Snow.

I'm glad that I agreed to go to Las Vegas with my sister, Sherry, next weekend.

The company Sherry works for has a holiday party in Vegas every year. Free flights and hotel for employees and a guest. This year, none of Sherry's friends were free that weekend, and my other two sisters, Julie and Allie, couldn't go either. So Sherry asked me.

Sherry moved to Chicago about a year ago, and we've been getting together every month or so to have dinner and catch up, usually at the Cheesecake Factory (my Dad loves Chedders, Sherry loves the Cheesecake Factory). We talk, we eat, we run out of things to talk about, we go our separate ways. It's always nice but rarely lasts longer than the amount of time it takes to eat a meal.

Still, if someone offers you a free trip to a warm place in the winter, you take it. And I'm hoping it will be fun to spend some time together. Also, I found out later that if I'd declined, she wouldn't have gone at all, so I'm glad I said yes.

Sherry has one stipulation. "Shave the beard."