Disclaimer: This blog excerpt may seem a bit dramatic but if you only truly knew......

Every year I go a little insane. The Christmas Spirit likes to put me in a choke hold I admit. Of course I love every minute of it and I am joined by good company such as my sister Holly. But those around us may not love our manic Christmas joy as much. Now I only bring this up because I had planned to let my kids and Brian off the hook this year with the annual Christmas card event and do a card that didn't include snow. Every year I wait until the first snow fall which generally comes right after Thanksgiving but I am holding my breath until I see that first snowflake and then it is like the whistle is blown and I am dragging my family with me to get that Christmas picture done in time!!!! I was so pleased with my mature attitude and was looking forward to watching others scramble at the last minute...and I'll admit was feeling a bit smug. So I shouldn't have been as shocked as I was when I learned that we were expected to get 6-8 inches of snow on OCTOBER 29th!!!!!! I shook my fists at the sky...and felt for a moment like I was in a Greek Tragedy. So now my dilemma: take the picture I had planned for the last 3 months or scramble to come up with an idea for a different picture last minute. I could hear fate sitting near a fireplace, drinking hot chocolate and having a chuckle at my struggle. But I made my decision and let's just say that this year...my cards won't be the last one you get in the mail!