Eight pairs of gloves

EIGHT! Yesterday and my comment about AB adding in 40 lbs of additional winter gear? Uh huh. We are taking with us to Alaska, for one couple and a toddler for one week, eight pairs of gloves. No joke. And apparently every glove has its purpose.

Pair #1 - I will justify this pair, my leather driving gloves that go in my purse. My alternative to my heavy powder gloves. This is the pair of gloves that AB sees absolutely no purpose to. From AB's perspective, if you wouldn't want to be wearing this pair of gloves to dig your hand into the snow and pull out a big hunk of snow, pack it into a ball and launch it at someone, why own them? (I need them, end of story.)

Pair #2 - My powder gloves. This is my heavy ski gloves. They are wonderful, glove inside, mitten on the outside, Goretex, a cuff and they extend about 4" above the cuff. "Now these are gloves!" AB said as he gave them to me for Christmas one year. (AB's favorite gift to give? Gloves.)

Pair #3 - Leif's fleece mittens. The ones I can actually get him to keep on his hands. $2.99 at Target and as far as real protection? That is about what they are worth. Better than nothing at all, but he leaves them on his hands (for the most part).

Pair #4 - Leif's GoreTex mittens. Cannot for the life of me get them to stay on Leif's hands. I do not know what he does with his fingers in there, but they fall off within minutes of putting them on. To which Leif responds "uh oh" and stands there and looks at them and then holds out his hand to have it put on for the 574th time. Maybe I will find connectors in Alaska that will make them worthwhile? Or maybe in Alaskan MIL who raised 3 sons up there will have some secret to getting them to stay on his hands.

Ok... so here is where we get hairy...

Pair #5 as described by AB last night - "These are the coolest gloves, I forgot I had these! You can flip the mitten part off to expose your fingers which is great for fine work, like ice fishing, and I want to go ice fishing by the way. The only bad thing about these gloves is that they are fleece and don't protect your hands from the wind."

Pair #6 as described by AB - "Well you have to have mitten covers, these make any pair of gloves wind and probably waterproof too, I am pretty sure this fabric is waterproof. They will be perfect for snowmachining and see how they tighten around your wrist and extend up your arm. I have to bring these!"

Pair #7 as described by AB - "These are just like the other mitten covers, but they are a really good brand, Outdoor Research you know, they are a really good brand. But they aren't as good as the others. But we have to bring these. If your gloves get wet, you will be really happy to have these to wear when you go outside, I know I hate having wet mittens." (He doesn't know his wife very well... wet mittens = wife inside with hot cocoa and Baileys. Plus, I could have sworn that my GoreTex powder gloves were *the* pair of gloves that *never* gets wet. Le sigh.)

Pair #8 as described by AB - "Well these are my regular good gloves, the go under either of the mitten covers since the fingerless gloves wouldn't fit under the mitten covers. I have to have these."

The kicker that sent NM over the edge in a giggling fit - "Hey honey, when we are up in Alaska I want to see if I can find some new gloves, I need a new, good, all purpose pair and I can never find good gloves down here."