Story of the Day

A little picture story for you all:

The snow was lovely and I thought I would share the best part of my day. This is what my car looked like when I decided to brave the weather to do some grocery shopping:


After I started wiping the car off, I was able to see just how much snow had accumulated:

With some digging, clearing, and rocking between drive and reverse, I got out:

So I drove to Wal-Mart, bought way too much food that I didn't need and that isn't anywhere close to good for me, and made my way back home. There are four stoplights between my house and Wal-Mart. One of them happened to be red on my way home (the third of four), so naturally, I stopped at it. As I did, all of the snow accumulation from the top of my car (remember that picture?) came crashing down and completely covered my windshield. Not just a light cover, not 'put your wipers on and push it off', but completely covered. Besides, my wipers were frozen anyway, so that wasn't even an option. So I put on the hazards long enough to jump out of the car and wipe off a corner for me to see out of for the way home:

Hysterical. I seriously love this place.

*For those who may be a little concerned, I do see the potential danger of driving with the majority of my windshield covered. Fear not, I wasn't that far from home. I would have pulled over and completely scraped it off, but there isn't anywhere to pull over on the road that leads to my apartment. Besides, it was great experience!*

Snow Day!

School was cancelled today (at least until noon) because of "icy roads creating hazardous travel conditions". Lucky me, I was up as early as I usually am and so up I am regardless! I took a few pictures this morning to send to my family, who I hear is experiencing some of that horrible Texas ice. I talked to my little brother yesterday and he said any snow I wanted to send that way would be fine by him, so here it is:

Our back porch and neighbor's grill

Our front landing

Covered cars (including mine on the left)

Yesterday we had 3-4" and our Winter Storm Warning from weather.com said 5-7" accumulated last night. We have another 1-3" slated for the next 24 hours. Good times! I think it's interesting to think about the acclimation that takes place over time when you move to a new area, especially with a new climate. I still have pictures on my camera from the first "real" snow we had in the Fall and it's almost comical, compared to what it is like outside right now. I look at those pictures now and would maybe call that a little frost, but you better believe it was SNOW! when it happened (see Time to Get an Ice Scraper and First "Real" Snow). Good thing acclimation occurs or I would be miserable. Who knows, maybe I'll make the best of it with sledding and snow angels.

P.S.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Thank you weather.com! What would we do without you? I would have never been able to deduce the complexity of a Winter Storm Warning without that very technical definition. I guess the at least 8" of snow outside covering any paved surface could have been a good clue.

The Little Dash and Wind Chill

So I woke up this morning to my first (-) in front of the numbers on my Weather Channel desktop gadget. What a joy it was! There was a literal double take when I looked, turned around, looked again and probably gasped out loud. I probably said something like "Are you serious?" This was followed by placing my hand on my window and confirming, yes, they are serious. I've determined that I should definitely get a remote starter on my car so on days like this it can warm up while I am still warm inside my house. This would be superior to getting in the cold car and having it warm up just as I am pulling into a parking spot on campus.

This morning I just decided to start my car about 5 minutes before I was ready to leave and thus accomplish the same goal, without the $$$ investment. So...those who know me know that the last thing I do to get ready in the morning is get dressed. This means that this morning when when I went out to start my car I had on my towel wrap, my big coat, and moccasins. Classy for sure! Moving right along, I walked out and thought to myself - it doesn't seem that cold...besides, I don't even have anything covering my legs. My windshield didn't even have any ice on it. I started my car and ran back inside (being careful not to slip on my steps, which did have a nice icy layer). I left my house (dressed, of course), with a positive attitude that at least the sun was out today!

Let me tell you - it's all relative. It wasn't that cold when I ran out to start my car, even if I was only wearing a bath robe and a jacket. It's a totally different story to hike across campus for 10 minutes in the bitter cold. I hope everyone in my life will still love me if I don't have a nose, because I'm pretty sure it's gonna freeze off one of these days. I've been telling all my cold weather friends that I have finally learned the true meaning of "wind chill". Granted, I always understood the concept and the fact that it's colder when the wind blows, yeah, yeah. But seriously feeling the difference between -5 and -15. Geez. That difference is TOTALLY different than the difference between 90 and 100. There's a vast divide between -5 and -15. With 90 and 100, hot is hot. Cold is not cold. Even freaking cold is not freaking cold. It's obscenely cold. The good news is that today I've decided to go to a Deep Water Exercise class. You better believe I'll take the extra 5-10 minutes after we're finished to blow dry my hair instead of letting it freeze (literally) on the top of my head as I walk back to my car.

Oh how I love the Midwest! What a joy it is to be back here experiencing the cold. Try not to be jealous. Thanks.