January 8, 2024

Today’s morning coffee comes from my dining room table. It’s just after 9am on a Monday morning (I love a good Monday morning!), but the kids are still at home. There’s a two-hour school delay because of the winter weather we received over the weekend. Saturday was supposed to be a big storm! At one point 1-2 feet of snow was mentioned. It rained, snowed, rained again, there was sleet and freezing rain (what’s the difference between those two anyway?), and then some snow again. Maybe a few inches fell.

Then yesterday we were pleasantly surprised with much prettier Winter Wonderland conditions. (Are we supposed to capitalize Winter Wonderland? Nope, just Googled it, not a proper noun…I should have known.) The snowflakes weren’t big, but they fell almost all day. Roads were okay, at least from what we experienced, but apparently they worsened once dark hit. The parents coming in and out of our garage to pick up their girls from Natalie’s 8th birthday party were giving us reports.

We had 15 little people in the house yesterday. Natalie just wanted a giant play date for her birthday party, so that’s what we did. Plain and simple. And for the most part, it was…plain and simple. Or do we consider the Party Like A Panda decorations not so simple? HA! When you can easily find a ton of panda party decor options on Amazon (who knew!?), it’s simple. Dressing 15 little people to play in the snow – not simple at all.

Happy to report that no random gloves, hats, boots or socks have been found as leftovers from the party. That’s a #tundraofmaryland success right there!

Another #tundraofmaryland success is HOPEFULLY happening tonight. It’s our Annual Sparkly Ladies Night at Firewater Kitchen & Bar (many of the photos on their site were taken by me!) at Deep Creek. It all started in 2021 when a small group of us decided to dress up (in sparkles) for a night out at holiday time. We gathered at Firewater…

Pardon the interruption that you can’t see or hear, Natalie needed me to help her change her earrings. She’s newly pierced.

We gathered at Firewater for what would eventually turn into the lake party of the year, or at least that’s what some of us are anticipating tonight. After attracting about 40 ladies to the affair last year, we realized the event could get bigger and that we’d need more space. So this time, Firewater is opening just for us! It’s a private party for ALL ladies of Deep Creek + Garrett County and the Facebook event says over 170 people are coming. WOWZER!

Second interruption: Natalie wanted to chat with me about the Husky Pup slips she got at school and how she’s now a table washer in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Apparently being a table washer (and a sweeper) is a big deal at school. Ally eventually chimed in because it’s something she remembers from her elementary days. She mentioned that sweeping is better than table washing, especially if you’re a fifth grader because by last lunch, the rags aren’t so clean.

Firewater Kitchen & Bar is one of the newer food + drink hot spots to pop up in our county and it has become a lake favorite for sure. So it’s no surprise to me that so many ladies want to come hang tonight. We all need a reason to get dressed up in sparkles, right?

Third interruption: Took the kids to school and made some breakfast.

But wait, back to this past weekend’s weather…I had a snowy maternity session yesterday and it was a beautiful blast! Morgan and Ben married at Red Barn Inn here at Deep Creek, they have a family cabin so they can visit the lake often, and they are expecting their first baby later this winter. All Morgan wanted was a winter wonderland maternity session and BOOM we got it. Thank you, Tundra.