The Mind of a Peanut: Check another one off the list!

One of the things about living in the Chicagoland area is that winters here can be unpredictable at best. When I was a kid I used to love the winter as I was an avid skier, but as I've gotten older and the grown up world of commuting to work and other such adult BS has factored into my thinking, I've grown sick of the cold and snow. And while I still ski every now and again, I can't seem to find that indifference to the cold that I had a kid.

Anyway, I digress...as I mentioned winters here can be at times, mild or subzero cold. Usually all within a few days of each other, so it was no surprise that we went from a mild weekend of temperatures in the mid 40's to 8 inches of snow. After convincing my girlfriend to come over in the snowstorm (in my defense I never looked outside to see how bad the snowstorm was) I had the brilliant idea that we should go outside an build a snowman (something on her bucket list) and I could make a snow angel, which for some reason I had on my bucket list. I don't know, maybe it was on there so I could remember what it was like to be a kid again, without a care in the world and no knowledge of how tough life could be at times. What was surprising was that my girlfriend (who hates winter and snow more than I do) didn't hesitate a second.

Next thing you know there we are, in the snow building a snowman (not as easy as I remember) while both of us laughed and giggled like children. After about 10 minutes we had build a somewhat small snowman, which even without a carrot nose and a coal smile, looked pretty good!

Our snowman

Now it was time for my snow angel. As I spread my arms and fell backward into the snow, the first thing I realized was while the snow was about 6 inches deep, it wasn't all that soft of a landing! As I lay there in the snow...laughing, I begin to flail away, making what I hoped was the best snow angel EVER. Then I began to notice that my ass was now cold, and wet...two issues I don't remember having (or caring about) when I was a kid. Either way, I stood up, admired my handiwork, took a picture and got my cold wet ass back inside to change. But I have to admit, for the briefest of moments, I forgot that I had to work in the morning, I didn't care what my neighbors might say if they looked outside. I forgot about bills I had to pay, or dishes that needed to be done. I felt like a kid again...mission accomplished!