Tossing and turning

We spent months hemming and hawing over whether we should buy a new house. While the prospect was enticing, we've decided to stay put and freshen up a few things here instead of dealing with the hassle of moving or spending gobs of money on a new place. Since then, I've been on a mission to get rid of the worthless stuff we never use.

After cleaning out and throwing away a huge garbage bag full of things from our kitchen drawers yesterday afternoon (I'll take Pens That Don't Work for $500, Alex), I tackled the basement. I cleaned out and put into the Goodwill pile a bookcase and a bunch of board games, then went through a zillion shelves in the utility room. I found stuff that was left here when we bought the place...six years ago! It was therapeutic.

After taking another armload of junk upstairs, I hustled back into the basement, nearly satisfied with my progress. But I started to wonder if I'd taken things a little too far when I heard Chad whisper to Lucy: "Just sit here and be really quiet. I'm starting to worry if we make too much noise she's going to throw us out, too."

Crying wolf

Someone sent this old Indian legend to me the other day and I've been thinking about it so much, I decided to share it:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson
about a battle that goes on inside people. He said,
"My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love,
hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and
then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Mr. T goes to Washington

Just a few weeks ago, my dad made the spontaneous decision to buy a plane ticket to DC. He came on Friday and I dropped him off at the airport tonight. We had such a fun time, it made me sad to see him go. In times like these, I wish my parents lived closer.

Within the last six days, we went...

To the Barbara Fritchie house in Frederick, MD (I think she was snowed in)



To Harpers Ferry, WV




To Nick's fire station




To Manassas Battlefield (see the sledders on the first hill?)





And to Mount Vernon



Ok, so these pictures don't really sum up all we did with dad. We love visitors. And even though the trip was inconvenienced a bit by the snow, I can't think of how it could have been any more fun.

Dad...come back soon! And bring mom next time, too.

Groundhog Day

Each of the last seven days has seemed to repeat itself in an almost uncanny fashion. After this week, I've really got an appreciation for stay-at-home moms. All the days blend together and at the end of each one, I'm still not really sure just exactly what I've accomplished. Here's a rundown of what I can remember.

Friday: Worked from home. Federal government closed at noon. Took Lucy to the high school field and threw the ball around. Made halibut for dinner. Watched it snow.

Saturday: No power. Dug out the Jeep. Dug out the driveway. Went to the gym. Went to Rachel and Paul's for the afternoon. Went to Janice's for dinner. Went home. Had power. Hallelujah.

Sunday: Watched Chad shovel our driveway & everyone else's. Decided to have people over for the Super Bowl. Went to the store. Picked up chili. Made cookies. Did a load of laundry. Cleaned the basement. Took Lucy to the dog park. Ironed about a dozen of Chad's shirts. Found out the federal government was closed on Monday. Was thrilled.

Monday: Worked for about four hours. Dug out Chad's car. Changed dad's flight. Did a load of laundry. Took Lucy to the dog park. Went to kickboxing. Went to the store. Found out the federal government was closed on Tuesday. Was excited.

Tuesday: Worked for about four hours while Chad went to the office. Took Lucy to the high school field to play in the snow - though she didn't play as much as trudge through it. Did our taxes. Found out the federal government was closed on Wednesday. Was starting to get stir-crazy.

Wednesday: Worked for about four hours. Did a load of laundry. Watched Chad shovel the sidewalks and dig out the Jeep. Made cookies. Tried to watch Oprah but was subjected to 24-hour coverage of the winter storm (hello - I'm snowed in! I know the weather stinks. I just want to watch TV!) Filed our taxes. Went to the gym. Found out the federal government was closed on Thursday. Considered walking to my office just to get out of the house.

Thursday: Sunshine! Worked for about four hours. Met up with friends for lunch. Did two loads of laundry. Finished ironing Chad's shirts. Took Lucy to the dog park. Watched icicles melting. Started believing that there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.

And on the sixth day...

At this point, I can barely remember what day it is. (It is Wednesday, right?) The snow and wind this morning was worse than any of the five days preceding it. I can hardly see across the street. At this rate, I'm not expecting work tomorrow, either.

Fortunately we like each other - and we still have power - but even then, the massive amount of snow is starting to be too much. This was the scene when I came downstairs this morning...

11:45 a.m. update: Alexandria and DC have pulled all snowplows off the roads because of the conditions. Things are getting worse...

