Snow, Ant farms, other stuff

We woke up to a inch or two of snow today, which or course meant "no school". People in other parts of the country where they get "real" snow must think we are the biggest wimps in the world. "Oh no! An inch of Snow!! Cancel school!!!" Course this may be for good reason because people around here just cannot handle driving in the snow. This morning I saw a car turned sideways and stuck in a driveway with a woman and her two kids standing beside it looking perplexed about what to do next. I was thinking "Good lord, if you can't even navigate out of your driveway then please don't get out on a actual road - you'll get us all killed!" This is why I have a 4-wheel drive truck. Yes, I know, you don't actually need a 4x4 vehicle 360 out of 365 days of the year here, but when you do...it's awesome. And all of you 2-wheel drivers need to get outta my way!!

Now for a completely different subject: Ant Farms. My sister Cheryl (Aunt Cheryl) gave my boys ant farms for Christmas and I have now become totally obsessed with them. It's soo cool! The ant farms have this blue jello-like stuff that the ants tunnel through. I was amazed at how quickly they get to work, only minutes after dropping them in the just started going at it. They rip out chunks of the stuff and carry it to the top - very team work oriented. One ant will chew off a chunk, turn around and give to another ant, then that ant will take it part way up the tunnel and give it to another ant and so on. In the picture below you can see all the little white chunks of this jello stuff they have bought up to the top. If an ant happens to die (which is inevitable) one of the ants will pick up the ants body and bring to the top where it will eventually be buried. Every day I wake up and go check the ant farm to see what kinda progress they have made. I discovered one thing I don't like about the ants though - they bite. I was trying to get a dead one out and a live one escaped and while I was trying to recapture it the little son of a gun bit me! Pretty sure these are "fire ants" because that's what my hand felt like. Amazing that such a little thing can pack such a powerful bite.

Other than that, nothing much new. We have our annual superbowl party next weekend and Suzie will be in London on business so I'll have to figure out what to feed everyone on my own...hmmm, maybe Top Ramen!

I hate this time of year

The holidays are over, time to go back to work, it's cold, it's wet and I have sinus headache. It's 3:00pm and I still have not taken a shower. I had a brownie for lunch. My wife is in China on business and for some reason the laundry is not getting done while she is gone. My kids have basketball tonight and I'd just prefer to not leave the house. I finished a book last night (No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy) that was about as uplifting as a baby seal hunt. I was watching the playoff game yesterday between Tampa Bay and the Giants and the announcers were saying how it was "a nice comfortable 72 outside"(the game was in Tampa Bay, obviously)...I just wanted to jump on a plane and go.

Maybe it's all of the above but I always seem to go into a mental funk in January and February. The world just seems dreary and I count the days until we get our first 60 degree day of the year - which often doesn't happen till May. I'm sure my attitude will improve, especially if I can think of some more things to complain about.