Happy Friday!

Sophie wants to point out some great causes.

Hey y'all.

Hope you're having a wonderful, snowy Friday! I survived the Thundersnow and power outages, but wanted to let you know about two awesome ways that you can make a difference this weekend. 

Max says "Make a Difference Today!"

Tomorrow, when the snow clears up enough for everybody to replenish their bread and milk supplies before the Big Game, please make sure to do your shopping at Kroger at Food City. Volunteer stations will be set up at those stores to collect donations for the Shop and Share program. Just purchase the needed canned goods and toiletries and drop them off at the volunteer booth located within the store. These items will be donated to Kentucky Domestic Violence Association (KDVA) shelters. These safe houses and shelters are located in communities across the state and provide a safe haven for women and children in crisis.

Another cool way to make a difference this weekend is by purchasing a Pet Valentine in this week's print edition of Ace Weekly. Our friends at Ace are as nuts about pets as we are here at HerKentucky, and they've found the most adorable way to help. For only $25, you can feature your pet's photo in a "Valentine" ad. Proceeds go to Spay/Neuter programs at Woodford Humane and Lexington Humane.

I hope everybody finds a way to stay warm and make a difference this weekend!

In Photos: Snow Day

This weekend, I had the good fortune to be visiting my parents in the mountains when we got ourselves a good, old-fashioned Snow Day. 

Snowflakes.

Now, even though both of my parents are retired from our county school system, the promise of a Snow Day still connotes a day of fun -- an escape from everyday worries and routines.

Sophie didn't see what all the fuss was about.

The old joke goes that Southerners storm the grocery store whenever even a hint of snow is in the forecast.  I find that we Kentuckians do fall into this pattern, even though snow isn't a rare occurrence for Kentucky winters.  I certainly saw a guy buying three gallons of milk  at my hometown grocery store on Saturday afternoon, and briefly wondered if he had himself a neat little speculation/profit scheme.

This weekend, we got four beautiful inches of snow, which might be a joke to my friends in Chicago or a blizzard to my friends in Atlanta.  Here, it was just enough to celebrate!

Do y'all still love Snow Days?

Stay a day...

My grandmother always says, "If you don't like the weather in Kentucky, stay a day it will change."

However, I'd like to recommend if you are bemoaning the weather any time between late November through mid March, don't stay a day. Get the hell out.

Kentucky winters are grey, rainy, and bleak.

When we first moved here my husband expressed some serious dismay at the never-ending rain. Currently, we are on our third straight day of cold rain.

"Where have you brought me?!?" he exclaimed.

I always welcome the rain at first. I love rainy days. It's like Mother Nature is giving you an excuse to be lazy. You can stay in, read a book, lay on the couch. Of course, now I have a two-year-old and an infant so rain days are spent slowly. going. crazy.

One rainy day is bad enough. Last winter, I think it rained for a week straight. It felt like two. (And we won't even talk about the Flood.) It just gets old is what I'm saying, particularly when the holidays are over and there is nothing to break up the monotony of the cold, grey days.

Thanks only to climate change we've started getting more snow, which in some ways lifts the veil of grey but in others makes life miserable because most Kentucky towns (at least the ones in Western Kentucky) are ill-equipped to handle true winter weather.

Not to mention, some times the winter weather is just enough to cause some real damage (see Ice Storm 2009). No sledding. No beautiful snowscapes. Just ice and sleet, which is even worse.

Luckily, Kentucky springs are the stuff of dreams and Kentucky falls are the prettiest around. They make up for the winters...but just barely.