Snow Day 2013

January 17, 2013

I know what you're thinking. Snow day? Why not "Snow Days" or  "First snow of 2013" or some other such fitting title? Because my friends, this is east TN we only get one snow day per season. And this was it. One moment the rain is coming down in sheets, the next ice, and the next huge beautiful snow flurries.

I was still at work when it was started and was chomping at the bit to go home. Not really because of road conditions, ( I only live fifteen minutes away you see) but mostly due to this simple statement: who wants to be at work on a snow day!? OR trapped there for that matter?

Luckily they let us "early folks" go home around 2:30pm so I missed the masses of traffic attempting to get home, as the snow came down harder. Had I known that life would be right back to normal at 9:30 the next morning, perhaps I would have taken a bit more time enjoying the warmth of my house, the coolness of the snow outside, the beauty of it; instead of stressing about my budget.
(Which turns out was a complete waste of time due to things I just realized today!) 

Perhaps next year. Until we meet again Old Man Winter!

My yard during the inital storm

The End.

P.S. ( I really miss my photoshop. I hate these vertical pictures messing up my flow.) 
P.P.S ( You know what's really bad? When you're iPhone is taking better pics than your, albeit six year old, DSLR. ARGH!) 

An Unexpected Snow fall

Of course the day I break down and wash my car, get it all nice and "purty" it snows unexpectedly. 

I thought the skies looked a little heavy but wasn't expecting snow! 

Haven't felt like blogging much lately, partly due to the fact I'm still recovering from this weekend past, and taking every opportunity to sleep. Which so far hasn't been much. Stupid Caffeine. 

So perhaps this weekend...? 

We'll see.

                 

First Snow: Day 2

I am a snow hater. It began during my childhood, when snow days meant we were stuck at home all day, with nothing to do. Being a home-schooler, we were already at home all.of.the.time, anyways so having snow just meant that not only were we at home, but we really really couldn't get out and do any of our normally scheduled activities. (Just cause we were home school doesn't mean we were socialized..) So whenever, I heard the word snow, the last thing I felt was happiness. However, in the last year or so, I've come to realized how awesome it is to be able to stay at home...all.day. with nothing to do.  So I began to cultivate a little bit of hope...that perhaps...just perhaps..my job would not only delay coming in for two hours..but perhaps give me the whole day off? 

Snow collected on my porch railing .

Despite laying in bed, hoping and praying my work would go ahead and close down for the day, around 8:30AM I realized, I'd better go ahead and start getting ready. I was greeted by about three inches of snow, apparently this is un-heard of in this early, in my area.

 In true doxie form, Bubbles and Texas pottied and headed back inside as fast as possible. While Pompei and I walked down to check out the roadways.. 

They were passable, so I knew I had to give up my dreams of spending the day with a book....or prepping for my English final tomorrow.. Once I'd fed the dogs, scraped the car clean of snow, and warmed it up. I set out for what I was sure going to be adventurous ride. 

It wasnt. Thankfully. I didn't have any trouble in the curvy/areas with drop offs, at the intersection at the end of our road,however, I slid through and prayed no cars were coming, cause I couldn't and wasn't going to stop. The interstates were clear, and I made it work in good time. Now three hours later, I'm dying to go home, I'm hoping there will be milk left at the stores, so I can make some hot chocolate while I attempt to study tonight! Aahhh. 


First the first time, in ...a long time, I can say I love snow days. 


I talked to my family, who should be wandering around Disney in Orlando FL right about now, and they are complaining because the weather is in the 20's! Would it be bad of me to snicker a little bit here? Ok fine, I won't, but needless to say, i'm all kinds of happy that I didn't drop everything and go.

First Snow

I'm skipping today's #Reverb10 prompt, cause it was just like, I ....I can't even explain the confusion I felt when reading it. Inteeways....the weather announcements started around Thursday afternoon, a huge storm system was supposed to go through our fair city over the weekend. Snow, rain, sleet the whole nine yards. All the locals were skeptical, after all the most snow scene around here is about 0.5 inches. Skepticism rose to a whole new level when Saturday morning dawned bright and 50 degrees. 


And it wasn't until 11PM that the rain started. Cold, bitter rain. I began to become optimistic that we'd have snow by the morning. My disappointment was great when I  stuck my head out into a cold, gray day. 
However, by the time church was out the flurries were coming down hard and fast, much to Pompei's delight, and the dachshunds horror. By the time, we were getting ready for the evening service, the roads were getting slick, and icy.


