Annabelle Valentine

Annabelle herself with her special valentine's wagon full of treats followed by her mom

Back of the wagon

Today I made the trek to the SW corner of our county to have my hair done at the home of Annabelle Valentine. A snowstorm was supposed to hit us at the same time dumping yet another 3-5 inches on top of the 6 feet and counting snow we already had but it either isn't coming or is late so I guess I am lucky. Long range forecasts indicated today was the start of 40-50 degree weather but the joke is on us because it was close to zero again this morning. Too much of this blog has been polar vortex oriented but this crappy weather has dominated our lives way too much. At any rate, I plan to escape this soon and didn't want the sun shining on my roots.

There is a book called Love Ruby Valentine about a little girl who decides to bring Valentine cheer to everyone she can, which made then 4 year old Annabelle think that she can do this too. During her first year, she distributed cookies and valentines to everyone she encountered in their small downtown community. For some, this was their only Valentine. Two years later, she has expanded her efforts to a Veteran's hospital and a family homeless shelter bringing on her own kind of cheer. The community in turn has donated goods and services to her one child mission to spread love. Lots of work for a little 6 year old girl. I am fortunate that her mom was able to work me in before I left.

In the past, I have scheduled trips out there when snow was not an issue. They have a long, hilly driveway off a small country lane. And they seemed to have gotten even more snow than we have. I wish I had taken photos of the mailboxes sticking out of the 8 foot drifts. As it turned out, I had no problems though the strong winds are whipping up miniblizzards at road level. I didn't run the gauntlet of her chicken flock. They are safely huddled in their coop. But it is fun to just schmooze for 2 hours while I get my hair done.

Earlier in the day, we had Ms. Tess as her brothers were off with Shanna to see the Lego movie along with every other kid out on winter break. She picks up things so quickly..quite a bright, sweet little girl.We watched the ice dance finals. Our team came in 8th overall though his roommate took the gold. Fun to watch. The mom was shown in the stands. It was her birthday. She used to sit with me as we watched our sons play soccer in the adult league..fun talking with her and now here she is on a much bigger stage than a blanket in Fuller Park.

Hot. Cool. Yours. Weirdest motto ever.