Saturday, February 13, 2010

Snow Storm Feb 2010!

Well, we survived the Snow Storm of Feb. 2010!! It started out snowing all day on Thursday but only an inch or so stuck to the grass. It was pretty exciting, since it doesnt snow around here but every couple of years or so.

By Thursday night though, snow was starting to stick pretty good. The temp stayed about 34 degrees all day so some of the snow melted off. The kids loved playing in it at school, and the Superintendent had us send home notes that Friday's school would not be starting until 10am.

Then we woke up Friday morning...

Oh! Wow!

THIS is what we woke up to! It was like I was in a dream, or a fairy tale! Perfect stillness, no breeze, no snow coming down, no critters or birds moving around, just like everything was perfectly frozen in time.


Even the dog had fun! What happened to the garden?!?




Well, also got just a little bit of damage to the tree out front. But that's ok. I loved the show!



Our electricty was off sometime Friday morning before we woke up. And it didn't come back on back on till Saturday about noon. Temps inside the house were 55 on Friday, which was not really bad. We just kept blankets on and used some hand warmers from the 72 hour kits. We had no phone, no lights, no heat, and very sporadic cell phone service. We could get an occasional text but couldn't send very consistently. Plus, with it constantly looking for service, our batteries ran out quickly. We finally had to plug the phones in the car.

But Saturday morning when we woke up, temps inside the house were about 42. Different story. Very cold! That's when we decided that we needed to go somewhere and get warm. It's quite weird to take a shower in the dark, with a small flashlight shining at you. And while I was in the shower, the Flemings came by with a kerosene heater, but flipped on the lights! We had power! Yea!!!! They left the heater for us to warm the house until the central heater could get caught up. THANK YOU, FLEMINGS!!!! Gotta love those Home Teachers!

Now we have cell phone coverage, home phones, tv, and heat. It was a very strange feeling not to be able to communicate with the world. At least we had gas in the car, if we needed to go somewhere. (Couldn't get a hotel due to the NBA Allstar Game Sunday night. Every hotel in Dallas was booked.)

Glad it's over. Enjoyed the snow. We'll be getting a heater soon, I'm sure. And, of course, we used a snow day from school, so no one had to go anywhere on Friday. What a fun day off.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

A Visit From Mom & Dad

I have been able to visit with my mom and dad for the last several days. It has been really fun. I miss them a lot and really enjoy the time that I'm able to spend with them. They are leaving here tomorrow to go to San Antonio to visit with my niece but then they will be coming back next week.

They brought us three huge boxes of giant oranges picked fresh off their own trees. Oh! They were SOOO good! Mmmmmm!!!

They also brought a few of my childhood toys so that I can display them in the spare bedroom. The toys that they brought were very special to me. I appreciate that they kept them in such good shape and had the forethought to keep them safe for me.

They also brought some wrought iron fencing that I am planning on hanging on the house somehow and planting a vine to climb up it.

And of course, they also brought several boxes of candy bars and put them in the house to call my name every time I passed. ugh! But good!

I do wish I lived closer so I could visit with them more often. But until that happens, I will cherish all the time that I can be with them to visit, laugh, eat and just plain ol' have fun.

Thanks, mom & dad, for being the best mom & dad that a girl can ask for.