The Blizzard of 2010

Anyone else having deja vu?  Anyone else think we need to invest in a good floor mat sometime soon?

 

That Euonymus looks so green and lovely against the snow

You may have heard about our Mid-Atlantic blizzard, the one they're already calling the Blizzard of 2010.  Records were broken, history was made, snow-lovers up and down the middle part of the Eastern Seaboard were delighted. It's AMAZING!

 

Our 6-foot Dwarf Cypress humbles itself before the wintry splendor

Now, it's true, I may not think it so splendiferous if I was one of the many without power or with a collapsed roof or foolishly short of milk and toilet paper, but we are just snug and bugs in rugs over here and I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside whenever I look outside.

This baby's been chugging along for almost 48 hours, keeping us all toasty warm!

On Friday night, Daria came over, Redheaded Snippet invited some friends and we moved furniture and spent the first leg of the storm playing games and laughing ourselves silly in front of the fire.  We had snacks and pencil/paper games and Dutch Blitz and Boxers or Briefs.  Vonderful gut fun was had by all and we got to use the truck with its 4-wheel drive to take people home.

Wood pile as of this morning, 1/3 as large as it started

Yesterday, we slept in luxuriously late, dressed up in warm, comfy clothes, had a Viking-special fry-up breakfast, tidied up a bit, threw more logs on the fire, and prepared for digging out.  Daria joined us again and the shoveling, sweeping and scraping began.  Then there was general stomping, shaking and shedding, then more logs on the fire and then thawing, drying and sighing.  I braised a roast, we played video games, threw more logs on the fire, ate brownies and played more video games.

We've taken to using this table as our snowfall gauge

This morning, church was open only to "those who are near and can make it."  As we are 30 minutes away, we figured we are excused, even though we have the truck.  So, we slept in again and have spent what was left of the morning lolling about the house and listening to Man-Cub sing at the top of his lungs with The Viking's headphones in his ears.

View from living room window

Tonight, we are invited to a Superbowl party at our Youth Pastor's house.  The Viking doesn't follow football (unless the Giants are playing) and I didn't even know who was playing until I asked The Viking just now, but we'll probably go anyway.  The Viking and YP are quickly becoming fast friends so I think it will be fun for them to spend more time together, thinking up ways to get in just enough trouble for it to be fun but no so much that they actually get in trouble.

You can just make out Man-Cub's sledding trail

This has been a nearly perfect weekend.  At first I was bummed that this lovely storm didn't bag us an extra day off from school, but it really was better that it happened on the weekend when The Viking is home.  It's just so much nicer when we're all here together.  Hmmm...I just heard what I said...isn't that a wonderful blessing?

The winds blew the snow in drifts all over our porches

Of course, there's always the chance the clean-up will prove to be too daunting and we may get a snow day anyway tomorrow...not likely, but still a chance.  It will all depend on whether the buses can get around.  I, for one, would love an extra day to wake without an alarm clock, though I'm sure Redheaded Snippet will be going a little stir crazy by 3:00 this afternoon.

View of the street from the kitchen porch

The weatherpersons, not quite satisfied with all the attention they've been getting because of this weather event, are already making noises about another storm on Tuesday night.  They're all furrowing their brows, clucking their tongues and making cryptic comments, designed to keep up us hanging on their every broadcast.  "Could another system bring even more snow our way before the work week is in full swing?"  "Is there more snow on the horizon?"  "Will we be digging out yet again in just a few days?"  Tune in at 6:00 to find out!

The back yard, still relatively pristine

You may groan and moan, but I say BRING IT ON!  Finally, we're getting winters to be proud of, not the gray, wet, moderately cold ones we usually have around here!  A winter without snow is just depressing and boring.

Not sure if that path was made by shovel or dog

Whether we get a snow day tomorrow or more snow on Tuesday or not, there is still laundry to be washed, dried and folded, bedrooms to be cleaned, dishes to be washed and meals to be prepared.  And my deep-clean of the house must resume.  I've got devious plans to ruin the children's entire weekend by giving them orders to clean their rooms.

All good things must come to an end, even perfect weekends...