Snowmageddon/Snowpocalypse/Hothlanta 2011

It all started last Wednesday when I first heard about the potential of snow flurries.  Like most native Atlantans, I didn't get too excited.  I figured we'd be lucky to see a couple of flakes, especially since we'd just had a white Christmas.  As the week wore on, however, the forecast looked more promising (or scarier, depending on your take).  By Saturday morning, every meteorologist in the city was forecasting 3-6 inches of snow starting late Sunday night with snow and sleet continuing on Monday.  I knew what had to be done and set my sights on the critical matter at hand: obtaining milk, bread, toilet paper, and junk food.

I stocked up on enough food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for 3-4 days.  I made sure Audrey had healthy snacks and David and I had "we're-stuck-inside-and-snow-day-calories-don't-count" snacks.  We spent Saturday evening at church and most of the day Sunday out and about in order to preempt cabin fever as much as possible.  We closed the stores down and then came home, ate dinner, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, around 9:30pm, we looked out and saw the most snow falling from the sky that our southern eyes had ever seen.  By 10:30pm, there was at least two inches on the ground.  I was downright giddy.  We stayed up and watched it, then David went to bed but I was too excited to sleep.  We were going to get to keep him home the next day and make a real snowman!  I sat in the playroom and looked out the front window, watching it fall and reading my book until I finally climbed into bed around 12:30am.

On Monday, we (okay, I) rushed downstairs and opened the back door to see the gorgeous piles of pure, white, fluffy snow.  I got out a ruler and measured the amount on a table on our back deck - 6 inches!  I took some pictures, we ate breakfast, and then Audrey and I played inside while David worked from home (stupid integrity).  He finally took a break and we suited up and went outside.  Audrey was less than impressed, just like with the last snow we'd had a few weeks ago.  She didn't want to walk in it, and had to be held while David and I threw together a small snowman.  Before we went inside, David tried to sled down the hill in the backyard using a cardboard box.  Audrey burst into tears, assuming he'd either lost his mind or been seriously injured.  We went in, warmed up, and built a fort out of blankets.  We spent the rest of the day playing in it, and then napping, eating, and playing some more.  

On Tuesday, David's office was unofficially closed again and we were determined to make the most of the rare snow.  We put on our layers and dragged the laundry basket outside to pull Audrey around in.  As soon as we put her in it, she said "All done! All done!" and began to cry.  We stayed out a little longer, walking around and showing her all of the pretty sights.  Both David and I made multiple attempts at sledding down the hill again using a storage container lid, a cardboard box, the laundry basket, and a door mat.  The door mat worked best, but even that was pretty pitiful.  We went inside to thaw out, feeling like snow day failures.  I couldn't sit around and be unproductive for another day, so I set about cleaning out and organizing a closet and two junk drawers.  When Audrey went down for her nap and David worked, I began planning her second birthday party (yes, it is five months away, but I needed a creative outlet!)  When she got up, we played, cooked a big "brinner"(breakfast for dinner), and ate.  After dinner, I made brownies and then we went on a stuffed animal safari with flashlights.  When we'd recovered all of her bears, lambs, and the camel (from David's Israel trip), Audrey had a brownie (her first taste of chocolate) and milk before heading to bed.  It was an awesome, fun, semi-productive day.

My alarm clock went off Wednesday morning and I heard the DJ say "today's commute in was far worse than Monday's or Tuesday's."  Great.  David had already decided to give it a while before making the call about going to work, so we got Audrey up, ate breakfast, and I put together some "fun" educational games (look for details on Imperfect Perfectionist later) while David worked.  At 10am I finally caved and let Audrey watch some Little Einsteins for a minute.  I was proud of myself for not resorting to television before, but  enough was enough.  I needed 20 minutes of peace.  Around 11:30, Audrey and I walked into the office and asked David what he'd decided.  He said his big afternoon meeting had been cancelled and that most of the people at work he'd talked to said they'd wished they hadn't come in because the roads were still so rough.  He'd seen several neighbors attempt and fail going up the big hill outside of our house, so it was official:  Day #3 of staying indoors.  I must not have hidden my reaction well because he asked why I wasn't happier about it.  I tried to explain that his not getting out meant that Audrey and I weren't going to get out.  In addition to that, it's hard to keep Audrey away from him and quiet while he's trying to work!  But, alas, we fixed leftovers for lunch, played games, and read books.  When AJ went down for her nap, David went outside to scrape off the driveway.  I caught up with some phone calls and then realized that I could no longer hear the sound of the shovel.  Worried that he had busted his tail, I went out to check on him and found him with a dozen other neighbors working on the huge hill leading out of our neighborhood.  When he came in almost an hour and a half later, he explained that people just kept coming out and joining the group.  At first they were attempting to clear the whole road until David pointed out that they could probably just focus on one half.  They agreed that was a good idea and finally made some progress.  That's my genius husband for you.  Of course he also admitted to me that he wasn't sure it was going to do any good because they were just breaking up large chunks of ice into smaller pieces that would melt and then refreeze, but he was trying to be a good neighbor.  Audrey woke up, and we played, ate dinner, and watched Wheel of Fortune until her bath time.  When she went to bed, David did some work and I read for a little while before we gave in and scarfed some brownies while watching tv.  We are going to weigh 400 pounds before this is all over.

