Christmas has come & gone

Christmas was here - and just as quickly as it came it left.  Santa is preparing for next year!  Christmas was nice this year but it felt rushed.  We were running between my parents house & the in-laws house.  Staying up late to wrap presents and trying to find the perfect present for someone on a budget can be a difficult task.  But in anycase I think Erin had a terrific day - and lets just say she is still recovering from the weekend's festivities. 

(after opening several presents)

Santa's letter for Erin & he ate most of his brownie!

  
If you live on the East Coast I hope you were able to survive the snow storm!  It was fantastic - I always love a good storm whether it's rain or snow or wind.  It's thrilling (as long as no one gets hurt).  I can remember a thunder storm/terrific rain storm when my brother & I were little.  My mom was in a chinese food store getting lunch and the rain came and my brother & I were outside dancing around on the street!  Thrilled that our mom wasn't yelling at us for running around in the cold rain.
In any case we were at my in-laws house when the snow arrived and we were literally snowed in for 2 days.  Sunday to Tuesday we were snowed in - the plow didn't make it to their neighborhood until Tuesday morning.  I never realized how much of a city gal I am until I was snowed in in Queens, NY away from any kind of store - and when I say store I'm including a deli.  The closest 7-11 is several blocks from their house. 
New Yorkers were thrown for a loop when the sanitation department was much slower in removing the snow from their blocks.  Many believe this is because sanitation workers were recently layed off and it was the departments F-you to the city - New York Times Article.  But I sometimes wonder do New Yorkers complain because we are New Yorkers and expect a tremendous amount from our city?  Or were we really screwed over?  What is the response time like in other cities that get huge amounts of snow? 
Whatever the case I throughouly enjoyed the snow (and so did Buddy) and am so glad that my daughter's first Christmas was almost a white Christmas.

Happy Almost New Year!