But this is still Texas ... right?

I am a Texan.  I wasn't born a Texan, but as the saying goes, "I got here as fast as I could".  I tell people that shortly after I was born (in Arkansas), I spoke my first word.  "Move."  My parents took that as a sign to take their little princess to another state.  They picked Louisiana.  I quickly realized that I needed to expand my vocabulary, so I tackled the art of stringing words together to make a sentence.  "Move to Texas."  Ahhhh, they realized the princess wasn't happy and so we moved again.  And not only did they move to Texas, but they moved to north central Texas ... the very mecca of all things wonderful.  (Maybe that isn't really why we made those moves, but if it had been in my power, that's how it would have happened.)

What do I love about Texas?  Just about everything.  But one of my favorites is the fact that it doesn't get cold here.  Right???  Uhh, wrong!  On Sunday, we started the week with snow - huge, white, freezing flakes falling right out of the sky.  OK, I'm not a total curmudgeon and I will admit the snow was pretty.  I even walked through the parking lot of Central Market trying to catch snowflakes on my tongue.  But I still don't like it.  As I related to a friend the other day, "I think I'm 'lergic to snow."  Fortunately, with our warm ground from the 60+ degree weather we had the week before, the snow vanished almost the instant it hit the ground.  Yeah!!!

Maybe if I could sit in my house curled up in my Snuggie and read a book, the cold outside would be tolerable.  But alas, that is not to be.  To endure the cold this week, I have bundled every part of my body that could be bundled for my trek from the parking garage to my office building downtown.  But there are parts that can't be bundled.  Each morning so far this week, my forehead has hurt because it was so cold and windy.  No exaggeration on this one, it was really painful.

The snow on Sunday should have been more than the quota for Texas.  But NOOOO.  On Monday afternoon, driving home, more snow!  Seriously, this is Texas.  We rarely get snow and when we do, it's AGES before we get more.  But - but - but this was two days in a row.  I seriously felt betrayed.  Maybe it isn't the snow that I dislike so much, but the unreasonably cold temperatures that accompany it and the fact that it melts then freezes during the night into hazardous black ice.

But what if it didn't have to be cold?  Work with me on this one ... imagine a gorgeous 85 degree Texas day with ginormous white snowflakes drifting down ever so gently.  (Hey did you know that ginormous is really a word ... when SpellCheck didn't have a temper tantrum at me using it, I looked it up.  It's really there.  Who knew?  OK a few of you total word brainiacs probably did.)  OK OK back to our fantasy snow day.  Little children along with their aging grandmothers could go outside and build snow people without being wrapped in layer upon layer that renders their appearance similar to the Michelin tire dude.  Snowball fights could be much more fun if it weren't such a horrible shock to your face when the icy cold white blob hits you.  After frolicking and running, a snowball splatting on you might feel refreshing.  Am I right?

Who's with me here?