Ice Days 2011

Unless you live in some remote village that doesn't have television or internet (which is probably not possible if you're reading this!), you've heard about the winter storm that's enveloped almost the entire United States.  I have friends in Colorado, Kansas, Chicago, Oklahoma, Texas, and various other states that are either snowed or iced in their homes.  We don't have the luxury of snow in Texas.  Instead...we get ice.  The ice began falling early Tuesday morning (around 3 am).  By 5 am all the schools had closed for the day and the roads were like an ice rink. Mike's office (thankfully) closed for the day, so he built a fire to keep us warm on a day where the temps would dip into the single digits (and windchills were below zero...this is not normal for Texas!)

Laying peacefully on the floor by the fire didn't last much more than 5 minutes.  Then Brody and Barrett drug out their arsenal of guns and started a war.

One of the nice things about technology is that it enables both Mike and I to work from home!  In between watching the weather and playing with the boys, we were able to get some work done for our jobs. 

Brody spent a lot of the day begging to go outside.  We tried to explain to him that there wasn't much to play in outside (not to mention it was dangerously cold!)  Ice with trace amounts of snow on top doesn't seem like a winter wonderland...but he kept asking.  Finally I told him he could go to the mailbox with me.  As we carefully walked the icy sidewalk to the mailbox he commented, "I can't make a snowball!  I think I need to get a shovel so I can break up this ice!"  He then hurried to the garage to find a shovel.  I told him he could go out back for a few minutes and he carefully walked around the pool and began shoveling ice!

We didn't let him stay out in the cold very long.  When Mike told him it was time to come in, there was not arguing!  He said, "I agree!  It's time to come in!  I'm cold!!!" 

 

We huddled up by the fire before bed and used up the last of our firewood :(  Before we went to sleep we saw that all the schools in the area would be closed on Wednesday too.

Yesterday morning we were woken up a little before 6 am when we heard the pool pump shut off.  Mike said, "There's no way it's above freezing!"  (There's a thermostat on the pump and it keeps the pump running if it's freezing outside so the pump doesn't freeze.)  Not long after he climbed out of bed we realized that the electricity was out.  Great!  Suddenly I had flashbacks to the Kansas Ice Storm of 2007 where we were without power for over a week!  I had thoughts like, "We haven't stored up water. (not thinking about the fact that in the City you can have water even when you don't have electricity because you don't have to have power to run a pressure tank for a well at your house.)  I wonder what pipes will freeze?  We could take the stuff out of the fridge and put it in the garage so it'll keep.  Oh no!  We just used the last of our firewood!  I guess we can cut some out of the greenbelt behind out house so we can keep the boys warm......"  Mike headed outside to see what he could do to keep the pool pump from freezing.  I suggested blankets and he knew he had a propane heater...so he came up with this set up:

 

Thankfully the electricity only stayed off for about 1/2 hour (that time).  Come to find out, the state of Texas was having mandatory rolling blackouts to help conserve power.  You had no clue when one would hit...all the sudden you'd just be without power again.  We had 2 hit yesterday and both lasted about 1/2 an hour.  It really made us realize how dependent we are on the grid. 

I ventured out to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and was amazed at the amount of ice on the roads.  I was so thankful to be driving a 4wd Jeep!  It was a mess out there!  The parking lot at Kroger looked like an ice rink!  There were 2+ inches of ice covering the ENTIRE parking lot!  There wasn't a patch of dry ground until you reached the grocery store doors!  Cars were having to back up and use alternate exits from the parking lot because the hill at the exit was too steep and they would just slide backwards!  Again...lovin' the Jeep!

Late yesterday afternoon the cabinets for our master bathroom remodel arrived.   When Mike logged off work for the day, we got started installing cabinets.  They are hickory and are BEAUTIFUL!  I absolutely love them!  I'm not allowed to post pictures because Mike has banned local friends and family from the bathroom until it's totally done and we have a big reveal!  He even said that there will come a point where I won't be allowed in there either until it's completely finished.  It's gonna look amazing when it's done.  We worked on installing the cabinets most of the evening and finished up just in time to shower and crawl into bed around midnight. 

On the 5:00 news last night we saw that the schools in the area had already made the decision to close school for today too.  Considering that the temps never got out of the teens yesterday and the sun never came out, the roads were still very hazardous this morning.  As I'm typing right now the sun has still now shown its face and the temperature is 21 degrees. 

This morning the news said that the rolling blackouts should be few and far between today, so Mike decided to go into the office (since he wouldn't have to worry about the pump freezing over with a power outage).  He said the highway was horrible (only one lane was drivable and even it was covered with ice except for where people's tire tracks were).  What's normally a 20 minute commute took him over an hour today.  I'm just thankful he made it there safely...and am praying he makes it home safely too! 

The kids club and aerobics classes at the gym were cancelled today, so the boys and I started our work day early at Daddy Steve and Namaw's house (9:00).  The commute was treacherous for us too.  I think Brody fell down and landed on his hiney 4 or 5 times on our way across the greenbelt to their house!  I was carrying Barrett and am thankful that I didn't fall.  It's much farther to the ground for me than it is for Brody!  We came back home in time for a late nap for them.  It's nice to be home in our warm house sipping on a cup of hot chi tea.  Too bad all our firewood is gone...maybe we'll have to roast marshmallows over a candle tonight...