Stir crazy

The last two weeks have been totally crazy. I was in the office for only 1 out of the 10 working days, and the boys' school was closed for 8.5 of those 10 days due to snow and ice. That's a LOT of time to be cooped up. And you know it's bad when then kids groan about yet another school closure because they just want to see their friends (and get away from their mean old mom who won't let them eat snacks every minute of every day), even if it means going to school!

Our first "winter weather event" happened on Monday, February 16. I was already home with Lorelai for President's day (daycare teacher workday) so it was no big deal when school got out early. We ended up with more sleet than snow, so many secondary roads were skating rinks. With more snow on Wednesday, school was out all.freaking.week because it was just too bitterly cold to melt the ice/snow. I guess I didn't really get how bad some roads were until we picked Aidan up after a sleepover on Saturday morning. 5 days later, and his friend's road was still solid ice.



We thought we were in the clear last week. Monday was a normal day at school and work. And then everyone was completely surprised when we woke up to more snow coming down on Tuesday. Some buses had already left to get students by the time the school delay call came in at 6:30am. By 7:45, it was very clear the roads were too bad to go to school, so we were at cancellation number 5. I think we ended up with 2-3 inches before it stopped. The kids loved it though--real snow, better than the ice last week.


Adam ventured out to work every day, making me a nervous wreck (I'm paranoid) when every single time, he forgot to text me that he got there safe.


The biggest punch in the gut from good old Mother Nature came at 1am on Thursday when our power went out due to the heavy, wet snow taking down trees and power lines. It sure was gorgeous though!


We don't even own a snow shovel--we had to borrow the neighbor's.


We keep our downstairs thermostat really low at night so it didn't take long without heat to drop down into the 50s. We tried to warm the house with our first fire in the fireplace in I don't know how many years. Since before Logan was born maybe. It became very clear that the poor Duraflame log was not cutting it. Those things are not made to give off much heat.



My work laptop was completely dead, and with no indication that our power would be back on soon, I couldn't run my cell phone battery down by calling in to my work meetings. Worst use of a vacation day, ugh. With no power and no coffee and most importantly no heat (I was SO cold even with multiple layers under blankets!!), we packed up and headed to Adam's work down the road. Thankfully the main roads weren't too dicey because some plows had made it through. We happily mooched off their power, wi-fi and coffee until our power came back on that afternoon. And then my mom happily mooched off our power until hers came back on that evening. :)


This is the clubhouse of one of the apartment complexes Adam manages. Cinnamon roll keurig coffee and a huge media room for the win.


Of course (because we're in the south) the secondary roads still weren't safe for buses by Friday, so that was cancellation numero ocho. Ouch. And now the boys have officially lost the first week of their 3-week intersession at the end of this month. At least there's no Saturday school for us, so that's an up side?

The snuggles were also a big up side. :)



This has been the first "normal" week in a long time, and now we're looking at another wintry mix on the way tonight that could possibly delay or cancel school tomorrow. While I actually didn't mind going into full hibernation mode--no makeup/yoga pants/curled up under a blanket at the table in front of my computer and only stepping outside to take a couple of quick pics of the kids, I was happy to be back in the office this week. I will echo the sentiment of pretty much everyone when I say I'm SO DONE with winter. Hurry up, Spring!

#snOMG. Over it.

It's almost freezing and raining/wintry mixing out side. The northern part of our county had pretty bad ice, with trees down and power out, so what was a 3-hour delay turned into another school cancellation. Luckily Adam was able to take the boys to work with him and Lorelai's daycare was open on schedule so I got to go into the office. Much better than the cancellation on Tuesday due to ice, where I had to take 4 hours worth of conference calls from home plus do the rest of my work, with 3 kids to keep quiet in the background all day. Yeah, they watched two movies that morning.

Needless to say, I'm SO over the cold and inclement weather. The sun and its warmth need to make an appearance, because my mood is taking a hit. Or that could be the fact that I've been watching what I'm eating so I'm pretty much in a constant state of hangry. Or both. Oh, and that's probably why blogging has taken a back seat these days. I've got several posts to share, but haven't been the least bit in the mood to write. #sorrynotsorry.

Anyway...in the spirit of catching up, and hopefully saying an offical goodbye to winter weather, I feel the need to share our snow day from three weeks ago. And I have to document this for my own memory later, since it rarely snows like this in NC.







