The Blizzard of 2016

Today was my first day out of the house since Friday. Other than a brief period on Saturday when it was snowing like it would never stop and the 3 ½ hours it took us to shovel out the van, I’ve been inside the home with at minimum 4 kids (because of course Esperanza wanted to get snowed in with us) and maximum 10 kids. The joys of a winter blizzard! We did run to McDonald’s for dinner Sunday night because everyone was too exhausted to cook after exerting so much energy moving mounds and gobs of snow. Most roads in town are passable one way and only the major arteries are plowed open enough for cars to pass one another. The snow mounds at intersections would give Rin Tin Tin a run for his money, making spotting on-coming traffic a dangerous game of hide and seek. Did I mention it snowed this past weekend?

 

So, Friday night we did our usual, meaning we went out to dinner. On our way into the restaurant I thought I saw a snowflake or two, but Esperanza dismissed me as “crazy.” When we walked out of the restaurant it was definitely snowing with a coating of fluffy white snow already on the ground. We raced to the grocery store and did our best to hurry. By the time we got back to the car the snow had built from a dusting to at least an inch or more and our ride home became more perilous with a few slippery spots. We arrived home and battened down the hatches for the fury that was yet to come. And come it did! Saturday it snowed and snowed and snowed. Sometimes it was big, fluffy flakes and sometimes wind-hurled icy chips, but the intensity didn’t wane until that evening, leaving behind well over 2 feet of snow.

 

When Chica Marie woke up Saturday morning she begged to go outside and build a snowman. I told her we would once the big kids got up. At this point there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground and I had to sweep off the back porch and steps for the dogs to go out to potty. A few hours later, by the time we got the little ones all bundled up and headed outside the snow was well over a foot and Love Bug simply refused to stand or walk in the snow. The little dog went outside with us but the height of the snow (well over her head by now) intimidated her and she spent most of the time hovering at the top of the stairs. Chica Marie was unable to build a snowman because the snow wasn’t packing so she spent the time eating the snow instead. When the wind picked up we decided it was time to head inside.

 

Sunday was a sunny day with a beautiful deep blue sky. A perfect day to dig the van out of the snowbank in front of our house! With two shovels and three people, it took us three and a half hours to move the snow and unbury the van. Chica Marie and Love Bug started out on the porch with Chica Marie eating snow and Love Bug listening to music on Primero’s speaker. When Chica Marie’s feet began to feel cold and wet (because of all the snow that blew onto the porch) Primero took her inside to nap and brought out the baby monitor so we could continue working. We moved Love Bug to the top of a snow bank so he would be closer to us and he was content to sit and watch our work. Once we pulled the van out, Primero sat in the van with Love Bug in his car seat and soon Love Bug was asleep and tucked into his crib in the house. We finished making room for passengers to board the van and made sure the sidewalk was passable, if not fully shoveled. We were exhausted and wet and hoping this is the one and only snowstorm this winter!

 

Not long after we completed our arduous task Esperanza said their friend from the CFA wanted to come pick them up to hang out. I said no because I didn’t think it was a good idea to be out driving around if not absolutely necessary. Their friends ended up coming to visit at our house. Five teenagers invaded our living room for a few hours that evening. It wouldn’t have been so bad except two of them felt the need to put on a less than G-rated PDA performance that I didn’t appreciate, thank you very much. These same kids plus a few more came over Monday afternoon and stayed until I wanted to pull my hair out and throw it at them. I used to think I wanted to have the home where my kids friends all came to hang out, but now I realize that I don’t think I really want that because it puts me on edge to have so many kids there and having to keep an eye on it all. Maybe it’s just these kids because I don’t trust them that much. I don’t know. I was glad to have the household shrink down to just “us” and spend a quiet night before getting back to the grind.