Now most northerners who move down here, are always laughing at the locals and how quickly the town shuts down when the snow starts falling, however, they don't realize that those huge...shall we say "ditches" or drop offs, the mountainously steep roads, are a like riding the roller coaster of death, on a thin sheet of ice. Four wheel drive or no. I've attempted to drive them. Believe me, its not an experiance I want little children and busses going through.


So what do I do on a Sunday evening, with no church and lots of snow coming down?? Well after I freeze my nose off, letting the dogs play in the yard....

I organize my closet!!!!!!! I know, I know try not to be jealous. It had to be done, I needed to get to my clothes.

Have you ever washed your entire closet all at once? 

Like, take every.single.piece of clothing out of your closet and wash it?

No?

You probably should do it every so often. #justsayin

ANyway, so I'd done that last month, for a reason,that I'm not going to tell you right now, and spent sometime sorting through, bagging up the clothes I haven't worn in like...since I bought them, and let my sisters go through them. #werecoolwithhandmedowns

I made quite a dent in my closet, so now instead of taking up both sides, it only takes up one....and a dresser...and a bunch of tubs....See? 

Before...

 In between....

 And After! 

Except you can't see my closet...

Or inside it...

So you'll just have to take my word..K?!

After that was done, I cleaned other parts of my house and all the while managing my city on Age of the Empires II. Gold Edition. My mom used to think that game was violent.  It is sorta, of but a girl has to keep her city safe, and if I have to commission, armies of archers, elephants, calvary and hoards of villagers to keep my food supplies up. You should try it sometime. :) During the managing of my second empire, I whipped up some Monkey Bread. 

Yummy, ooey, gooey, goodness. Note: Don't try to grab the pan without oven mitts. Also don't stick your finger in the empty pan and try to lick the remaining glaze...it burns. 


Oh wait..you actually wanted pictures of snow?! About that...there's the little problem with it getting dark at 5:30PM and yeah. Maybe tomorrow. Speaking of Monday, I don't have to go in until 10AM, and with any luck they may just shut her down.......


You'll excuse me, so I can go pray for 12 inches of snow?


See Ya!

Mondays

Snow = No School = No Problem! Unfortunately we got such a little amount of snow fall on our side of town, that there wouldn't be any problem getting me to work. Oh well I need the money. But i was able to get my "To-Do" list chopped down a little...?

Snow Day

Truthfully there was only one point where I saw actual snow flakes coming from the sky, but for the most part the sky threw down hard pellets of ice, that morphed into snow once it hit the ground.

Thankfully our side of town, didn't see the 8-10 inches our beloved weather peeps predicted. No power outages, but neither were we traveling the town.

So the dogs and I played in the snow, than cleaned the house, did home work, read a book, played in the snow some more....my house is so quiet with out my bouncy golden girl. I sent her to her new home on Thursday, and the house just hasn't been the same since. She was a full fledged "teenager" and really was a lot of work, on top of school..but I'm actually missing the work she was. Truthfully this week has been one big disappointment after another. But I'm working to turn these lemons into lemonade. Who knows what next week will bring.

So I used those lemons and bought.... :)

My family has been complaining about my coat selection, I have two wool double breasted coats, that have been...shall we say, well loved. Or at least they look as if they do. Once these coats get lint on them its almost impossible to get it out of them! Unless there is some special tip that I haven't found just yet. (Lint rollers do not work) So I dropped by JC Penny's Thursday before work, and found this super cute coat for $30 and I came across this cute pink and black polk-a-dot  slippers as well.

..ok and I also bought a new scarf, another purse, two new cell phone covers...a book..or 5....and probably purchases another camera tomorrow. (HeY! ITs a GrEaT deal!)

Its called Therapy.

And also another reason marriage is not in my immediate future.

Share my money!?? Yeah Right!

LOL.

"Don't you hate it when......"

• ......You run out of skips on Pandora - A great pity, but if they would actually put songs in the line up that I'd LIKE....

• ......IT SNOWS - I HATE SNOW. Its supposed to come down in droves tonight. Snow doesn't equal FUN to me. Just a day of being stuck at home, with no power and possible wrecks in your front yard. 
• ......You forget to check the settings on your camera before snapping a couple hundred photos. Most of the time this is ok, unless I decided to play with my Appeture or Shutter mode, or adjust the white balance to Florescent. SO ANNOYING! 
• ......When you download Google Chrome, and they tell you it won't run on your computer version. GRrrr yeah so some of us aren't rich enough to get Snow Lepoard...
  