2:10 p.m. update: This just posted on our neighborhood listserve. Happy to see that cabin fever is not just impacting my house...

Come on down to 3200 Cameron Mills Road at the corner of Enderby and Cameron Mills if you are looking for snow. We have white fluffy snow, wet heavy snow, icy snow, yellow snow (darn dog owners), dirty snow (darn snow plows), snow with leaves mixed in it (when is the next leaf collection?) and any other kind of snow or frozen water product you might want. We will even help you load it in your car or truck for an even trade of tickets to Miami or a warm adult beverage.

The end of the world!

These storms are a meteorologist's best friend. The weathermen around here are practically giddy...not only because of all the snow, but because - this time - they've been right. Typically they get themselves all wound up in a tizzy and then we barely get any snow....or rain...or whatever.

Perhaps you will appreciate this news clip from a Baltimore weatherman about as much as I did. This was from last Friday...and it's not a joke.

And, by the way, for those of you who haven't read weather reports yet, we could get another 10 inches of snow tomorrow night. No word yet on if the federal government is closed tomorrow, but they almost certainly will also be closed Wednesday and maybe even Thursday. Gee, sure am glad Chad spent two hours today digging out his car.

snOMG

My smugness on being prepared for the snowpocalypse was short-lived. Chad did not make it to Atlantic City (by the time he left work, the roads were getting bad and he wisely decided not to risk it) so we spent Friday night with Janice, making a nice dinner and watching movies. We were having so much fun, the idea of being snowed in all weekend was somewhat appealing.

Until the power went out.

From about 11 p.m. Friday until Saturday evening, Chad and I were two little refugees: We dug out the Jeep and then drove to the gym (not only to work out but to shower), went to Rachel and Paul's for the afternoon, and then went to Janice's for ham and cheese soup. Two other friends were power-less refugees as well, and we all headed home when we found out the power was back on about 9 p.m.

I've got a lot of snow photos, but here's a sampling of our 25-plus inches:

Friday morning, before snowmaggedon arrived...

Starting to stick around 5 p.m.

Coming down hard and fast at 11 p.m.

Pay special attention to those two trees in the back

Time for bed and thinking that this snowpocalypse was
perhaps just a bunch of hype

...Until we woke up
9 a.m. on Saturday morning (yes, it was supposed to be daylight) -

note that there's no power at the stoplight
Nick came over to pick up Janice after his shift ended, stopping her Jeep right in the middle of the street (& it still got stuck)

Chad tries to un-dig us so we can seek some warmth
Lucy thinks she has hit pay-dirt

On the plus side, the sun is shining brightly this morning, proof that this, too, shall pass. I just hope that some of this melts before our next snow arrives on Tuesday.


Remember those two pine trees that used to be behind our fence?

Chad is our neighborhood Samaritan, shoveling three sets of sidewalks, one extra driveway, and helping a woman when she got stuck.

Though we'll probably wait until tomorrow to dig out Chad's car...

Snowpocalypse

The word "snowpocalypse" is being used far and wide to describe the great impending storm that will hit DC over the next 24 hours. (This website pretty much sums it up.)

This is not only the most snow I've seen in my seven years here; we're also on track to have the snowiest winter DC has seen in a century. (We need 18.7 more inches to have the snowiest winter in 100 years, and 27.1 more inches for the snowiest winter ever. Believe me, people are counting.)

And, of course, no one around here has any idea what to do about it. You'd think we were going to be stranded for a month. For example, this was the line at Harris Teeter last night when Rachel and Paul went to stock up on last-minute supplies:


The bread aisle, as captured by my friend Rob:


And the meat aisle...lovely, isn't it? (Remember how I said grocery stores around here can never keep things in stock? This is an entirely new level.)


Me? I steered clear of the store last night. (This, my friends, is why I buy in bulk. I have lots of frozen meats and veggies and sodas around here. No "stocking up" needed at this house.)

Instead, I just stopped to get Lucy more dog food and am working from home today so I don't have to deal with the roads. Chad is still planning to go to Atlantic City for guys' weekend, though he did consider my concerns enough to pack an extra bag of warm clothes and a shovel in case he gets himself stuck. (I'm secretly hoping he'll be home in four hours from work as planned, though he sits still about as well as Lucy and the two of them in this house while stranded may be too much.)

And Lucy, who apparently cannot sense when storms are coming - unlike other animals - seems perfectly unfazed.