Snow Day

We got a horrible winter storm this week. It dumped like, a gazillion feet of snow on poor little old Iowa (and much of rest of the country too, I just don't care about them 'cause I don't live there).

'Twas so bad, in fact, that I could not even make it into work on Wednesday. And that was okay with my boss, cause it was a for real blizzard. When I woke up in the morning and looked outside, I saw a car with its hazard lights on, sitting in the middle of the parking lot.

Hmm, I thought. I wonder if that car's stuck? I bet it would be a GRAND idea to send Ricardo out in the van, to see if HE gets stuck, too!  Tee hee.

Guess what happened next?? No wait, don't guess-- I'll show you:                                                              

 


So Ricardo got stuck in the van, and a guy out there helped him get unstuck and then together they both helped get the original stuck car unstuck, which belonged to another person entirely, who had gone to call her boss upon realizing she was stuck. 

Stuck, stuck, stuck. 'Cause I don't think I've said that enough yet. So that's a picture of Ricardo and some random people shoveling out the stuck car. The van has been safely backed up out of the snow drift, it can be seen parked behind the naked tree there, in the picture. I was watching this whole thing and took the picture from the window.

 I was excited, because I knew this meant a snow day for me, and no work! 

The first thing I did was channel my inner Stay at Home Mom, and make us all oatmeal for breakfast. And NOT the instant kind. The real kind that tastes like crap unless you add white and brown sugar. I sliced some oranges to go with, and we all sat down and had a real breakfast together. Not sure when the last time was that we were able to do that, but I know it had been a while. 

It was very 1950s sitcom.  

Later the girls enjoyed some quiet activities, which included the classic grinning-out-the-window-at-people-who-get-stuck: 

GREAT fun. 

Later we had baths; please enjoy Eva's naked headshot: 

Now if that's not model material, I don't know what is.

We got all bundled up, and set out to accomplish our BIG ACTIVITY of the day: Shoveling. We dropped the girls off the Grandma's house, and Ricardo and I went to Home Depot and bought 2 sweet shovels. The kind that have the crooked handle, so that you don't have to bend over and hurt your back. We came back and shoveled like fools, and I must admit-- my back is feeling rather swell today. 

Now they need to work on the shoulders a bit... 

Here is Ellie atop a plow-made mini mountain: 

She lost a boot right after this in a deep snow drift, and we found out the hard way that in some conditions, snow pants and snow boots are not always snow proof.

It was nice to enjoy a day at home with the family. Life's been more than a little hectic lately, and I've been stressed and frazzled and grouchy... Sometimes a little break goes a lot further than you'd think. 

It was therapeutic typing up this blog, too. It's been wayyyyy too long. Sorry blog. I've now given you a refreshing update, some new material, and now hopefully I won't neglect you as much. 

****Oh and here's a nice little bonus blurb for you: Right before sitting down to type this, I had some serious cotton-mouth. So I went and grabbed a plastic cup to get myself some ice water. 

When I drink, I drink a LOT (good thing I'm Mormon or else I'd need to go to AA for sure), and so I wanted to get my cup as full as possible. Well, my dishes were are piled up so high in the sink that I couldn't fit my cup all the way under the faucet to fill it up all the way.

 Hysterical, right?? 

So whereas most people would probably draw the line, and do some dishes to remedy this issue, wanna know what MY solution was??

I grabbed another plastic cup, and filled it as high as it would go-- and now I'm replacing the water I drink, by pouring water from one cup into the other one that has ice.

G-E-N-I-U-S. 

Don't try to tell me I'm not.