the first snowfall of the year: pros and cons

pros:

1. everyone can stop bitching about how "usually by this time of year we already have FIFTEEN FEET OF SNOW!"
2. everyone can start bitching about how "we now have FIFTEEN CENTIMETRES OF SNOW!" don't worry, you guys, there's always something to bitch about.
3. helps get you in the mood for christmas, which is lovely before christmas (not so lovely if, like the past few years i was in halifax, you don't get snow until mid-january. that is just sad-making).
4. covers up all the yard work you didn't do (i picked up the pine cones, i swear, THEY JUST KEPT FALLING OFF THE TREES!)
5. SNOW ANGELS! SNOWBALL FIGHTS! SNOW FORTS! SNOW PANTS!
6. shoveling increases heart rate. (staying in bed while boyfriend shovels and then finding out he not only shoveled a little path to your car but also cleaned it off for you increases heart rate exponentially!)
7. snow outside makes house far more warm and cozy inside, somehow. memories of august's oppressively sweltering heat slowly and surely start to melt away. uh.. melt away? ice over, maybe. whatever. you forget about them, okay?
8. raccoons hibernate. right? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME RACCOONS HIBERNATE!
9. your yard looks like this:
   
   
   it's a winter wonderland 
10. you get to wear mittens! and mittens are cool.

cons:

1. driving is a nightmare. your car becomes a tiny little steel coffin in which you are trapped while psychotic, drunken rednecks in trucks pass you on the highway while the road is still covered in three feet of slush because they have forgotten, since the last time they ended up in the ditch last winter, that they ARE NOT FUCKING INVINCIBLE JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE IN A TRUCK.
2. this causes you to miss out on some really fun things like eating dip and mini-quiches and going dancing with co-workers because you are worried about the drive home. perhaps you are even made fun of by co-workers due to your extreme winter-driving-safety diligence. perhaps their mocking laughter rings in your ears late into the night while you are trying to sleep. YOU KNOW, PERHAPS.
3. SNOW ANGELS! and SNOWBALL FIGHTS! and SNOW FORTS! actually basically just equal YOUR BOYFRIEND PUSHING YOU INTO A SNOWBANK AND LAUGHING AT YOU! (there was an impression of my head in the snowbank outside cory's parents' house for the entire winter of 2008-2009. true story). and maybe your SNOW PANTS! don't stay up. maybe.
4. shoveling sucks.
5. you might want to stay in your cozy awesome house and drink cocoa and play video games, but YOU HAVE TO GO TO FUCKING WORK. hibernation is not going to pay the bills, yo.
6. having to put away your cute shoes in favour of stupid ugly stupid winter boots.
7. boyfriend's winter boots mysteriously disappear. he might not say it out loud, but you think he secretly blames you.
8. increased sightings of nordics jackets.
9. your street looks like this:
   
   
     it's a winter fucking wasteland 
10. your mittens only serve to remind you that THERE ARE NO OLYMPICS THIS YEAR. suddenly, your winter got a whole lot longer.