Besides working from home yesterday (because the office shut down due to the snow) being shut in with the family enabled a few extra-curricular activities in and around the house. Yes, I put in my time for the man, but being locked away left plenty of moments here and there for other stuff, such as:

- setting up the Mac with a few extra bits of software, including a number of development libraries while trying to compile some free software, and also a plug-in for iPhoto that connects to my gallery and uploads pictures directly.

- shoveling a whopping huge drift from the driveway and tried to convince the neighbor that this storm was actually a good thing — from a water-table, resource management perspective — environmentally.

- taking some nice pictures of Claire while she played in her saucer, that subsequently appeared in the gallery thanks to the aforementioned plug-in.

- making grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup for lunch.

- catching up on some of my backlog of recorded television while I did some mindless web/work related laptop time.

- making a checklist (on paper with a pen) of the books I am currently or need to read in the next few months, or at least before the summer hits and I absently spend time in bookstores buying more. I would get a library card, but I’d spend the same in overdue fines.

- feeling sorry for the dog, who wears her fear of the cold openly, as she paced in front of the patio door working up the courage to pee.

- reading quietly for at least two hours.

- spending at least twice that much time with my daughter.

I could have used a couple more snow days. The thermometer on my car said it was -41C at one point in my drive. Fog. Chill. The clutch was being stubborn in the freezing temperatures. And summer is only a few months away, right?