Freyja is a very little cat. After jumping on the scale with her this weekend, we discovered that at just under one year of age she weighs in at 5 lbs with a full belly. That's right we've got a bag of sugar folks, five pounds, sweet, and packs a punch. This is on the very low end for cats, but she's beautifully proportioned as a little kitty. She most likely has her full sized bone structure in place at this point, so she'll fill in muscle structure over the next six months to a year and then be completely full grown. We love that she'll stay our little kitty. =)

Sorry that it's been so long since my last post. Unfortunately our website server got hit with some kind of something that Greg can better explain that temporarily limited access to our site. After that, Greg strained his lower back and spent a lot of time on the couch, meaning that he's been hogging the laptop. Okay, so maybe hogging isn't the right word, as we do have other computers, but I have been trying to make sure that he is able to relax as much as possible the past week.

So now that the apologies and excuses are out of the way, our big news is that they are calling for more snow this weekend in the DC area. Nothing that's going to stick unfortunately, but snow none the less. And for those who think that we might be sick of snow....not yet. I love snow, and since we don't have to plow streets, clear our own sidewalks, or even go out if the metro isn't running, we're not against some more snow days before the end of March.

Anyway, hope you all are doing well.

So for those who have been wondering. We did survive the Snowpocalypse DC Remix, the original happening last December. Greg and I had a Dr.'s appointment Friday morning, during which the snow started. Wesley had closed for Friday afternoon and Greg worked at home the rest of the day. By about 10:00pm we had about 6 six inches of snow on the ground and enough snow in the bowl on our balcony to make our first batch of snow ice cream for the weekend. It was delicious! And Freyja agreed, even braving strawberry flavoring for a taste and she usually hates fruit.

Saturday we slept in, cuddled up, played video games, took pictures, and watched more snow fall. And it was a great day to bake, so we made challah (bread) and strawberry swirl cheesecake. The challah was wonderful for dinner with some fresh apple and the Irish butter we had splurged on last week.

Sunday was more of the same, chillin' out max and relaxin' all cool...or in this case, warm. We curled up to more video games, reading, and cooking. We made beef stroganoff with egg noodles for lunch. The Super Bowl party we'd planned to attend was cancelled due to lack of parking and plowed streets, so we raided our own refrigerator to pull together a Super Bowl finger food feast complete with cheddar bacon potato skins, pigs in a blanket, pico de gallo guacamole with tortilla chips, and apple slices with caramel. The yummy food, funny commercials, and board games made for an enjoyable way to watch the game.

And for today (Monday), well, Wesley is closed due to poor road conditions and difficulties with snow removal on campus, and Greg is once again working remotely due to the weather. So I'm catching up on writing, correspondence, etc., Greg's working, and Freyja is living it up with a nice nap sprawled out on top of Greg's computer monitor. I'll post pictures from our weekend soon.

According to Punxy, it's six more weeks of winter weather. Hope that you kept your gloves, scarves, and hats out. =)

And now a poem in honor of the occasion:

Groundhog Day

Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur,
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let's hear it for the improbable heroes who,
frightened at their own shadows,
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn't we believe
this peculiar rodent holds power
over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?

Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly, tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacinths, against all reason,
have been holding up green shoots beneath the snow.
How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth? Nothing simpler.
Find a spot not too far from the ground
and wait.

~Lynn Ungar, Unitarian Minister*

*from www.panhala.net

1) Friday evening grocery shopping together. It was nice not to have a crowded store.

2) Full snow day as a married couple. Arlington got around 4 inches of accumulated snow, so it was nice to curl up with kitty, sleep in, read, and play video games.

3) Greg ate snow ice cream. My family loves snow ice cream, and since we were getting snow for a long enough time, we put a bowl outside. Greg and I each got a small bowl of snow ice cream out of it. I think it safe to say Greg enjoyed it. =)

4) Freyja tried the snow ice cream, too. Well, more accurately, she licked my bowl after I was finished.

5) Freyja had her first nosebleed. It was just a few drops of blood but she's so little, we were a bit concerned. After consulting with Dad 'The Vet' Tremmel, we let her outside on our balcony a bit in the cool air, cuddled and coddled her a bit, and then made extra sure to run the humidifier at bedtime.

We had a lovely weekend to say the least, and Freyja cat is doing well. Hope that you had a lovely weekend, too, with or without the beautiful snow that we enjoyed.