Soaring With the Eagle

JJ is finally, officially an Eagle Scout! We had his Court of Honor today and despite a few late arrivals and several Scouts pulling out of the ceremony at the last minute, it went very well.

Here is JJ being escorted to the podium by his Honor Guard, friends Adam and John.

The candle lighters, led by Nicky and fellow Scouts Stevie and Drew, did a lovely job.

After receiving his award, JJ made a speech thanking everyone for all their hard work and for their support over the years. It was pretty good, considering he winged it!

The proud Scouting family...Dad, JJ, Mom, and Nicky.

Congratulations, JJ! Remember...once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

13 Years Lucky

Look at this cute kitty:

She will be 13 sometime this week. Since she was a stray, we picked a date and ended up with March 17th. Close enough.

Happy Birthday, Kiki! We're so happy our friend found you in that parking lot. You've been a real blessing!

Cakes, Cakes, and More Cakes!

I do love Cub Scout Blue and Gold season. Most Packs do a Father/Son Cake Contest as part of the festivities. I am a Unit Commissioner for 3 Cub Scout Packs and I was disappointed that only one this year had the contest. But those cakes were pretty creative!

Here's a sampling:

Um...ew! But very creative.

Anyone ready for lunch? This cheeseburger might satisfy the stomach.

Time for dessert? How about pie? (Yes, this is really a cake!)

The Cub Scouts set a lovely table. What a nice centerpiece!

Now for a little web-surfing after that full meal.

All of these cakes won an award, for various categories. I believe the computer won Judges Choice. All very fabulous and mostly done by the Scout!

I can't wait for next year. The cakes just get better and better!

Snow Bunny...er, Rabbit!

I guess I shouldn't call Nicky a snow bunny!

We drove to near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for the troop ski trip to Ski Liberty. What a fun place! Cold, though, and too much snow. :)

I'm not sure why their mascot is a pig and not a bunny, but he was friendly and fun!

Here's my skier in action. Unfortunately, he only made one run and then got sick, so we had to leave and head home...with several stops along the way. But Nicky did a great job, and maybe we'll try again next year!

Getting Back to Normal

The roads are looking pretty good here...there's still no school because it's taking so long to plow all the parking lots and clear the sidewalks. But business is back to normal in our little burg.

First stop: Safeway. The parking lot was about half cleared and no ice on the road or sidewalks. The shelves were a bit empty and there were no bags...we got our groceries a la BJ's/Costco/Sam's Club: in a box! But they had milk and deli turkey, and that's all I cared about!

Next stop: McDonald's for my fountain Diet Coke. I just love McDonald's Diet Coke! Right before the last blizzard they were out of soda, but that wasn't the case today.

McD's had some killer icicles hanging from the roof:

I'm glad I was in the drive-thru!

Next up: an Alberta clipper that will deposit another 2-5 inches of snow on us Monday night into Tuesday.

Are you kidding me? Jack Frost, it's time to head back to the North Pole: Santa has reported you missing in action!

Digging Out

We are free once again! It took over an hour for the 3 of us to shovel the driveway, but the cars and driveway are passable.

Nicky hard at work--he got the job of crunching up all the ice left behind by the snow plow.

JJ digging out the cars

Me shoveling the driveway...it was hot work! My coat is off to the side.

We had lots of long and dangerous icicles way up on the 2nd story, so JJ refreshed his baseball skills and tossed snowballs up to knock the bigger icicles down.

Then he had a taste.

Ew...tastes like house!

It Just Won't Stop!

The snow...it falls and falls and blows around and just doesn't let up. I've never seen anything like it. JJ got out to attempt to shovel and we had 6 1/2 inches...on top of the 24 we got over the weekend.


By the time he shoveled the walkway it was already covered again. I told him to come on inside and forget about it for now.

The snow plows all over the DC area have been told to stop for now, as it's a worthless effort, with all the snow blowing around. Our street hasn't been plowed since last night. Baltimore City and Harford County in the northern section of Maryland have declared it against the law to drive in their jurisdictions unless you are an emergency vehicle. Against the law! Serious stuff here...

This is all the snow on our roof. I pray it's strong enough to hold all that weight.

The snow on this section of the deck railing began falling over from the weight of the snow a few days ago and froze into place. It's really leaning now!

All the inconvenience and hazards and loss of school time--school has already been cancelled the rest of the week and we have used up 7 of the 5 allocated snow days so far. The rest of the week off will put us at 9 nine days, 4 to make up. But still...I just love this picture of the trees in my backyard:

Just beautiful...so peaceful.