in another world

I love that since moving to Grand Cayman, winter has all but passed me by. We left the U.S. in late September, just as the mornings started to get nippy and it was time to wrap scarves around our necks while watching our steamy breath in the chilly air. I still wore shorts on the warm autumn afternoons and sported flip flops around the house. So when we arrived in Grand Cayman, greeted with humid weather and 85 degree temperatures, it felt like a natural extension of summer. Winter just never happened.

I missed experiencing the cold weather and fields blanketed with snow during the Christmas holidays, but for the most part, I've enjoyed the shorts-and-tank-top lifestyle. But I'll admit, every once in a while, I just want to be snowed in. I just want an excuse to wear my warmest clothes (which aren't even in this country), drink hot chocolate, and play games with my family like we used to during power outages. Dad would get out the flashlights (the ones we only used during power outages, with the batteries set aside just for the occasion, of course), Mom would light some candles, and we'd find a time-consuming game like Monopoly and wait out the storm. Simple fun! Okay, so maybe that's not a realistic scenario any more. For some reason, work doesn't evaporate into thin air just because a sky full of white stuff is falling. But I still pretend it does. Because when I heard that a huge portion of the U.S. was getting hit with snow storms this month, I begged the rest of my family - stuck inside their home in Pennsylvania - to fulfill my snowy dreams. I told them to gather around the fire (ok - the non-operational the wood stove), drink endless cups of hot chocolate, and play games. "And take a lot of pictures!" I told them.  They wouldn't comply with most of my requests, but they did take pictures. So here we go - the documentation of what goes on in the rest of the world in the winter weather that I used to know:

Good thing the power stayed on, or there wouldn't be too much of this.

Gotta take those vitamins to keep looking like this!

In lieu of games, ADP chose to study. I have to admit, she makes it look pretty good!

I'm glad someone is drinking hot chocolate. (Or coffee, or tea, or something toasty.)

But not everyone took the shut-in so calmly.

Cabin fever much?

 Back to sanity.

KW's giggle is almost audible!

Our PA's from PA.

And let's not forget about our golden, furry friend, Jaydee.

She knows when the camera is on her.

Thanks to ERP for all these cold-weather, curled-up-on-the-couch photos!

And for our last reminder of the difference a four hour flight makes, ERP dedicated an entire class period to creating a drawing of our two opposing worlds. I couldn't stop laughing, and honestly, still am giggling.

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that I'm the curly-haired, grinning, helicopter-flying girl on the left, right above NS' smiling kitesurfing face. All the frowners on the right are dealing with falling snow and lack of sunshine. Exaggerations are my favorite kind of humor.

So, that's the last chilly post you'll see on this blog, but since many of the most important people in my world are enduring the bitter cold, I think they deserve some attention. Miss you all! And break out the Monopoly during the next shut-in!