The dogs approached the snow in three different ways. Thea: trepidation. Violet: patience. Lucy: total and complete spazz out.

I should probably start this post with the pictures I took at the oceanfront Tuesday afternoon. No coat, milky sunshine, breeze picking up. But still. I was at the beach without a coat on on a Tuesday afternoon in late January taking pictures and completely doubting that this white stuff would ever show up.

It was 56º when I got in my car to drive home (we live about 18 miles from where I'd had a lunch meeting and had been snapping shots) and it was 39º when I pulled into my driveway. Once the temps dropped and the wind picked up, I started to actually believe.

I love snow. Apparently I don't need a kid at home to get excited to impending storms and arriving flakes and the hope for a snow day. (No snow day for Cal by the way. They got snow in RIchmond from this storm, but the General Assembly was still in session, so he had to work.)

It was an overnight storm for us with most of the snow coming while we slept. The best part of the night for me came right before bedtime, when Cal usually calls. His curfew is at 10:30, so he generally checks in each evening for a few minutes before heading to bed. We're usually really sleepy when he calls, and last night Neel was sound asleep!

I grabbed my phone and snuck over to Cal's room which looks out onto our street. As he and I chatted, the wind howled and the snow blew, all gently lit by the street lamp right outside his window. The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been to have had Cal tucked in beside me, but he's so happy where he is. I was pretty okay just talking to him and watching the snow alone.

The medical school where Neel teaches and does his research was closed yesterday. He and I got up and took a quick, windy, chilly walk around the block (my fingers were fro-zen by the time we got home), and then we pretty much separated for the rest of the day, each to our own endeavors. Dinner, some wine, a movie, some dogs on the sofa. I joked in a comment on Erin's blog that if this is retirement, SIGN ME UP.

I only have one question. When's the next storm?