Let us remember that Mason is 4. Despite that, this is our conversation yesterday.
Me: What did you do at school today?
Mason: Um, centers, nap, blah, blah, blah.
Me: Blah, blah, blah?
Mason: Yeah, just blah, blah, blah.
Gotta love it.
Adventures of the Snowpocalypse Part 2 February 16, 2010
So we lost power. After waiting for 3 hours for it to turn back on and being disappointed, we had to make other plans. Luckily Jeremy’s sister still had power. Her one-bedroom condo (a fact which made the adventure in itself more interesting) is only 2 miles from our house, so we felt we could make it in the car. We were encouraged by the fact that there was heat at the other end and hoped that would continue to be the case.
Even though we parked nearby, we still had to walk through the streets and over minimally shoveled piles of snow carrying bags of food and beer, a bowl of cookie dough, and Cooper. But we made it and quickly started warming up and cooking! The kids had a blast digging through Kristin’s toy box and finding some interesting items.
Duck Tour souvenirs... A "quacking" band.
The biggest entertainment of the night - the whoopie cushion!
Serious "whoopie" laughter!
After some whoopie cushion fun, deliciously warm chocolate chip cookies, and one more check on the power situation (still none!), the kids went to sleep. It had been a long day, so luckily they took to their new sleeping arrangements easily and went fast to sleep while Jeremy, Kristin, and I watched Harry Potter.
Camping at Aunt Kristin's!
Up bright and early the next morning in hopes to find a “pancake store” that was open. No such luck. One more check on the house (still no power), and then off to Dunkin Donuts. Of course the DD would not close!
She couldn't wait for her chocolate donut - so excited!
Unfortunately our nearest DD is small, and being the only place open in a big radius, it was packed. Despite wanting to just hang out for awhile and waste time, we had to give up our seat to other “no power” folks. So what next? What were we going to do to waste time all day waiting for our power to come back on? The roads were not great, so I wasn’t a big fan of just driving all over the place. Not wanting to inconvenience anyone else, we set out to find out if Target was open. We can always waste time at Target. The Wheaton Target was not open, though, but Giant was!
The shelves were slowly getting restocked.
Sadly, we only wasted about 35 minutes at Giant. We were the only customers there. It was pretty dismal. I should have been a better mom and come up with some game among the aisles, but I was out of ideas. We bought some snacks and drinks in case we had to be in the car all day and then hit the road. Back home to see if the power had been restored (again, no luck there!)
Is this boring you yet? Is our trek through snowed-in civilization not as exciting as I think it is?
We did find a Target that was open in Rockville, so we wasted a good amount of time there. Back to the house again (is anyone counting?) for the power check (can you take a guess?) Out to lunch at Eggspectations because Austin Grill had no kitchen staff, then over to Great Kids Village for some indoor kid-focused fun.
Cooper as a knight in shining armor...
Mason as a damsel in distress... Although she's not showing her distress here.
The kids were so thankful to get to run around and go crazy. And they deserved it! They were really good that day despite the circumstances. I am very grateful for that.
Once we ran out of steam at GKV, we headed home for another check on the power. On the way, we determined that we would go inside no matter what – all of us. If there was no power, we would pack up more bags and decide whose house to crash at next. At one corner, we saw the Pepco trucks… I got hopeful. As we pulled into the driveway, I saw a light on in the kitchen, but wasn’t sure if it was a glare from the sun or not. Thankfully it was not. Power had been restored! 25 hours of now power. We had made it!
Of course as soon as we got inside the kids went nuts. Back to our normal routine – well, normal for snowed-in conditions. Pizza was all we wanted for dinner, but guess what? It was Superbowl Sunday. EVERYONE wanted pizza. We got lucky and got one of the last pizzas before Dominos cut off orders for the night. Hooray!
It was time to settle in and get ready for another wild week of snow.
Adventures of the Snowpocalypse Part 1 February 11, 2010
It has been termed the Snowpocalypse, Snowmageddon, The Blizzard of 2010! Whatever you call it, it has been the most snow I have ever seen in my life! And the most days in a row our lives have been interrupted due to weather. Unbelievable! It is hard to explain just how much snow we got. Ok, yes, the first storm gave us about 26 inches. The blizzard yesterday gave us another foot or so. It is easy to give you numbers. But to truly understand how much snow this is, you have to be here.
