Snow Day? Try Week.
Friday, February 4, 2011 at 11:01PM This has been a strange week.
I think it's funny how people around here (Dallas) are surprised each year when there is one good snowstorm or bout of bad winter weather. It happens every year (at least since I've lived here). It seems like at least once each winter, even in Dallas, TX, we can count on snow and ice. We have been holed up in the house for four days now.
That's a lot of non-stop Walkers.
I should say that Mike managed to take the girls to the paint store...I can't even remember which day it was, they are all a blur. He also went to the store yesterday, and brought home Sonic. But the streets were still pretty bad, as evidenced by the guy who went sliding backwards past Mike as Mike chiseled the van out of its ice blockade. We watched through the front window as the dude slowly slipped down the hill (our road) towards the other street.
It made me a little nervous that my husband was about to attempt the same feat. Not nervous enough, though, that once he was out I didn't call to ask him to bring home a fast-food dinner delight. We were deprived of it the other day, you see.
The comedic thing about it is that he went out in a minivan, wonder of cars on the road, and the van seemed to handle the ice all right, however all of the manly trucks on the road were slipping and borderline out of control. The trucks were missing four-wheel drive, which as I understand it, is quite helpful when out on icy, snowy roads.
I'm rambling. Since my children have been stuck inside for so much of the past 96 hours (Seriously? That is a long time.) it was mandatory for me to take them out to play today. Even though it was bone-chillingly, numbingly cold and wet out there. Across the main street that we live off of (our house is the second from the corner) is a library, and just behind the library is a school. In between the two is a large hill.
I got the kids and myself ready (in less than three hours!) and then we tramped over to the hill with a couple of lids off of some plastic bins.
We watched as many people sledded down the hill on actual sleds (Where do you get sleds around here?!) and real snow discs and saucers. Michaela and Christian tried to use the lids,
but as soon as they plopped down in the snow they sank; it was so soft. Michaela tried very hard to make her lid go, but each time she just ended up making a little snowbank.
So, we didn't get very far down the hill (read: not at all), but we packed some snow very well in about six or ten places.
They had a half-hearted snowball fight and then Christian got some in the face, the end.
I think we were out there for about ten minutes, so it was totally worth the two and a half hours that we spent getting six layers on. We stripped the snowy clothes off when we got in the door and I started a load of laundry and then we had hot chocolate and popcorn.
I wish I could say it was a lovely, cheery, cocoa-filled game day, but...they fought a lot. There were definitely some nice peaceful moments, but I believe the all-day-all-night togetherness is taking a toll. Let's pretend that these idyllic looking moments lasted much longer than they really did, shall we?
How can my daughters stand their hair like that in their faces?! It's like Jennifer Aniston is their mom. It drives me crazy to have my hair hanging in my face.
In spite of the crazy weather I rocked dinner. I made a meatload, baked potatoes, and broccoli. Do you see that I wrote "meatload"? That is making me laugh a lot, so I am going to leave it. And besides, I actually made two meatloafs and both were hearty, so it's an accurate assessment. This may have been one of the best meatloafs (or two) that I have ever made. I make up the recipe every time, so you can imagine that the results are neither predictable nor stable. This time it turned out very well. I cooked it a tad too long, so it could have been more moist, but that is nothing that a bit of ketchup can't fix! The down side to the situation is that even though these meatloafs were tasty, I will probably never be able to replicate the same flavor. These are the risks I take.
Speaking of things that are unpredictable, I do not know what tomorrow will bring. Hopefully we will be more cheerful. The snow is pretty and we have enjoyed it, but we are looking forward to sunny weather again. Just for fun, here are some pictures of our yard, in its snowy splendor.
(That was actually across the street...I was trying to get a picture that would show how fluffy and fat the flakes were.)
Maybe all this snow will make our grass gorgeous and green soon. We shall see.
Since we are headed into day five here at home, we'll have to be creative tomorrow. Or else I fear someone may lose his head. I mean, his mind. Or hers. What do you do on snow days? (Besides sleep! That is an obvious answer, and I can't quite convince my kids that it is a truly worthwhile endeavor.)
Reader Comments (10)
hahha!! Yes, it usually takes longer to get ready to leave the house than the actual outing! Oh my, we don't have snow days here, so I just can't imagine what we'd do to pass the time and not wring each other's necks! :o)
Laughed out loud about meatload!
When the kids were smaller I used to make home made play dough on snow days. Something about playing with the warm dough made it more fun (if less colorful) that the regular kind.
But mostly, we too just watch too much television and drive each other crazy.
I love meatloaf. or meatload as you call it. stay warm and bundled. Enjoy getting settled.
Jennifer Aniston - that's pretty funny. Will you post your meatloaf recipe? Can you believe I've never made one?
I, too, hate my hair over my eyes. Also, "This time if turned out very well"? And, don't you remember the yellow snow ice cream when you were growing up? Ha! And, you could always play Scrabble. Love you all. Just chill out. Oops, sorry.
Your kitchen picture looks so cute and homy (I had to look up the spelling of home-y because that looked so weird), with all the spices and utensils on the counter. I love it!
Of course my kids are saying, "No fair, it never snows in Florida!" And I just grin and agree. :)
Dad, I fixed my typo...I can't believe it was there. I reread this so many times, but I added that part at the end, and of course it's not misspelled, just the wrong word! Ugh. Thanks, Mr. Editor. I do not remember yellow snow ice cream; you will have to jog my memory on that one. I am hoping I did not eat pee pee snow. Gag! Finally, I just realized that you were the one who said you hated your hair in your face. It made me laugh out loud when I did. :)
Elaine, watch for the recipe in the return of my cooking section. Did you know I had a cooking section? Oh, yes. It is coming back very soon.
Wendy, it is the only homy (homey?) (yes, a totally weird word) place in the house! Everything is a mess. We have hit a major plateau!!
Meatload made me laugh and laugh : )
I also laughed about your snow outing. It takes forever to get ready, doesn't it? : )
I hope Monday brings you some sun and all the snow melts away.
I love how everyone reacts as though winter is a huge surprise. Every year. It's adorably predictable.
Also? I now want to sled and play boardgames. Badly.
Well we live in a constant state of snow days around these parts. ;o) My kids adore it. Sledding...snowball fights...building snowmen families...building snow igloos/forts (or trying to!)...shoveling snow (Dom LOVES this)...eating snow (try mixing snow with coca cola to make slushies). It's all good. :o) But a good pair of snowpants and boots are a must in order to stay out longer than 30 mins.
Guess what a horrible mommy I am?? I turned all media off from the kids for 30 days. No TV, no computer, no video games, no Nintendo DS, no movies. They actually have to use their imaginations to have some entertainment around here. hahahahahah Wait, maybe that should be muahahahahah. ;o)