Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Blizzard in recap

Blizzard Day 1:

The sleet started in the night. It was a storm complete with lightening and thunder. The sleet continued all night, gradually turning to snow by morning.

Since this is an anomaly here in our state, there was a proper level of freaking out. There was also an improper level. 

Because the professor has a car with low clearance, he could not get out of our drive way. Or down our road. We were snowed in. 

School was not even attempted. I am not a perfect homeschooler. My children were bouncing off the walls, from window to window often exclaiming, "WOW! Look at that snow! Can we go play in it?"

They could not. The winds were putting us at -10 degrees. 

The next day? The next day we let them out. 

But not before I took this picture: 

That snow  covered car surrounded by the drifts? That's the Professor's car. 

The snow was past my knees in many places. 

While I realize I'm short -- this is a lot of snow for our state. We were essential frozen to a stand still. 


Blizzard Day 2: 

There's a lot of snow on the road. We still can not get out of our driveway. 
Apparently there are lengths of highway where people were stuck in their cars in the snow and had been there over night. The national guard was deployed to find such people. And still managed not to find them all. 

I watched the local news with curiosity. 

I listened to them try to create chaos by talking about snow building up on roofs of buildings. The Professor, who IS a structural engineer had some interesting words for the news casters. 

Basically, news anchor school is not the same as engineering school. They should not quit their day jobs. 


Snow levels ranged from:
to: 




And often in the same yard. 


the side roads do not get plowed. Ever...we are still in the house. We mostly don't mind. 

The term "Snopocalypse" was bandied about on facebook. I kept a wary eye out for snow zombies.  

Blizzard Day 3:


We do not have cabin fever. But we do have a funk settling in to the members of the house. 
We are not tired of the snow. We don't really care. The kids are not exactly outdoors people, anyway. 


There is no school work done when the mother isn't interested. 


I'm keeping an eye on the children, they seem to be acting odd. 
What would a snow zombie outbreak look like, anyway??

Facebook comments are getting hateful toward the snow. I am content. Soon enough we'll be in July and the heat.

We also learned that if we ever move to a state that has this type of snow NORMALLY we will have to invest in proper snow attire. Jeans just don't keep out the cold.

Cancelled my date with The Professor. 

Blizzard Day 4. 


The professor made it to work. He was thrilled, I think to be out of the house. 
There is more snow today. Still no school was accomplished. Because, "hey more snow"




I overslept, actually sleeping through my alarm clock. Which might explain why I have "Cisco Kid was a friend of mine" playing on repeat in my head. (Note to self: Find a "best of WAR" CD) By the time we had lunch, I decided "What the heck. Go play outside." They have no system, yet, for donning gloves and coats. SO my assistance is required. 

It is moments like this where I really hate snow. 

 I find myself fighting comparisons. Comments of other homeschool moms on facebook talk about "kids are playing valley forge". 

My kids? 


They're out there playing "Search and Rescue". 


 Am I a bad homeschool mom?

I asked the professor. He said, "Well no. Valley forge was a horrible experience."



Seeing the valley forge posts, though, gave me an idea when Mini-Me complained that her boots were too constricting on her feet. My reply was "You can use your sneakers, or do like they did at Valley Forge and wrap rags on your feet."


She rolled her eyes and went outside in the constricting boots. 

The Professor stopped at the store on his way home. He said most of the staples were picked clean. But he got what he could from memory of our shopping list.  


Blazing trails:


Blizzard: Saturday

More shoveling of snow.

Church is canceled.
Gaming occurs.
Napping. 


Less of a Blizzard: Sunday


Took the professor's car to town. Had trouble getting around the corner of our street. 
Once out of the neighborhood. We made good time. 


Took Mini-Me with me. Her pre-teen angst and intolerance for her siblings needed OUT Of the house. 


We stopped at the grocery store to pick up Sugar and Bread if they had it.
They didn't. But on inspiration, we grabbed some hamburger buns (the only other options were bagels) for sloppy joe sandwiches. 



We go to the party supply store to pick up a few things for Mini-e's fifth birthday. We got some dinner and headed home. 


The blizzard is all but over. Monday, I drove the van out of the neighborhood to mail valentine cards. The bottom of the van scraped the ice 'floes' still packing on the street. 


My mother came by in the afternoon. I tried to convince her to stay and talk to the kids. Apparently they need more people to talk to than just me - but she has to be on her way home.


Today is Tuesday post apocalypse and we're looking at more snow. Anywhere from 8 to 10 inches. 


The historic blizzard is still making news here in the state but, like the melting snow, it is less and less of a topic. The snow mounds will linger to remind us of the blizzard. 


Really, it is too bad that we can't keep some of the snow for a nice break come July and August. 


Oh, well. 

3 comments:

The Gang's Momma! said...

LOL - your recap is so much more creative than mine would have been:

snow.
more snow.
cabin fever.
kids are brats.
snow.
more snow.
cabin fever worse.
kids AND mommy are brats.

:)

CrossView said...

Wow! Just ... wow! Did you ever see the snow zombies? ;O)

Vicki said...

Love, love, love, your story telling!