The first storm started on Friday. Schools closed early (or didn’t even open at all). Offices closed early. Everyone was in a rush to get home. And those that did not get into the hype early in the week were forced to go to grocery stores with empty shelves, 2 hour lines, and chaos. Thankfully I had been to the store on Wednesday before everyone went crazy, so I had stocked up a bit. I did go again on Thursday afternoon for a few missed items, and even then it was too much to deal with.
So with pre-made pizza crusts and a new Netflix movie (gotta love Shaun the Sheep), we hunkered down. Saturday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland, and it was still snowing! Let the fun begin.
Mason and Cooper's version of the "Polar Bear Express"
The morning fort...
The afternoon fort...
Things were going well. Jeremy helped the kids build forts, and I was busy getting things done. I got chicken into the slow cooker to make delicious taco meat for dinner. I had made cookie dough, and it was chilling in the fridge. Laundry was going since I was still a bit behind from our dryer breaking the weekend before. All was well. The kids were having fun. We were stuck inside but enjoying ourselves. Then the unexpected happened at 2:15pm… We lost power!
You’re probably wondering why we wouldn’t expect to lose power during a major storm. The truth is that we rarely lose power at our house. We’re so close to Walter Reed Annex and major road intersections that we just assumed our circuit was strong. So when it went out on Saturday, we just waited patiently for it to come back on, thinking it would be a short wait. We were wrong. In preparation for a departure, Jeremy headed outside to start shoveling the car out.
The view of our house on Saturday before Jeremy started shoveling.
Hurry, Daddy! We're cold! (Notice how the bench looks like a couch with all that snow!)
After waiting for 3 hours for the power to come back on, we determined it was best to leave. The temperature in the house had dropped 2 degrees every hour, and with the impending sunset, we knew it would only get worse. We had not prepared by purchasing firewood, so there was no way to get heat into the house until power was restored. Thankfully, Jeremy’s sister still had power at her condo, so we drove the 2 miles to her house to get warm, cook her a delicious taco dinner (salvaged from the slow cooker at our house) and some warm chocolate chip cookies.
This is still not the end of the story or the adventure, though. Stay tuned for Adventures of the Snowpocalypse Part 2.
Happy Birthday, Hubby! February 3, 2010
Today, I have to give a shout out to Jeremy. It’s his birthday, and I want to acknowledge his awesomeness. As he might say, “There’s no charge for awesomeness… or attractiveness.” (Kudos to anyone who can name that quote!) It is true – he gives us his awesomeness for free. He does it without expecting anything in return; not requiring payback or acknowledgment.
His awesomeness spreads between all of his roles in his life.
As a father…
He is the epitome of a great father to me. He plays with the kids as much as he can – coming up with silly games or just tickling them into hysterics. He cuddles with them as much as they allow. He sings his way through or makes a game out of the mundane things like cleaning up, making beds, setting the table.
As an architect…
The man could space plan until the cows come home. (Seeing as we don’t have any cows, this could go on for a while!) Seriously, though, Jeremy is an amazing architect/town planner. I admire how much he loves the art of it – and the challenge of it. He is still trying to find the right outlet for his talent, but I have confidence that he will succeed in anything he strives to do. That’s just who he is. He puts his best foot forward in all he does, no matter the baggage that might come along with it.
As a brother and son…
Jeremy is close to his family, and thankfully we have stayed close in proximity so that I can see how much he loves his parents and sister. It is easy to see the apples don’t fall far from the tree, and that’s a good thing in this case! Jeremy learned the importance of a strong work ethic, an organized home, and being a loving family man straight from his parents. And the fun, yet loving relationship he and Kristin have sets a good example for Mason and Cooper.
As a husband…
Every morning I get a hug from Jeremy that puts me in the right mindset to get me through my day. He is my rock, and that hug signifies that he will be there always to support me, comfort me and love me. His goofiness keeps me on my toes and always laughing. His outlook on life helps me through my toughest times. And the smile on his face that spreads to his eyes still makes me melt.
I have lucked out. Like I said above, he puts his best foot forward in all he does – as a father, an architect, a brother, a son, and a husband. He has won me over (that happened the first (ok, honey – the second) time I laid eyes on him.) He will always have my heart. He is my husband and my best friend. And he is one year older today (and better for it!) Happy Birthday, babe!
Find Good In Every Day 