell, I could even swim in the buff.  I haven’t done that since high school.

Sounds perfect doesn’t it?  I can almost feel the warm breeze on my face.

Oh, wait.  That’s just the furnace kicking on.

Yeah…  It’s cold in Wisconsin.

It’s Winter here in Wisconsin, despite what the calendar says.  December 21st may be the official first day, but we’ve got snow and cold and wind, and temperatures in the almost negative degrees.

Gone are the Fall days of sweaters and turning leaves.  Instead we don hats, mittens, boots and heavy coats. The days are short, the nights are long, and I am stir crazy.  Already I’m dreaming of Spring, glorious Spring!  Visions of budded branches and tulips are dancing in my head.

Little Dawson is losing his mind, too.  He desperately wants to play outside.  If the conditions were fair, and not so frigid, I’d let him.

Yesterday morning he asked me, “Mumma, ‘member when it was sunny and hot and I could go swimming?”

“Yes, buddy, I remember those days.”

“I miss sunny time, Mumma.” he said sadly.  “I miss swimming.”

Later in the day we took a trip to the store to buy a sled.  If we’re cooped up in the house too long we’ll be at each other’s throats.  I can only handle so many episodes of the Nick, Jr. line-up.  When we pulled into the driveway after buying a neon orange sled, Dawson noticed our swing set was covered in snow.

“Oh, Mumma!  The red swings are all full of snow.  I want the sun to melt it.”

It nearly broke my heart.  Dawson loves to swing.  It was just two weeks ago that we took a walk with Murphy to the Little Plover River park.  I pushed Dawson on the swing, he went down the slide a few times and climbed the monkey bars.  There wasn’t any snow on the ground then.  Now the ground is covered with it.

I loved snow as a kid.  Making snowmen, snow angels and snowballs were my favorite winter activities.  One time my brothers, sister and I made a fort in the front yard.  Good times.

In high school I hated snow (probably because my dad made me shovel).  I hated it for a long time.  Or maybe I just hate cold weather.

Now, as a mother, I’m starting to love snow again. The first time it snowed a week ago, Dawson was so excited.  He cheered with glee as he watched the snowflakes falling from our living room window.

Last night we went to the Pointer hockey game and on the way home it was snowing.  As tired as my little boy was (he nearly fell asleep in the car), he still admired the fluffy white stuff.

“Mumma, it’s so pretty!” he said.  “I love the snow!”

It really was beautiful to watch the snow and the expression on Dawson’s face.  That all changed this morning when he couldn’t go outside to play.

This is the first year he really understands what snow is.  He can’t wait to make “snow fings.”  That’s what he calls snow angels.  Seeing things through my son’s eyes is so amazing.  He appreciates all the seasons and I’m starting to love winter again.

Tomorrow, we go sledding.  More pictures will be taken.  I don’t want to forget the fun time we’ll have in the magical snow.

This morning it’s raining, raining.  I can live with that.  It’s the cold weather that I’m not in the mood for.  Although, I am prepared for it.  Sort of.  Yesterday, we got our 35+, original-with-the-house-furnace replaced.  It runs like a dream.  On natural gas!  No more freakin’ oil tank to refill.  No more $1,000 heating bills.  We’ll be saving about $375 dollars this year.  I’m psyched.

I’m not so happy that I haven’t found a new winter jacket yet.  I just can’t see paying two arms and a leg for a nice winter coat.  When did I become so frugal?  Oh, yeah.  I remember now.  When the economy took a big shit and left American tax payers a $700 billion mess to clean up.  Thanks, Wall Street.  Thanks, Bankers.  Thanks a freakin’ lot.

I’ve been searching the ads, Kohl’s, Penney’s and Younkers, waiting for a Fabulous Coat Sale but nothing reasonably priced has been found.  I’m sure I’ll find something soon.  I hope.

Otherwise I’ll be one frozen mama when the dump trucks of snow fall in a few weeks.

Thankfully, Dawson is all decked out for winter.  He hasn’t grown much.  Last year’s coat and snow pants still fit.  He’ll need a new hat, though.  His head must have gotten bigger.   This might be why he’s so smart.  Big brain.  Haha.

Anyway, I’m off to do various things that need to get done.  Enjoy your Wednesday.

———-

* A $15 Amazon gift certificate is up for grabs!  In the comments, name the song my blog title is similar to and you’ll be entered into the drawing.  Must give me the following information:  Song title and who sings it, your name and an e-mail address I can reach you at if you win.  I’ll give you a hint.  The singers of this song are related.  Contest ends midnight CST on Friday, November 28th.  Good luck!

Last Friday at work, my co-worker said the naughty ‘S’ word.  It seems our local television meteorologist forecasted a misting of that fluffy white stuff.

That’s right.  Snow.

I’m not ready for winter yet.  I miss summer very much.  Hell, I miss fall very much.  I didn’t get to take as many fall foliage photos as I wanted because I was so busy with all my commitments at work and at home.

Anyway, I had this clever idea to use “Reverse Snowology.”  Don’t steal that phrase my friends, I’m trade-marking it.

Reverse Snowology is when you say aloud, “Oh, gee!  I’d really love it if it would SNOW!”  The idea is that  saying those words will trick Mother Nature and then it will not snow.

It seems that whenever I say I DO NOT want snow, it always manages to cover my front lawn.  I thought my Reverse Snowolgy thing was clever, and that it would, you know, WORK.

But alas, it snowed.  Thankfully it melted less than an hour later.