I just discovered the coolest thing. Snow shoes. I've never been snowshoeing before -- I have no idea why or how I've missed out on this -- and I just cruised my neighborhood on a borrowed pair, and they rocked the snowbanks, fully. I currently have a get-out-of-snow-shoveling pass due to the big belly, and while I was standing around watching hubby dig out the driveway, our new neighbor offered to lend me her extra pair of snow shoes so that I could get a little bit of easy exercise. Brilliant. Off we went, trampling down the block, chatting up all of our other neighbors. My dog Riley was thrilled with my new mobility; he met two potential puppy playmates along the way, in between bouts of tunneling through snow drifts, bounding in happy circles, and plopping down in the middle of the street to eat snow. By the time I did the long loop around the 'hood, I'd stopped at seven or eight neighbors' houses to visit, worked up a bit of a sweat, and returned with a brand new item to add to my Christmas wish list when I returned the snow shoes to my neighbor. Hubby, by the way, has a new item on his wish list as well; he has been eyeballing other people's snow blowers all day (one guy down the street with a particularly long driveway actually has his own tractor, but that's a bit much). Guess we'll both have to shoot a last-minute message off to Santa this year.