My husband piloting the Cass Family Flyer

When you live in the snow belt, it helps to learn to love the white stuff. Since it's still coming down out there and there's not much we can do about -- let's focus on the positive. Here are 10 ways to enjoy the snow:

1. Go sled riding. Honestly, when is the last time you rocketed down the side of hill on a piece of plastic? It's so much fun that it's nearly impossible NOT to laugh. It's also a great workout -- and not nearly as cold as you think -- when you're walking up and down a hill for an hour.

2. Go tubing at a ski resort. I have yet to do this because I was waiting for my youngest daughter to be tall enough to go. This is the year and I can hardly wait to give it a try. At the Peek, it's just $10 an hour and Mon-Thurs. evenings it's buy-one-get-one (except holidays).

3. Snowshoe. I bought a pair of snowshoes a couple of years ago to do the QUAD and then...you guessed it...the event was canceled for lack of snow. Today's snowshoes are lightweight aluminum and you can pick up a pair locally for less than $100. Add a pair of poles and head for Asbury Woods, the Wintergreen Gorge or Presque Isle State Park and go for a hike.

4. Color your world. Fill spray bottles with tinted water (food coloring) and add some color to those boring old snowbanks. You can use the colored water to write your name, add rosy cheeks to a snowman or play winter hopscotch (use the water to spray the hopscotch path).

5. Slip and slide. I love to make like a stunt driver and fishtail and slide around in an empty (or mostly empty) parking lot. Controlled slides -- like jamming on the brakes and letting your card slide to make a turn -- are kinda fun and, frankly, teach you how to handle the car when you're unintentionally sliding around a corner.

6. Stop and smell, er,...catch the flakes. Put on a pair of dark mittens, catch a couple of flakes and really look at the intricate, unique design of the individual flakes. When you appreciate a flake individually, you'll realize that it is amazingly beautiful.

7. Build a unique snow family. Forget the traditional tri-segmented snowman with scarf and a carrot nose. Build a snow family that reflects your own family -- add a snowboard to your little snowdude, throw some running shoes on your snowmamma and stick a binky in your snowbaby's mouth.

8. Invest in good snowplaying gear. This probably should've been NO. 1, but....you can't enjoy the winter/snow if you're freezing your butt (toes, fingers) off. Invest in a pair of winter bibs (yes, they make snowpants for adults). You don't have to buy the $120 Columbia ski bibs, you can pick up a less expensive pair at most mass retailers for less than $40. Good boots and gloves are key, too -- think big, thick and waterproof.

9. Shovel your neighbor's walk. It just feels good to do something nice for someone else. And, shoveling counts as exercise.

10. Walk across the bay. OK, obviously, you're going to have to wait on this one until the bay freezes over, but....once it does, this is a really cool experience (literally and figuratively). Even if, like me, you're a lily-livered chicken who won't go more than a few hundred yards from shore, it's something everyone who lives here should try at least once.