Oh, Happy Spring... and The Jeffrey Journey!

It's spring - officially, anyway - so we've said adios to the final souvenirs of our action-packed three months of winter bliss.

You can breathe now, guys

We know there's a very good possibility that there will be more white stuff before we dare put the snow shovel up, but at least we have hope that we are actually moving into another season. Here's a little proof.

Oh, wait - those aren't us; those are from Katie's recent photo trip to Phoenix - sorry!

Here's what some of the rest of us have been doing:

Sami celebrated her lucky 12th birthday with her usual charm.

Emma

Kali

Biggest news, besides the big thaw, is the reissue of The Jeffrey Journey!

It's currently available online thru Amazon.com (also in Kindle version), Barnes & Noble, and Milverstead Publishing.

A portion of the proceeds are earmarked for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation, which is working tirelessly for research to squelch the devastation of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the disease that affected our baby, Jeffrey (SMA is the leading genetic cause of death of children under two). More organizations will benefit in the future as well!

In addition, the book is available thru me as part of a package with CDs of my mother's lush original music!

(I have no idea why this is so small. It was a HUGE project!)

You can read more about Mom (alias JoAnn Derden) and listen to snippets of the music here.

Whew - that's a lotta hot links up there!

Happy SPRING!

So Long, February...

What an attentive blogger I am, I am.

If you care what's been going on in general, visit the Suite (the main blog) for a sampling, but suffice it to say it's been nuts!

Speaking of nuts, we've seen quite a bit of this guy this winter

We've also seen more snow than we've ever seen all added up over the years. FEET of snow, literally. We're still 'enjoying' (cough, cough) a bit of the snow that hit December 18, 2009, which seems a year ago. We'd never make it in snow country.

Oh, wait, we apparently ARE snow country this year.

You know, global warming and all. Thanks, Al!

Not ours, but we can sure relate

Tomorrow is March, believe it or not. While we often get the biggest snow in March and even early April (trying to contain my enthusiasm here), March at least sounds spring-y.

When we thaw out, which we surely will one day, we will rejoice - loudly - and mow.

Happily.

A Little Late to the New Year...

At least I'm still in the first month of the new year. Right?

It's easy to be slightly bumfuzzled when your brain cells have been iced down for, oh, almost a month. The snow still lingering, which is a mere 6" in some spots, is no longer pretty and fluffy; it's been hard, slick, and crunchy for almost the entire time, thanks to freezing rain... not to temperatures that would encourage melting.

I took our daughter, Katie, to the airport in Charlotte last Thursday, and I have gone nowhere in a vehicle since that time... other than to the cabin to shower because our tub drain gave up 10 days ago (yes, I DROVE in 4 degrees with wind and damp hair late at night because it took that long every day to convince me we still couldn't take a shower in our own tub, which needed to be cleaned 10 days ago and really needs it now, but still...). We're glad to have a shower on the premises, of course, but we'd rather have cabineers on the premises. And it's a little hard to rent the cabin out when we need to use it ourselves.

Speaking of the cabin and cabineers (which is why we have the blog!), we're offering a SPECIAL RATE on reservations thru the end of March! The bargain rate thru March is $75/night, and with a reservation of two nights, you can have a third for only $50. Tax is added, of course, because what would we do without taxes.... So give us a call! You might just see some snow :)

Back to our time in the cabin. It's the first time we've showered there! It's not a stretch-WAY-out-and-vegetate-in-luxury type of experience, but it does the job, and it's kinda fun to hear Criminal Minds on the TV. 'Cause nothin' says relaxing like a frantic hunt for a deranged killer.

This afternoon, I ventured back to the waterfalls with the camera in one gloved hand, and the shovel in another (don't ask). I managed to get some pictures without sliding into what used to be the ponds:

The big pond, with encouraging teasers of the ground that may still be there after all...

The icewaterfall from the big pond to the little pond

The little pond. I'm pretty sure.

The little pond icewaterfall

And that's not all!

Because I am spending way too much time on the computer and not enough on the treadmill (alright, alright, NONE), I have learned to upload videos to YouTube! Yes, ME - Mountainbilly Mama! And here are two of the most exciting videos you'll have a chance to watch today/tonight/whenever. Grab a popcorn kernel or two and enjoy the double feature.

Just don't blink.

First Feature:

Second Feature:

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Oh, wait. It already did.

Let the shoveling begin....