December in Tennessee was rain, rain, and more rain. And a little snow, to boot.This is a good thing, since the drought has eased a bit thanks to all that rain. We're all hoping here in Middle Tennessee that 2009 will bring plenty of rain and pull us out of that awful drought. I'm looking forward to the promise of more rain. Perhaps I'll even be able to avoid killing all my plants this year. Well, that might be too much to hope.

Isn't it crazy how ugly yards get in the winter?  I have nothing but admiration for the people whose yards remain beautiful even when barren.  You drive down a highway when the trees have lost leaves and the grass is brown - and you spot the litter.  Same goes with yards - the empty plastic bags are too visible, as well as the tossed coke cups, old rotting newspapers at the bottom of driveways, and other items that are normally invisible because there are so many other *nice* things to see when the weather is warm.

My goal this winter is to walk my yard from front to back and side to side just to pick up the detrious that has accumulated over the summer.

Once the trash is picked up, I'll still look forward to the snowfall to blanket the brown, dead colors that grow so tiresome in the winter.

That's why Christmas is also spectacular!  The lights, yard art, etc. help cheer even the most jaded soul!  Yeppers… ready for snow, ready for Christmas, ready for Spring!

Enjoy this fun version of the Muppets singing "12 Days of Christmas." Merry Christmas, Shak-ers!

I never thought I'd be tired of the rain after the drought, but it's been way rainy for a long time now. Mr. Ivy told me he was considering building an ark. I have to agree with him that it might be a good idea. Tennessee is finally catching up with rain which hopefully means that spring is going to be fabulous and beautiful. I'm looking forward to that, because this rain we're dealing with now is just cold and miserable.

Another stunning shot from my pal Chris Wage on Flickr.

It’s always surprising to me when weathermen predict snow and we actually get it. The snow, some of it anyway, stuck around for nearly 2 days. Pretty awesome. I found this great post about frugal snow removal over at the Simple Dollar was quite fitting, since my doors were frozen shut and I had to scrape ice the next morning.

Over at the NashvilleWX blog, they’re perplexed about whether we’ll have snow in Nashville tonight or not. I’m, of course, hoping for snow. The problem is, Nashville hardly ever gets snow. Story of my life, man. It’s snowing in New Orleans and it’ll probably just be really cold rain here. Fun for all.

Is there snow in your forecast? What’s your weather looking like?

Yet another from the "What were you thinking" files. Photo: Newscoma.

From the "What Were They Thinking" files, here’s a hot mess of Christmas lights. Less is more, people, less is more.

See more horrendous Christmas lights at UglyChristmasLights.com.