My Day in Pictures: Snow-nami

Let me start by saying: I know it is winter, and snow should be expected. That does not, however, prepare one for what I woke up to today. Complete and total snow domination! Every surface was covered with 1-5 feet of snow, depending on how the ridiculous volume of wind dealt with the obstacles on your yard. It did not make my flower flourish. I thought I would describe how my day went by using some photos I took of this day.

I looked out the front windows, and this is what greeted me:

This is what it looked like at the front door. Yes - that is Ja Lisa (who proved to be a complete beast later in the day) almost completely buried. Where is the sidewalk, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine.

Looking slightly right out the front door....yes, there is a sidewalk somewhere down there, too. The plows are nowhere in sight, and my neighbors hadn't ventured out yet either.

Here is a look at the back yard. I know it is hard to see by these pics (I took them with my phone, and tried to blow them up so they are kind of fuzzy. You would never guess I got blue ribbons on my photography projects in 4-H!) but that is a 5' drift against the garage of the lady behind me. The snow is basically 2-3 feet deep in the whole backyard/alley.

After seeing all of this, I texted YC to cancel our appt. He said he couldn't get out of his garage, so it was no problem. This storm was ridiculous.

I got to use the baby shovel to get through the waist-deep snow out to the road. It was at that time that John - the neighbor with the snow blower - returned home. SHOUT OUT to John. He did the front (perpendicular) sidewalk for me.

I found the rounded sidewalk around the house! What was awaiting me, there? A drift up to my boobs/pancakes. That was super-fun. It also helped me understand why I couldn't get out the side door.

I finally dug my trench through the back yard!! When i got to the alley I was greeted by my second hero of the day: Joel. SHOUT OUT to Joel for using his snow blower to help John clean out the alley! Diane, Katie and I shoveled off one of the parking pads, and did the edge shovel work. Our "team" was the first to have their section of the alley cleared out. I would still be out there if it wasn't for these guys. SO GRATEFUL.











After spending 2 hours on these areas, I went inside for about an hour until the plow went through. Then I got to dig JaLisa out  - the freshly plowed snow was up to the bottoms of the windows. I was too irritated at this point to continue with my photos. Thirty minutes later I was ready to try and drive out of my spot - enter "the Beast"! Got my car out on the first try! I decided to check my body bugg for my calorie burn when I got back in the house. 3500 calories burned! It was like 3:30pm! I thought I was done. But the City of Milwaukee had another surprise for me.

We had all moved our cars, so they did that side of the street now. They completely buried my sidewalk to the street. I went back out to shovel. For the third time. At least the sun was out. I was delighted to see that the snow plow had pushed snow over the mound on the boulevard, and onto the sidewalk. Another 20ish minutes to clean out my path to the street, John's path to the street (I owed him!) and our front sidewalks. Then I was done. Officially. Now I wait for the zero degree temps.

Have I mentioned how much I loathe winter? I have? OK.

NOTE: my post for yesterday didn't post until after 8pm. I am having a hard time getting the "schedule" feature to work. Incase you want to read about my crankiness! =)

Mind Over Lazy

**It is official. The "schedule" post feature doesn't appear to be working. This should have been up at 6am. GRRRRRRR.

I was greeted Tuesday morning with about 6-8 inches of snow. Not the end of the world. Shoveling isn't that bad. Actually - I partially take that back. Trying to shovel the alley is horrific. The concrete is beat to hell, and has been maintained with a series of tracks of black rubber filling the cracks. Basically, you can push your shovel no more than 4 inches before it is stopped by a said rubber tracks, or differing concrete heights. It annoys the crap out of me, to say the least. It should take me about 20 minutes to shovel, but takes closer to 40 with these noted obstacles. Sorry for the rant, but it broke me down.

After finishing the snow removal, I came in for some breakfast. I had my standard (1 egg, 3 egg whites, 1 laughing cow wedge, a whole wheat English Muffin, yogurt and a banana) "I'm trying to eat healthy" day-starting meal. While waiting for my appointment to meet YC, I lost all interest in going outside again. I am sorry - but sometimes the thought of having to brush off my car just seems like too much. I went so far as to type him half of a cancellation text. But that is not going with my new plan to put my boot in SAD's ass, now is it? So I went. Begrudgingly.

I think YC would have preferred I stay home. Have you ever had a day where you just couldn't even smile? Where you are tired, and cranky, and void of all humor? That was me today. I suspect I looked a little something like the pic to the left. And YC wasn't having it. He decided to fight fire with fire. He threw the sass right back at me, and was extremely disinterested in my opinions about the weights he was giving me. He basically told me to shut my mouth and do it - only he wasn't that nice about it. Bonus? We get to meet tomorrow, too. I guess I shouldn't have told him my motivation is in the negatives. Now he is going to make me meet with him daily, and I fear he might make me cry tomorrow.

Wish me luck everyone! And here is to a crank-free day!