February Trip to Massachusetts

Wow. Where have I been the last month? It seems like it flew by. I can tell you where I was for the last week: Massachusetts.

I left warm, sunny Texas for cold, snowy Massachusetts.

I arrived just after a big storm hit. Another storm rolled through after I arrived. I don't think I've seen that much snow since Snowmageddon in 2010. The girls have had snow days the last two Mondays, and they might have another snow day this Monday.

The trip was to help out Valerie. I went last Wednesday and she had surgery on Friday, while Troy was out of town. I stayed for about a week, acting as nanny, chauffeur, and nurse. The snow looked pretty, from inside anyway. Driving around was interesting. The already narrow roads were made even narrower with snow banks.

The coldest part of my week was waiting at the bus stop for the bus. Luckily I bought a new, longer down coat before the trip. I also wore tons of layers.

I made the girls hot chocolate after they were done playing in the snow. I did NOT go out and tromp around in the snow.

The girls helped me make cake balls. I had never done that before.

As we were pulling into the driveway one afternoon, Evelyn spotted some deer. When we realized they were headed for the back yard we went inside and watched them from the window room. The snow was deep--up to the chest of the deer in some areas.

Valerie is doing well. Her surgery was successful. Her recovery will be long and uncomfortable, but I'm glad I was able to go out and help for a while. I just hope the next time I head to Massachusetts it is sunny and warm.

Snow Day

Ross has his first snow day today. There isn't any snow outside. It is all ice. Tiny little ice pellets. Ice melted and refrozen onto the roads. Dangerous stuff. That's what we get here in Texas. Ice--not snow. I'm sure Ross will be super productive on his extra day off--playing video games and such. I'm so glad I went to the grocery store yesterday.

The white stuff is crunchy. You can see that only parts of the road are white--but the whole road is covered in ice.

Snow Tubing

This past weekend we went snow tubing. As soon as we got out of the car my legs started to hurt for no reason. I think I was having skiing flashbacks. We joined up with Richard, his sister Tanya, and her husband Jesse. We had a ton of fun racing and trying to make it down to the orange cones at the end of the run. It was snowing, and a bit windy, but I managed to stay out there for almost 2 hours. The lift was interesting. It ran along the side of the snow tubing area. We didn't have to walk back up the hill carrying our snow tubes. Instead, we had to stand on a very slowly moving conveyor belt. Yes, had to. We got in trouble when we tried to walk up the conveyor belt. I would definitely go again. I'm actually trying to work up my courage to go snow boarding. I have sworn off skiing, but I just might try snow boarding before the end of the season.

Snow Day Photos

Snow Day So Far

When I got out of bed at 7 am the snow was so deep I couldn't see the curbs. I got back into bed, put a pillow over my head to drown out the sound of any snow shoveling, and went back to sleep. When I finally got up Ross had made cappuccinos and we had yellow cake cookies to go with them. We watched a couple episodes of the Emperor's New School (Kuzco) on Netflix and then Bailey curled up kind of half-on half-off of Ross's leg while we looked at bad tattoos online.

It is almost noon and I'm still in my jammies. Ross is playing PS2 and Bailey is curled up between us on the couch. It is still snowing. I'm pretty sure the rest of the day will consist of eating, wii, and watching dvds or movies on Netflix. I might put on my wellies and some ski pants and venture outside to take some photos. I should have done that this morning when it was still pristine.

Snow Special

Bailey liked licking up the snow that she dragged in from the porch, so every day (sometimes twice a day) she's been getting a special treat. Ross scoops up a bowl full of snow from the balcony and she eats some snow, and then licks up the water as it melts. Last night the balcony was pretty much cleared, so I ran downstairs to get her some snow. She's so spoiled! The rain yesterday and today (along with higher temperatures) has pretty much melted the snow, so it will be a while before she has special snow water again.

Snow and Stuff

We have quite a bit of snow out there and it is continuing to snow heavily. It looked like a great day for the movies. We drove the Subaru around and I think Ross had fun skidding around a bit. The stores are all closing and the movie theater was closed. Lame! You'd think they would know how to handle snow here. Apparently not. I think the state of Maryland has declared a state of emergency. Wha? I remember going to the movies in our 4wd truck when we lived in Nebraska. So much fun. Oh well. We have The Wrestler from Netflix sitting here, so we will watch that. At least I got to go out in my wellies and fur coat.

Now, let me rant. People around here don't know how to drive. Not just in inclement weather, but all the time. They just LOVE to tailgate. Anyway, we are cruising down the road today and nobody had their lights on, despite the heavy snowfall. I like to be able to see people's tail lights. They don't turn on their lights in the rain either. The other thing that drives me crazy is how people drive with their hazards on. In some states it is illegal to drive with your hazard lights flashing. Hazard lights are for alerting people that you are stopped on the side of the road, not for when you are scared to drive, so you are driving obnoxiously slowly. Okay, I feel better now that I've ranted. Time to watch a movie.