Snowpocalypse 2011

I heard that term the other day and loved it.  You'd think the world was ending here in GA.  Stores were bought out of milk, eggs, and bread.  Schools shut down.  Then everything shut down.  News people are extremely entertained by all this crazy weather.  I said they were entertained, not that the news was entertaining.  I actually saw one dude try to use his mic to broadcast the sound of the icy rain hitting his hood.  And then proceed to use his mic to pick up the sound of him crunching through the snow.  And one news station was saying they had 20,000 + Facebook friends since the blizzard started.  Remind me again how this qualifies as "news?" They did slightly redeem themselves with great stories about people helping travelers stranded in the airports for days by buying tons of groceries and one man giving a mom some money for her and her baby to eat after he heard her story on the news.  It was nice to hear about the ways people actually do help each other out and there are decent folks still around, we just don't often hear about their stories..  I appreciate the positive stories very much since I am not a news watcher for the very reason that it is so rarely about anything good.  Go 11 Alive!  Moving along...

I am going on my 4th snow day home from work tomorrow.  FOURTH!!!  I'm enjoying the time off wearing pajamas, sleeping in, and hanging with my family.  I'm not enjoying the thought of making up those days.  Grrr.  Oh well, every time I think about it, my little munchkin finds another way to make me laugh and once again I'm having a blast.  The dogs have been happily living in the garage (with a heater!) the last few days since their pen is still iced over.  They think they're ready to be back outside but once they're out there for a little while to eat and do their business, they're can't wait to get back in.  Rudy in particular.  They've been very good boys.  Still getting along great.

The result of telling her to smile

Sunday night the snow fell late.  I was woken up several times after that to the sound of icy rain hitting our windows.  I thought, "Man!  That's going to ruin the snow!"  Yes, even half awake I care about the quality of the snow.  I love playing in it!  Well, I was right.  The next morning we were greeted by a white wintery wonderland, but upon walking in the yard discovered that it was ice.  Yes, we slipped and slid all around the yard.  Not hard to do when you're being dragged by Hank.  Still working on training him, but weather and holidays have slowed us up a bit.  Anyway, I was not to be discouraged.  After a good breakfast, I layered Lailey up in clothes like only someone who has lived anywhere north of GA would know how to do.  Then I layered myself up, and before we (I) passed out from heat stroke we headed out into the fluffy crunchy white snow ice.  I didn't know how Lailey would like sliding around, but even if she fell she was so bundled up it was like falling on pillows.  She's her mommy's daughter.  She LOVED it!  I asked her if she wanted to go see Nick and Julie (4 houses down) and she enthusiastically squealed "OTAY!!!  Nit and Chulie's House!!!  OTAY!!!"  After a little visit, we walked back, but she thought we were going back to go in so that was met with some resistance.  I told her she had two choices: walk or be carried, but either way we were going back to get a "sled."  Walking it was, and we were on our way.  I entered the garage to find, much to my happiness, that a boogie board was easily reached.  Thank you, Davey, for recently cleaning the garage.  Off we went again.

How do we sled in Georgia?  That's right.  On a boogie board.  Of course, she loved it.

How to get a good picture...run (aka slide) toward her and pretend I'm going to "get" her.

 We slid down neighbor's driveways which were steeper than ours, I pulled her up and down the street, and she couldn't get enough.  She even learned to lay on her tummy and hold the rope she would be more stable.

"I pull Mommy!  Pullin' Mommy!"

Finally, I had Davey go get a belt to secure her so we could go fast without her toppling backwards, which was my main concern.  It worked like a charm.  And please don't worry.  She was safe.  And we live in a cul-de-sac and almost no one was even driving that day.  I do think about these things.