The Great Groundhog Day Storm of 2011

I'm always skeptical of meteorological forecasts. I'm sure Oklahoma's bizarre weather patterns have a lending hand in my skepticism. But now that I'm forced to consider school closings when making plans, I'm learning to put more forethought into snow storm preparations. So as much as I didn't want to believe Monday's forecasts of 'record-breaking snowfall' on Tuesday, I followed instructions and completed my errands for the week, gathered some work to do from home, etc, etc. And boy am I glad I did. Holy cow! I couldn't believe my eyes Tuesday, as the snow piles grew and grew. The official reading I've seen was 13.2 inches, but with the high winds, some drifts exceed 2 feet. Whatever the reading, it's more snow than I can EVER recall in my 22 years as a T-town resident. Ironically occurring on Groundhog Day, I was adamant to make the best of this cabin fever situation. I got Brooklyn all dressed up for the day in her tutu and Switerland house shoes! 

(She's confused by my excitement...)

We watched movies,

played with toys,

cheered on the ducks as they ice skated on the pond in the backyard,

and did some laundry chores together

(She offers a free delivery service-straight from the laundry basket to the washing machine door, by means of her Princess Cozy Coupe!)

It was a great time! But then Wednesday came...and we'd done all of the activities that I had brainstormed. What were we to do now?! The can of silly string I bought in advance didn't provoke the laughter I had hoped for, but rather brought tears of fear to my little girl!  We did some scrap-booking, reminiscing on her birth, and her first birthday party with all the milestones in between. Brooklyn LOVES books - story books, picture books, and even photo books! So we spent lots of time looking through pictures and cards from friends and loved ones. The day came and went without much excitement.

By Thursday I felt like I'd been cast in Will Smith's movie 'I Am Legend'. I hadn't been outside the walls of our home in 68 hours. I was almost scared of what the outside world might be like! Were the roads REALLY that bad? Was it a ghost town out there?  Or had civilization resumed without us?  We bundled up and loaded in the car for a drive into town. Some stores were still closed, but we got to make a couple stops - Target & Walmart employees greeted us without smiles. Then we came home and decided to do some sledding in the backyard!



By Friday, I was ready to venture back out again and resume life as much as possible. Brooklyn & I loaded up for Grammy's house and a day at the office for Mommy. A 45-minute trip into town brought us to the intersection at 41st & Lewis, where our attempt to head east for Grammy's brought us to a slippery halt. We were stuck & spinning our foreign-made tires! After some handy maneuvering tactics by yours truly, we ended our 5 minutes of intersection fame and continued our track due north where we met the highways that would lead us back to our cozy walls of home. We made it home just in time to watch more snow flurries gather on the existing banks of snow...maybe we'll resume our daily activities next week...til then, we hope everyone is safe & warm with their loved ones!