Brave the Distance

Do you ever have those days when you are suffering from cabin fever?  Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's a sick little one, maybe you just feel like you can't get everyone ready and out the door in a reasonable amount of time.   Whatever the reason, there are just those days when we spend the whole day in the house, never making contact with the outside world.  Even when we do get out, we don't always brave the distance from house to house to let others into our lives.
  Today has been dramatically termed "Snowmageddon" and "Snowpacalypse" by the locals of Seattle.  We've even made national news with the recent snow storms!  In reality, it's only a few inches of snow.  But, for us West Coasters (especially this household of Californians)- this is pretty intense.  No one owns snow shovels, the city doesn't have enough snow plows.  Offices and schools are shut down.  In other words, we are not going anywhere, at least for today, and probably not for a few days.  It's tempting to lock ourselves in our home, stay in our pajamas, and burrow ourselves under a pile of blankets for the next several days, but that probably wouldn't be for the best.  Luckily, our neighbors know better.

The other day, while the kids built a snowman with Lucas, we got an invitation from our next door neighbors to join them for an impromptu wine and cheese night.  It was unexpected but SO FUN!  And then, this morning, I got a text from our neighbors across the way, inviting us to join them for sledding down the hill on our street.  I'm so glad they did.

Before heading up the hill we knocked on a few more neighbors' doors and by the time we were ready to leave for the hill, a little crowd had gathered.  The kids only lasted 20 minutes at most before the cold set in.  It was amazing how they all synchronized their melt downs!  But, it was so worth it. 

So knock on some doors!  Make a few phone calls!  Don't go it alone.  Brave the distance.  Life is so much better when shared with friends.