Snowzilla Aftermath

Snowzilla has finally ended! Our area ended up with about 25" of snow with much higher drifts because of all the wind.

Here's a before and after of our front yard.

And here's the back yard.

And now comes the fun part... digging out. Thankfully, J has already shoveled 6 different times throughout the storm so we wouldn't be left with a huge amount once the snow ended.

Our local news is predicting that schools will probably be back in session on Thursday. We're predicting that we'll return to work on Tuesday. But who knows?!

My favorite part of the storm (other than maintaining power the entire time) is the video of Allie trying to move through our back yard. Priceless!!!

Snowzilla

We're partway through Snowzilla at this point and have measured drifts of up to 20" in our yard.

J (who is awesome!) has already cleared cars and shoveled 3 times during the storm.

Allie and our neighbor's dog took advantage of the sidewalk and driveway right after they were cleared.

If you need a reminder not to park your car on the street during a snowstorm, here it is.

We're expecting 6-10" more snow throughout the day and then the storm should die down. We haven't lost power (hopefully I don't jinx us) so staying indoors has been enjoyable.

The big question will be how long it takes the area to dig out and get back to normal once the storm ends. We'll see!

Blizzard Prep

A blizzard warning has now been issued for our area. What does that mean exactly? It means that everyone is supposed to freak out, buy everything in the grocery store, and prepare for the zombie apocalypse.

Asking around at work today about what sort of preparations I should be doing was interesting. Here's a sampling of what people told me:

• "Make sure you have toilet paper. And peanut butter."
• "I'm from Maine - blizzards aren't that bad. However, I have a whole house generator." (!)
• "Start shoveling early and keep shoveling smaller amounts throughout the storm."
• "Don't leave a car parked on the street or it will get plowed in."
• "All you need is strong back muscles and a snow shovel."
• "If the handle of your snow shovel breaks, attaching a crutch in its place works like a charm." (?)
• "Plan to not leave your house for at least 3 days after the storm."

I think we're set. We have:

• People food (including peanut butter... and gummy bears, plus a bucket of emergency food)
• Dog food
• A snow shovel (and a backup snow shovel)
• Ice melt
• Batteries, flashlights, candles
• A hand crank radio
• Toilet paper (a case from Costco)
• Bottled water
• A portable electronics charger

Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything important!

Storm Watch

Well, here we are, waiting for what the weather forecasters are calling a "historic" storm.

We're currently in the 12"-24" snow accumulation zone. As of tonight's news broadcast, some areas are expected to get as much as 36". GACK! Start driving south!

This will definitely be the most snow I've ever seen at once. To make myself feel better, I've now made three trips to the grocery store this week getting more and more food in case we can't leave our house for a number of days. Let's be honest, I'll probably stop and get a few more things on my way home from work tomorrow, along with everyone else.

I've also been trying to cook some meals to have on hand in case our power goes out. I've made Indian dal soup, hatch chile pork taco filling, beef stew (pictured), and will probably make a meatloaf before the snow really starts to fall.

At least the temperatures aren't as cold as when we started the week. We had single digit wind chills - just ask Allie - the water on her beard froze when she went out first thing in the morning. Brrrr.

Send warm thoughts our way this weekend - we'll need it.

Exterior Updates

We knew when we bought our house that it would need some comprehensive exterior updates. Thankfully, it wasn't something that needed to be done immediately like some of the other issues, but it was on the "to-do once we save the money for it" list nonetheless.

Our house still has the original 1970s aluminum siding. It also has a little brick on the front and chimney which, to our dismay, has been painted over. We've started looking into siding options which means we have the opportunity to change the entire look of our house - how exciting!

Being the neutral-color-loving person that I am, using either grey or tan initially came to mind. I was able to find this neat online tool that allows you to pick a house style similar to yours, choose different types of siding, and try different color combinations for siding, trim, shutters, roofs, and doors.

So here's what the tan option looks like:

And here's the grey option:

I added shingle-type siding on the gables which I think could add some cute detail.

We don't have a timeline yet for any renovations we might tackle soon, but it's fun to look at options and dream!

Winter Has Come

Although we escaped winter weather through Christmas (which was glorious!), it has finally come.

My car had an evening of warm glory when it got to reside in the garage long enough for J to ensure that his new wooodworking benches still leave enough car space. And they do!

Scarves gloves, and coats are back out and put to use. And I've been loving wearing my hair in a bun to escape the static and bulk of scarves.

If you need me for the remainder of winter, I'll be under a blanket eating these.

Or these.

Happy New Year!

We finally got around to officially toasting the new year last night (only two days late). Champagne with University of Wisconsin cheese and sausage - yum!

In a not much fun new years surprise, we found yet another piece of hardware in one of our tires - the latest sharp object du jour is a tapcon concrete screw. Sigh.

We redeemed our new years weekend with a trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I saw a cute table while we were browsing and flipped it over to have a look at the legs. On the underside was a Pottery Barn tag - score! The table didn't have a price but the manager at the register suggested $10. SOLD!

I found a similar table on the Pottery Barn website for... gulp... $187!

The table is now enjoying its new home on our porch. And I'm enjoying the bargain we scored!

Map of Florida

So true...