Heeeere's Johnny!

Introducing Johnny the hamster.

When I asked Sammy what he wanted to name his new hamster, he didn't hesitate a second before replying "Johnny".  Why, I have no idea.  As far as I know, he doesn't know anyone named Johnny, and I can't think of a single cartoon that has a character named Johnny.  A few hours later, Sammy asked me if he could really name the hamster anything he wanted.  When I said yes and asked if he wanted to change the name, he said, "Yes.  His name is Johnny the cow."  Indeed.  But we're still calling him Johnny for short.

Today, it started snowing at about noon.  I'd heard we were going to receive 7 or more inches of snow, so it was no surprise and I was happy that I'd get home before the worst of it hit (as most of you probably already know, I leave work at 1:00 every day).  My bus was about 10 minutes late, and when it finally arrived - it was packed to the gills.  No room for any more people.  That really stunk because the next bus wasn't for an hour.  Thankfully, Ron is home with the kids for now so I didn't have to worry about having to get the kids from daycare on time.  So I took advantage of the unexpected free time and walked over to the IDS center, bought myself a cup of coffee and sat down to relax with my book.

2:30 came - time for the next bus.  I walked to the bus stop, but walked all the way to the second stop on the line this time, figuring that way I'd for sure get on the next bus.  At 3:05, over half an hour late, the bus finally came.  Again, it was jam-packed full of people, every spare inch of space filled with a commuter eager to get home before the storm got any worse.

By this time, I was getting disgusted.  Fifteen minutes later, another bus came and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was finally a double bus.  Finally, there'd be room for me.  Nope.  Not a chance.

I walked to the first stop on the route - an indoor, underground ramp - and could hardly step off the bottom of the escalator for all the other people who had the same idea.  I'm happy to say that I finally managed to get on the next bus, at 3:30.  Then it took another 45 minutes for the bus to travel the 12 blocks to get out of downtown.  And another 45 minutes on the freeway.  And then another half an hour for me to drive home from the park & ride.  All in all, it took me four and a half hours to get home tonight.  Spring can't come soon enough this year.

One funny story to end this post.  It was beautiful outside...was it just yesterday?  Maybe the day before?  Right now, it seems like it's been snowing forever and it's hard to remember.  Anyway - whichever day it was, it was about 40 degrees outside and the snow was nice and sticky, just right for making snowmen.  Sammy wanted to go outside and make Frosty, so we did.  When we finished our snowman, Sammy watched for a few minutes, then asked why he wasn't moving.  He couldn't figure out why Frosty wasn't coming to life like he does in the song.