• .......You forget you are boiling something on the stove and the water evaporates and your eggs explode... ADD I'm serious!

Oh yeah...Food! That's what I was about to do......
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Winter

Only 19 days till International Get into Debt Day!

Winter is officially here....

The Bad: The days and nights are cold, the sky is gray for the most part,all the leaves are gone, the grass is dead...and snow is in the forecast for tomorrow. (ok that would be today, and yep there is snow.)

The Good: I don't have a tiny puppy to potty train, so lounging around in my coat, scarf, hat and gloves...in order to be ready for those 1/2 hourly trips outside. (Though spending 45 minutes to an Hour outside is not much better)

The Bad: Having to sit through 1.5 hour parade, and freezing, wrestling with a 6mo Service Pup...
The Good: Drinking Starbucks Hot Chocolate (not a coffee fan), hanging with friends,and then going out to eat afterwards.(That was Fun!)

The Good: Snuggling under mounds of blankets with my four (soon-to-be-three) dogs. *sob*
The Bad: .....Snow, being stuck at home, no insulation in my house, having to pry myself from mounds of warm blankets, and warm furry bodies. (It was hard, but the incessant whining at my door soon convinced me)

The Good: The puppies have a lot of fun.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Our Week Revisted

Monday - Oh yeah SCHOOL TIME AGAIN!! Woke up waaaay early to get my books from Abby, and then ran home to try and get some study time in before work. Then worked from 11-7....picked up somethings from the store and went home for some more studying and some playing of Age of the Empires II :D

Tuesday - Homework in the morning....woke up late to get much done....and went on to work...on the way home my adventure started. As I was driving down the road, I noticed the car in front of me brake..no problem I braked as well. As I moved closer I realized that the car had come to a stop; and I slammed on my brakes, but to no avail. I clutched the wheel in horror as I slid into the back of the vehicle.
Thankfully for her, she had a foot long hitch, which saved her greatly...but now my car is not drivable. :( Since this was my first accident, I didn''t know what to do, so I just got her information and we went on our merry way. Although I did notice the car was out of gear when I moved to pull over to the side of the road...it didn't really register that, it might have been caused by the impact. In fact I really didn't think I had much damage...but once I got home and tried to shift to park...i suddenly realized this might be more serious then I thought.
And once my dad came out...he was shocked that I had been able to drive home. *sigh*
SOooo a new car is in my future.

Wednesday - IT SNOWED!! First snow of the season!!! And also my last day of work. I'd really hoped that I wouldn't have to go into work at eight...but alas and alack.
Today was my last day at "You Work I'll Play"....I was glad that I could be sad that I was leaving. They got me a nice card, bought me lunch as well as giving me $20 toward my "housing fund". *sigh* They were a great group to work with.

Thursday - A day of stress, study, quizzes, packing, unpacking and traveling. I had a job interview on Friday in Kville, so I decided to go over tonight so I could be prepared.
So I had to go ahead to complete a test ahead of time, because I was going to stay until Sunday...which was when the quiz was due. My hard work paid off and I got 20 of 20!!! :D
AFter that I stress out and shoved all my stuff...two sisters and a dog into my dad's car and trecked across the mountain. Once there Tex and I were in for a cooolllllddd night.
The house is so drafty the highest it got in there was 50. I felt like Little House on the Praire...I can't imagine being without heat COMPLETELY.

Friday- woke up around 7:30 and hit the snooze until 8:30...HeY! I had finally got comfortable under my five blankets! Then I forced myself into the cold room...outside to busy Texas...back inside to dress and feed Texas....back outside for more potty time and to warm up the car....back inside to do my hair, crate Tex, and then I was on my way by 9:30.
I arrived at the place 5 MINUTES EARLY!!!
The interview went well...I felt; and I'm really excited about the position! I don't want to say too much about the positions...in case it doesn't work out...she said she would contact me...and I'll come back for a second interview. But it does have to do with dogs; and not just watching them either....soo...I'm praying it works out.
Now I'm visiting with my second family for the night.....its going to be interesting due to Texas.....he's very territorial and protective of me....so I've been training/ working with him allllll night....I feel for mom's, believe me dog training and kid training...pretty close to the same thing.
I'm exhausted already.

So that was this week.
May next week be different.

TTYL

Erin Leigh