I thought it might be a really creative idea to write a blog post about The Blizzard Of 2011, since I'm sure this notion hadn't occured to any of the other 100 million Americans affected by the storm.
First, I interject the disclaimer that yes, all you people up north, I know that you aren't intimidated by snow and you think it's silly that we Southerners shut down our world for a little dusting. Lest you doubt our hardiness, let me remind you that we're the same people who stand on our front porches and videotape tornadoes. So there. Anyway, this wasn't exactly a dusting. Our region had the highest recorded daily snowfall ever--the local newspaper actually decided to close down for the first time in over a century. The mail isn't running, the doctors' offices are locked up, many highways are shut down entirely.
Basically, it's a lot of snow, dumped on a bunch of people who don't understand snow. To give you an idea of the depth of it, here are my two youngest playing in our backyard snow drifts (that's the nine-year-old on the left):
Thankfully, we had warning of the storm that the media dubbed Snowmaggedon, SnOMG, Snowpocalypse, etc. etc. All day Monday, our radios and telelvisions pinged and blinked and scrolled with warnings that this was The Big One. We love our Oklahoma weathercasters--I guess you tend to bond with people whose voices you hear over the radio while huddled in tornado shelters--they may bring a little drama along for the ride, but they keep us safe!
Thus armed with knowledge, I stocked us up on all the necessary items: peanut butter, cereal, canned goods, toilet paper, cookie dough, and Funyuns. We have made five (so far) batches of snow ice cream (using this recipe--SO delicious). I have made banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, and Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings. My parents ventured out in their four-wheel-drive SUV to bring us deep dish pizza.
To summarize, we've gained 897 pounds.
In the three percent of our day when we're not eating, we've done the following:
- Worked on my son's insect collection, due in a few weeks. There is a gigantic dead cricket on my dining room table at this very moment. Want to come over for dinner?
- Caught up on American Idol on the DVR. I will confess that I mourned the loss of Simon Cowell for the first couple of episodes, but the new judges are slowly growing on me. Is it just me, or does it seem like Randy is being a little meaner this season, perhaps trying to fill Simon's shoes? C'mon, Dawg, play nice.
- Laughed at our little dog, who is so puzzled by the snow. Three-foot snow drifts are confusing when you're only 18 inches tall.
- Managed to help my son get over some trouble he was having with fractions.
- Finally understood fractions, myself. It only took three decades.
- Brought down the Thomas the Tank Engine toys from the attic. My six-year-old daughter plays with them, though not at all like her big brothers once did. There is no racing or colliding--instead, she lines them up and has them communicate at length about the significance of their relationships, and why are you sitting next to him? and I wanted to marry you! and your paint is a really pretty color! Oh, how I enjoy being a girl.
- Stayed glued to the TV coverage of the crisis in Egypt--even the big kids are fascinated at what's going on. Praying for the people there.
- Become a little grumbly and cross with each other. At one point today, after some general shouting and shoving, the exasperated nine-year-old hollered, "THIS FAMILY IS JUST LIKE EGYPT!" *Sigh*.
Since I know that probably at least half of you are similarly snowbound, how are you hanging in there? We are bored and lonely and a little pathetic, so tell us all your funny snow stories. Or tell us that you, too, are thinking of renting a dog sled so you can go to the store for milk.
