Snow in Houston!

Growing up in GA, to me, anything west of the Mississippi River was "The West". I, of course, lived in "The South". Really - I know Texas fought in the Confederacy, but I never (and truthfully, still don't) think of Texas as part of "The South". It's a debate I've had with Texans since moving here 7 years ago. They all think because they are geographically south and they fought in the Confederacy, they are part of "The South". I still disagree - being geographically southern does not make you Southern and being west of the Mississippi just makes you "western".

I also never thought it really snows - especially along the coast. Well, for the second time in my 7 years as a transplanted Texan, I've been proven wrong. It snowed Christmas Eve of 2004 and Tim missed the actual snowfall because he was stationed in PA back then didn't get home until about 2am Christmas Day because of weather delays "up north" (which is anything north of the Mason Dixon line, in case you were wondering).

Last night, it snowed again - this time, he was here to see it. We live in the southeastern part of the State close to the water, so when I heard it was snowing on the north side of town, I was happy for them but didn't think it would make it down to our part of town. It's often a difference of 5-10 degrees between where we are and the north side of town about 30 miles away. I had a huge thrill when I walked out of the office last night into actually falling snow. It ended up being just over an inch deep at our house. It was perfect - a light snowfall without the biting wind that often comes with cold weather.

It was so much fun to play in - except I got so excited I didn't put real shoes one. I went out in my hard bottomed fuzzy slippers thinking since my feet were so warm and toasty inside, they'd be fine. I was wrong - my slippers ended up soaked and my feet freezing. Funny thing was, they weren't freezing until T finally dragged me back into the house just before midnight. Here are some pics from our house and a friend's house. Hopefully it'll happen again soon (like maybe Christmas Eve!).

Cutest Kids

Since we have no kids of our own, I've have effectively "adopted" my friends kids. I have four girlfriends here who each have 2 kids - 6 girls (including a set of identical twins) and 2 boys. Each pair is the same gender, so my friend with the 2 boys is way outnumbered! When we do small group stuff, especially at holidays, we take pictures. I am going to show them off because I don't get to show off my own kids yet... Am I a pretend aunt to the cutest kids or what?


The girls at Halloween





The boys at Halloween





Christmas





Just because

When I was a kid, there were a few ladies in my life that were so important to me. They helped me grow and learn things in the world outside my family. They were more than teachers, they were friends. It isn't often you find an adult that treats you like a friend instead of a child. They talked to me on my level but never talked down to me. They were so very instrumental in making me who I am today. I hope I can be that kind of friend for these kids. There are some days when a hug from them makes my day so much better. I look forward to seeing them Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. I love it when their face lights up when they see me. I can't wait to experience this with my own kids.