Living in the great white north of Minnesota, it's natural to get a bit of spring fever this time of year. Last week, much of the snow was melting, the ice dams on my roof were gone - I could even see pavement on the driveway for the first time in three months! So, naturally dreams of getting out the shorts, spring cleaning, and washing the golf clubs came to the forefront of my mind. However, like most winters, a late storm came along to crush all the hopes and dreams of spring. The depression that is Minnesota in the winter again reared its ugly head with a dumping of 18 inches of snow yesterday and today. When will it end? When will I be able to stop popping Advil like candy for my sore back from shoveling? Winter is definitely getting old!

One nice thing about this week, however, is the Chicago Midwinter meeting. It's truly the best meeting of the year to see the new innovations and products debuting for the upcoming year. Looking forward to seeing many friends and enjoying all that Chicago has to offer for a few days. At least it will take my mind off of the six-foot snow drifts on each side of my driveway. I'm sure it will all melt away again soon ... just in time for the routine early April blizzard! I don't know if that furry little rodent saw his shadow or not on Feb. 2 ... but I certainly did!