Holes

So I am hosting half of my family for Christmas. We will have 10 people living here for a few days and the stress levels will probably be pretty high. My dad will need to figure out strategies for getting around my house and generally making himself comfortable and we will need to find a place to let the kids hang out without driving us up the wall.

I've spent the past two weeks baking cookies, wrapping presents, making gift card holders and decorating for Christmas. Oh ya, and publishing two newsletters for two different organizations.

And today we are holding Firstborn's 12th birthday party.

The weather here has been terrible with record cold days and an ice storm to make us all feel jolly and bright. But today, after the pouring rain of the morning, the sun broke through for a brief period and heated us up to a balmy 59 degrees. I ventured outside to put up the last of the decorations while the ground wasn't soggy or frozen solid. Nova accompanied me, glad for the companionship.

When at one point, I thought I saw her head disappear from the corner of my eye. I turned quickly enough to see her pull it out of a hole in which she had hidden her head all the way to her shoulders. When did she create this masterpiece in my front yard and what in heck am I to do about it. She must have run into a network of mole tunnels when she was digging in the yard.

Now the frozen ground doesn't seem like such a bad thing. At least she can't dig when it is frozen.

Sigh.