No good deed...

goes unpunished…

Flipping through the Yahoo news pages on the laptop yesterday and came across an article about GIANT SQUIDS! Apparently hoards of them are congregating in California waters. The article says that squids normally weigh in around 40 lbs. These are 60-100 lbs! (I'll bet they're from Italian waters… all that pasta you know.)

So I casually mentioned it to MY giant squid.

"A bunch of your relatives showed up in California and are swimming around making headlines. Did you know about the family reunion? How come we weren't invited?"

"I don't have any relatives in California. Wait! Are you talking about the squids?"

"Well of course I'm talking about the squids."

SWAT!

Tsk.

When the swimming squids get irritated, they squirt ink. When my squid gets irritated, he swats! (Definitely, they're related.)

Since His Holiness didn't show the same enthusiasm for the giant squid anecdote that I did, I decided I wouldn't bother to mention that I also read that Polish scientists found the remains of three Neanderthals…

We got that big weather system that moved up the U.S. east coast. More snow, some ice, freezing weather.

Cowboy made noises about my being out in the weather – pneumonia, bronchitis, snow angels and other blathering that didn't make sense. So when he said he had to drive into town to get supplies…

I had 2-3 hours at the most. I bundled up in several fleecy layers and dashed into the backyard with the dogs. (They had their sweaters on.) Snow was packed and up to my calves in places. It took a little effort but I got the first large round snow ball to make the bottom of a snow person. It was soooo big and round I reshaped it to make it an expectant mama… the top wasn't quite as big but suddenly was a little taller than I could handle. I added arms with hands placed over her bulging tummy and put her head in the crook of her elbow… Added a beret to the head, beets for her eyes and peas for her mouth. (If I was expecting triplets I'd cut off my head, too.)

Unfortunately, BullyBoy peed on her leg.

The 2nd snow person was harder to make. I leaned a skinny layer of snow against a tree – was just shaping the body when I thought I heard a car. Decided to stop there and get back in the house before His Holiness returned. Got a huge laugh when I got to the back porch. From that vantage point, the snow person I was in the process of making was BEHIND the tree. All you could see was a HUGE breast peeking from the tree trunk. I ran back and put a beet on it dead center.

The pups and I were lounging in front of the fire – dry and warm – when Cowboy showed up about 30 minutes later.

I smiled, looking up from the book in my lap.

He gave me a big hug and kiss and said he bought Dove ice cream bars along with the groceries. Yum!

"Pasta for supper," he added. "Along with a spanking."

"What?" Ohhhh, not good. Not good at all.

"Either snow elves came for a visit while I was gone or you went out in this weather and built a couple of snow people. Which was it?"

Crumb! "Uhhh… I'm sure snow elves must have visited while the pups and I were napping," I said with fingers crossed, the pups snoring away and not volunteering information.

"Uh-huh," my husband agreed, tucking me under his arm and delivering a not-so-gentle swat.

Tsk.

I'll have to put off the snow fort and other snow creatures until he goes into town again. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the snow will be around for a while.

I bet if they tested Cowboy's DNA with the DNA of the Neanderthals' remains...

~Sar~