Miscellaneous

It would be the only weekend I don't take any work home with me...

Who, aside from, say, the Donner Party, doesn't like a good winter storm? I'm no different - I love to watch the flakes drift by and check snow accumulations.  I stay in the kitchen and bake and have a grand time.  What's more, I enjoy December storms much more than any other time. 

That is to say, I love snowstorms the first day.  Maybe part of the second.  By the third or fourth day, I am climbing the walls to get out of the house. 

Last week's Sunday storm and aftermath were a minor inconvenience.  Matthew and Peach missed Monday, but I was there most of the day.  I love driving in the snow and am glad to have an AWD vehicle - we do OK.  So far, so good.  We made it through the rest of the week without too much annoyance.

Saturday, on the other hand, I was shocked to wake up to four or five inches of accumulation. WTF?  I'd been so busy during the week that I pretty much ignored the snow talk for the weekend.  (And seriously - meteorologists don't get it right twice in a row.)  I went out, took the package to the post office, did some shopping, and headed home. 

Sunday morning, the car was completely buried.  We didn't make any effort to go anywhere - it was just the two of us with a puking baby.  Good times!  We had some fun, I took a nap, it was all good.  I somehow managed to not be present for either puking incidents, either, although I was the giver of baths. 

And the snow kept coming.  We dragged our trash to the curb - they had never missed a pick up, so we didn't want to miss it. 

Somewhere in the middle of the power outage yesterday morning (yeah, it's good times around here, all the way), I noticed I hadn't heard any of the trash vehicles out and about.  I looked outside - and realized there was another 5-6 inches of snow on top of the lids of the trashcan.  It was starting to get cold, but the power came back on between 7 and 8 in the morning.

Outside....oh, it was a mess.  The bottom layer of most things was ice, covered by three to five inches of snow, then covered by an inch of ice, and then seven or eight inches of fresh snow.  I carved a path to the car and Matthew worked on digging down, into the car.  It was a massive excavation.   A mission plan was coming together - our neighbors needed a prescription and had asked if we could pick it up.  Of course we can!  This means...AN OUTING!

So, it was only to Safeway and Round Table Pizza, but we made it.  We put the spikes-spiders on the VUE, and even with AWD, it was treacherous.  Great to get out of the house, but even the main drag was packed snow and ice 6" deep. The drivers?  Mostly OK, but there are those people who think snow tire or chain requirements don't apply to them.  I was gratified when the j@ck@ss riding my bumper decided to change lanes - and spun himself in a 270 degree arc.  Serves you right, and I'm glad you didn't hit anyone, particularly me.

Today, both Matthew's agency and the daycare are closed.  Matthew is sick.  Peach was sick over the weekend.  The boss emailed to say don't come in.  I feel pretty run down, but am trying to hold it together long enough for Matthew to get better.  I've been up since 4-something, when the baby woke up, and she's now pulling books out of the bookcases, bouncing on the horsey, and generally being a toddler.  Wish me luck.

Full post as published by The Menagerie on December 23, 2008 (boomark / email).