Snow Day

Well, we were a part of the large storm that hit the Mid-Atlantic.  It was known as Winter Storm Jonas but locally it was known as Snowzilla.  Locals had wanted to name it, "Make Winter Great Again."  I can only guess that's a spoof off of Donald Trump's campaign.

I was actually kind of looking forward to the snow.  A native Michiganian, my attitude sometimes is "bring it on."  My son said thank you Jesus for the snow, even before it really started falling.  He had great anticipation.  My husband and I started Friday afternoon with shoveling the first 4 inches of snow excitedly in an effort to get ahead of the game.  Little did we know.

Everyone had been talking about this storm for a week.  I went grocery shopping Wednesday and the stores were out of a lot of stuff and the line was long.  A sister of one of my coworkers went to three different stores to try to find a shovel.  This kind of surprised me because I considered that coworker smart enough to own a shovel in this area.  I mean, this isn't southern Arizona where all you need is a credit card to scrape your window.

Everyone had been talking up the storm and then Wednesday night we only got maybe an inch and the commute was a nightmare.  Some people had 5+ hours in their car due to condition of the roads (The local government was so busy planning for Snowzilla they didn't take an inch seriously.)  It was a reminder for me that even though I may remember how to drive in snow, there aren't many people around here who know how to.  Little cars and SUVs were making a lot of "poor choices," as I tell my son.  It was a bad omen for what a "Real storm" could do to the area.

Even though everyone around here was planning for the end of the world as they knew it, it pleasantly surprised me how they all, knowing I'm from Michigan, expressed sympathy for the residents of Flint and everything they were going through.  They showed a lot of compassion for "East Coasters."

So the snow started to fall and fall and fall some more.  At first it was pretty, then the anticipation for the power to go out and being stuck inside started to catch up.  The snow plows went through twice by 4 AM Saturday, and as soon as they scraped the roads, it was hard to tell they had even done anything.  We stayed warm with hot chocolate and warm clothes.  My son was excited because he's had at least 4 days of being home with both parents.  Also, he's been able to stay in his warm fuzzy pajamas for most of the day.

Saturday morning, after the majority of the snow had fallen and I opened the garage.  Wow.  For a native of Michigan to be intimidated by snow is somewhat unusual.  Our area got 36 inches plus.  We were actually lucky that because of our Homeowners Association (yes, they are good for something), we got dug out a lot earlier than the rest of the city.

When we went to Mass Friday morning, the monsignor basically said, "stay home" on Sunday.  Of course, he used more eloquent words, but we felt pretty comfortable that we had a legitimate reason to stay home- being that there was over 3 feet of snow and no access to Mass.  My son actually enjoyed Mass on the TV so much that he asked to watch it again.  This from the kid who has been getting more and more antsy in Mass and the last time we were there started screaming, "I want to go to the cry room!"

Cabin fever is beginning to set in, so we did make it to Buffalo Wild Wings for everyone's sanity today and to go to the grocery store to replenish some supplies (that was difficult as they haven't been re-stocked since the mass-hysteria).

I did try to teach my son how to make snow angels, but he didn't like the concept of intentionally falling in the snow.  He did like the concept of throwing snowballs at his mommy and daddy and sledding, so I'm sure this 3 feet of snow isn't going to melt away too soon for us to get a little enjoyment out of it.