Unlike the last snow day we had, this one wasn't hyped nearly as much. Oddly enough, it turned out way worse. On Feb 12, Adam went to work in the morning to one of his properties an hour away. School closed early, and it started snowing right when I got to the bus stop at 12:30. I talked to Adam and asked him to make his way home. He said it wasn't bad out and he'd leave soon-ish. By the time the bus pulled up at 12:40 and we headed to daycare to get Lorelai, snow was sticking to the sides of the roads. I pulled up to daycare at 12:45 and made a frantic call to Adam to get his butt home ASAP. By the time we left daycare shortly before 1pm, a full dusting was covering the roads.



Adam did make it home safe and sound, although it took him a full 3.5 hours, and he couldn't even make it back to his other office to drop off his co-workers. They ended up hanging out at our house for a while until their husbands could come get them. Although all things considered, he made remarkable time compared to my mom, who took the same amount of time to go SIX MILES (!!!!) to her house. CrAzY!







We got 4 inches of snow in 4 hours, and then some, totalling what I guess was 5 or 6 inches by the time the sleet and freezing rain came rolling in overnight and throughout the next day. Luckily we didn't lose any trees or power.





We were basically snowed in for 2.5 days while school was closed, but it was actually not bad at all. I didn't mind that snow--in my mind, it was one last hurrah for winter before warmer temps rolled in. Hahahaha, fooled me! We've had a couple of warm days since then, but winter keeps.coming.back. A 50* temp swing in the course of 24 hours is just ridiculous.


Spring, where are you??

Go home, winter. You're drunk. I need some spring in my life.


70* on Sunday, 20* on Monday. UGH!

Snow Day!

We totally got the snow day I had hoped for. It was only about 1.5" and the snow started to fall later than they predicted so the 3-hour early dismissal yesterday was for nothing (I was totally right to be skeptical of the larger predictions), but it was enough to cancel school today and plenty for the kids to enjoy. Safe to say Lorelai is a fan of her first real experience with snow, since the last time we got any real snowfall was when she was an infant.



Since we don't get snow very often, we don't have much snow gear, including a sled. Or a hill...so really the sled wouldn't have mattered much anyway. :)


Note that Lorelai is in a snow bib two sizes too small and one of the boys' old rain coats (because waterproof), and Aidan is wearing my Timberlands and my pants over his jeans. Make do with what you have, right?

While I was stuck inside on 3 hours worth of conference calls for work (although I popped outside a few times in between calls to crunch in the snow and snap some pics), they rummaged through the garage to find things to play with in the snow. Pool noodles, it is. It wasn't really good snowman snow and I was inside when they did snow angels (sad face), but they also cleaned off Adam's car and "shoveled" the driveway with those pool noodles. Needless to say, it's still covered in snow, which is even more packed down as a result of their work.


Not pictured: Adam, who was also inside working, and then traveling against my wishes over an hour away for work. :(

Eh, whatever. Because they had fun, just as I had hoped. It was magical to them, and they willingly came in as soon as their noses and fingers were numb (took over an hour though!) and they warmed up under blankets, sipping on hot chocolate, just like I had hoped.



It was a good day. Minus the whole numb fingers/can't get warm and having to work all day, of course. :)

Snow please?

I complain about cold weather a lot. Like a LOT. Because I hate to be cold. Because bundling kids up just to get out the door in the morning is a PITA. Because cold, dry weather makes my hands (and Logan's--holy whoa, his were bleeding the other day!) unbearably dry and cracked. Because of static hair everywhere.

But as much as I hate all of that, I really REALLY want to have a legit snow day. I'm not talking about a lame dusting like we had last week, I want multiple inches on the ground so we're snowed in. Forced to stay home under blankets on the couch sipping hot chocolate. Only going outside to throw snowballs and make snow angels until our noses and fingers get numb (but not a minute longer!).

Currently, we're in the 2-4" range but I wouldn't be mad at closer to 5". Although I'm even doubtful we'll get 2" given our track record...

Cold sucks, but snow is magical and beautiful. Especially if you live in a place where it's fairly rare. :) And especially when you have kids who haven't seen much of it. Experiencing snow through the eyes of my children makes me remember how giddy I always got at the prospect of a snow day when I was a kid.

Of course, snow days as an adult are completely different (the downside of being able to telecommute is that you don't really get a day off) but I can live vicariously.


January 2009. I think we got 4 or 5 inches?

But let's not be crazy--I'll be happy with one or two moderate snow storms a year. You northerners can keep your multiple feet of snow because we'd literally be snowed in for weeks if we got what you're getting. And then I'd be cold AND stir-crazy. No thanks! :)