So that brings us to today:  Day #4 of Snowmageddon 2011.  David decided he was making a break for it and left for work around 9am.  He got there safely and said the worst roads by far were the ones in and around our neighborhood.  Since he took my car, that meant another day indoors for us girls.  I decided I needed to clean out the refrigerator and spent two hours doing so, removing and scrubbing every shelf and drawer.  Of course, it took that long because everything takes that long when you're simultaneously entertaining a toddler.  I pulled out one of the big produce drawers, washed it, filled it with water, and let AJ play and splash her bath toys around.  The amusement wore off quickly, and the remaining mess was part of the two hours it took to complete the job.  I fed her a snack, let her watch another tv show (gasp), and started cleaning the downstairs.  It didn't really need it, but I needed to do it.  We had a dance party, a crawling race, and practiced jumping for a solid five minutes.  All attempts at exercising/wearing out an 18 month old usually just result in making the adult feel tired and old and today was no exception.  I took a shower, fed her lunch, and worked on cleaning some more before putting her down for a nap.  The first hour of her nap was spent cleaning, the second catching up with a friend and blogging.  David got home just as she was waking up and we - are you ready for this? - WENT OUT. That's right, we escaped.  We broke free.  We busted the joint.  As I mentioned on Facebook, I hadn't been that excited since....well, since seeing snow fall on Sunday night.  Funny how that works, huh?  Anyway, we went to the store and got back before dark with a car full of replenishments, including coke and bread for the single lady who lives next door.  (I'm proud to be married to a man who thought to go ask her and I had to brag on him.)  She was so excited to make grilled cheese sandwiches.  I imagine she's been jonesing for a Coke for days, poor thing.  David parked at the bottom of the driveway and ferried up the bags while I fixed AJ's dinner amidst her hysterical cries for the "yellow one" (the lemon juice bottle from the fridge).  David, who was still outside at the bottom of the driveway thought something was horribly wrong as her wails filled the cul-de-sac.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're headed into the terrible twos a little early.  After her fit was over, we sat down and ate dinner, played, did laundry, put AJ to bed, and are now getting ready to go to bed ourselves and dream about a warm beach.

It's been a good week and, jokes aside, it hasn't been TOO terrible being stuck indoors.  Anything is better than the Valentine's Day from Hades last year (David was on the other side of the world for 2+ weeks, Audrey and I were snowed in and sick, and she wouldn't nap.  I remember sitting on the bathroom floor bawling while begging God for patience and endurance.  He heard and provided, because she's still alive.)  After that snowed-in experience, this week seemed like a breeze!  We had to cancel a few play dates and plans, but we got to spend a lot of time together in a safe, warm house. I hope you and your families enjoyed it and have stayed safe and warm!

To wrap up, here is a Snowmageddon-related Thankful Thursday list:

1.  Safety and good health!

2.  That David is not paid hourly, and that he works for a company that values their employees' safety and integrity to allow them to call in when they need to and not penalize them for it.

3.  Our heat and power remaining on and steadfast.  I can't imagine dealing with this week if we'd had outages!

4.  Chocolate.  Because sometimes banging your head against a wall isn't an option.  I'll also add hot chocolate (and marshmallows) to this item, because I've consumed my fair share the last four days.

5.  The Toddler's Busy Book that my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas.  We've pulled quite a few tricks out of it this week.

6.  Moments that will be sweet, funny memories down the road:  all of us curled up in our tent fort, Audrey crying because she thought David fell when he was sledding down the hill, brownies and stuffed animal safaris, dance parties and crawl races.

7.  Productivity!  I got some things accomplished that I've been putting off doing (cleaning out a closet) and some that I'll be grateful I got a head start on later (AJ's birthday party).

8.  Saving money.  Short of two large grocery trips and utilities, we haven't spent a cent in almost five days.  We've probably saved $75 worth of gas, eating out, and impulse shopping this week!

9.  Rock salt.  And the fact that I'm OCD enough to have restocked it so soon after using it up at Christmas.  It was completely sold out at the grocery store tonight!

10.  The beautiful scenery of snow that God gave us, even if we're anxious to view it from a different location.

Tomorrow is a new day, with a high temp expected to be in the mid-forties.  Look out world (a.k.a. Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby or Target), Audrey and I are coming!