Back to the Mild Wetcoast!

My last post showed the snow on Monday night. By the time I woke up Tuesday morning, there was still snow, but not as much as when I took the photos as the rain had already begun during the night. That didn't stop School District #68 (Nanaimo and Ladysmith) from cancelling school for the day. Yep, the roads were fine, main roads plowed and some slush with plenty of tire tracks through the side roads, yet no school for the kids. Nanaimo basically uses any excuse to cancel school, this time stating that the roads were not safe. Hmm... okay whatever you say. The kids got their snow day, which turned into pouring rain throughout the day. I bet they had fun in that!

The temperatures are now mild, which is actually unusual for this time of year. Yesterday we hit 9 C and as of right now, we are 7 C. I'll take it though. The rain is here, pouring at times, but I can deal with that. I don't mind running in fresh snow briefly, but this stuff was wet and slushy. There was still some snow on the trails and side roads when I ran on Tuesday, so I actually broke out the Yak Trax. These things are a savior in the snow, so if you live around snow and don't have them, definitely get a pair.

Here we are on Thursday and the snow from Monday night is nearly gone. It is still in a few spots here and then, but for the most part it is gone. No snow in the forecast for the near future either.

I must say that I am surprised at the number of runners that opted for the treadmill during the snow. It seems that it scares some runner's away. I on the other hand love it. Sure you cannot run as fast, but the effort is generally the same as you work in the snow to keep a decent pace. You also get to work your stabilizer muscles, which is a good thing. I used the treadmill for speed workouts during last years snow and only one long run of 90 minutes. After that 90 minutes, all my other long runs were out in the snow as I found it incredibly boring, even with a tv in front of me. Now I will only use the treadmill if its unsafe to run outside. I am definitely NOT a treadmill runner.

In other news, I finished all of our Christmas shopping yesterday. I went out yesterday to finish of Jay's shopping. Wait did I say finish? I should say, I went out to start and finish Jay's shopping yesterday. Luckily he only had 4 people to buy for, so it was quite simple. I can now say that we are completely done shopping and with 8 shopping days to spare!

Can't finish a blog without talking about the kitties. Socket was still fascinated with the snow, watching it out the window on Tuesday morning. I guess my taking him out in the snow, probably hasn't deterred him from wanting outside!

Steve posing for a photo with his mouse

For the last day or two, Socket has been having sneezing fits. While I find them funny, they are beginning to worry me as he sneezes at least 5 times each time. I have read it could be due to a cold/infection; however, at the same time I don't want to jump the gun and take him to the vet to find out nothing is wrong due to the $$ of the vet visit. Anyone have any opinions on excessive cat sneezing and what I should do?