....In Which All the Pictures are (mostly) of Snow

This post should technically be titled "A Snow Post" since literally two pictures have nothing to do with snow. Ha- sorry! I guess if I'm being honest, the week in recap was a lot of build up to the snow...and then lots of snow building up! So, there you have it - pretty much this post is about nothing but snow, ha-ha!

En route to work on Tuesday - it was COLD - I think in the mid-teens.

This week was a "short" week as it was, so the work week started on Tuesday. The post-work evenings were a little bit more hectic since my Mom got herself a shockingly bright lime green cast put on Tuesday and I have had to step up my game. I try to help out and I usually cook a couple nights a week and help with things around the house...but with my Mom under strict orders to not put weight on her broken foot, I had to really jump in! I definitely don't mind at all; it's just a snap shot of how much my Mom does and always has done over the years,she's amazing and so if I need to do my best imitation of her for the next six weeks (a poor one, I'm sure) then I'm glad to do it!

Thursday morning sunrise....

All week leading up to Friday, every news outlet was reporting that we were going to get massive, insane...potentially record-breaking amounts of snow over the weekend. So, during the week...long before Thursday when people were going nuts over bread, milk and water....I went to the store and got some milk and bread, ha-ha...and at some point my Dad got water. I was pretty amazed on Thursday when I went to Target on my lunch break to grab food for supper and no one was acting like the end of the world was nigh. There was still milk on the shelves...still bread too! And people were just walking around perfectly calming - who knew? Apparently in DC people were losing their minds, ha-ha!

And so it begins....

Just two hours in & he's already like "is it done yet???"

I went to work on Friday morning - pre-snow - and I was a nervous wreck. I'll go ahead and admit I don't like driving in the snow. It's something I'll have to continue to get better at; I mostly think it stresses me out because some people could care less, I don't want to be that person that gets smashed because some idiot hits a patch of ice and then slams into me, creeping like a turtle. The snow finally started around noon and while it started ever so slowly, it was only minutes before it began thickening up and falling faster and heavier...so I bounced out the door, into my car and made my way home to settle in...to be snowed in. I realized pretty quickly that this might be pretty intense, within the 45 minutes that the snow started and I was able to make it home, the roads were already covered and it was sticking to everything in sight!

A couple hours in...and already the ground has been blanketed....

Snow dog in the midst of exploration...

Friday night...before the blizzard portion of the storm arrived.

We had a big pot of soup on Friday night, watched a movie and alternately watched the snow falling outside...and piling up..and up...and up. The "blizzard" portion of the storm was set to arrive from midnight to 6 AM and forecasters said not to go to sleep; be sure to watch, as it would be epic! Well, I went to sleep...because I like my sleep just well and good. I did wake up at 5:30 to go to the bathroom and peered out my window - the snow was falling fast and thick - it almost looked like a haze. I just shrugged to myself and crawled back into bed. Watching it certainly wasn't going to do any good for me. When I woke up on Saturday morning, I was absolutely blown away....

8 AM - still 12 hours to go in this storm....

It just keeps piling up & Watson doesn't seem to realize that he'll disappear into it....

Walls & walls of snow.

Sinking in to my knees - whoa! 

I mean - there really are no words.

Watson was probably the most interesting to watch - he must have looked out the window every thirty minutes. I can't decide if he was bewildered or intrigued or frustrated because he had no clue where the grass had gone. As the afternoon wore on, we watched a plow truck try to come and make some kind of headway...and get stuck. It took hours for the man to dig his plow truck out once he was freed, he got out of dodge! Later in the afternoon, my Dad and I braved shoveling the deck because my Dad was slightly worried that the deck wouldn't hold the weight of all that snow - with it being a flat surface and all....

Are you kidding me??

The first reading around noon - almost 27 inches!

Snow dog trying to sniff out a creature hiding behind the storage shed....

A snow drift creeping up the front door - eek!

There's a car under there somewhere...

The afternoon reading...in one spot, almost 39 inches & in the other, almost 44 inches! 

After almost 45 minutes outside shoveling the deck clear, we came in and had supper. And I was absolutely shocked at how quickly the deck ended up getting covered in snow...again! While I was out helping shovel the deck, I managed to shovel off the freshest snow and give it to my Mom to save to make snow cream. I have to say - I'm thirty-one years old and I can't say I've ever had snow cream until Saturday night. It was delicious - and even Watson thought so too!

Wait - didn't I just clear this deck off?

Sampling some snow cream! 

Sunday morning arrived bright and sunny - the light off the snow was blinding - and boy, there was plenty of snow for the sun to glint off of! I knew that a huge chunk of the day would be spent doing one of my "favorite" things: shoveling snow. I mean, my car wasn't going to free itself from that snow drift, right? If you've never shoveled snow, let me go ahead and tell you it's not easy work. This snow wasn't heavy but lifting shovel after shovel after shovel...it starts to wear on your arms and back pretty quickly. I was pretty impressed with myself though - my Dad and I managed to get two cars dug out and a pathway cleared all before the Broncos/Patriots game started at 3:05! Go Broncos!

My car is there somewhere...

When the snow is taller than you are.....

The before & after - a car "magically" appeared! 

Watson searching for any possible way to get past the wall of snow keeping him in....

So - I'm not sure how you spent your weekend - I managed to read through a book, color (in both a book and on my tablet), watch numerous episodes of Fixer Upper, clean my bathroom, watch snow fall, shovel snow, eat soup and stew and all the like...yea, I did a whole lot of nothing basically. The snow plow never arrived on Sunday...so we were trapped for a bit longer.

Winter Storm Jonas - the final totals for this area were around 28-30 inches, so about two and half feet of snow. When I first heard those amounts as a prediction, it didn't seem like that should be much of a big deal...granted, I know very little about snow. Let me assure you - it's A TON of snow. So, with that said - the forecast for the upcoming weekend is all in the upper 40's and lower 50's. Praise Jesus! That will be a veritable heat wave after the past few weeks - plus, snow doesn't exactly thrive in those temps!