The Calm Before The Storm...

New England is a wonderful place, with friendly people (at least most of the time they are), charming towns, excellent sports teams and cutting edge medical facilities and schools.

New England is also home to some of the most contrasting weather that I've ever seen.

Spring here can be lovely. This year it was a little cold, but usually a time when flowers and trees burst into life and memories of winter are blown away. Our alien is likely to be born at the beginning of Spring, and I personally can't think of a better time to first come to life.

Summer here is a little too hot for my liking, but nice nonetheless. We've been getting quite a few thunderstorms recently, and they've been scary for the cats and Coco, but they are kind of cool.

Autumn is glorious... nothing says 'pretty' better than dying vegetation.

The winters are what bother me. In a few short months our driveway and lawn will look very different than they do now. They will probably be covered by a thick sheet of ice and snow, and will only get more unrecognizable as time progresses.

I thought about this last night as Alise and I drove home last night, after a 'tour de dollar store' experience that we had undertaken. I looked at the driveway and tried to picture it as it will be in a few months. I then looked at Alise and did the same.

Alise is a stunningly beautiful woman who will, I'm quite sure, continue to look stunning throughout the pregnancy. It is no secret though that she is going to undergo some serious changes over the coming months. When the driveway is covered in snow, she's going to be a trifle larger than she is now.

I think... no, I'm pretty certain that I'm okay with this. It is going to be strange though.

All in all, it is still a little surreal. It's a lot for me to take in. Just as I know in July that by January we'll have snow and ice, and just as I know that Alise will at the same time be bigger, I just can't really picture either in my mind, to tell the truth.

One day soon though, it'll be snowing heavily and a pregnant Alise will be tapping on the window and waving at me. Telling me to get out there with her and shovel.