The Day Before.....AKA Snowmeggeden Preparation II

We are under another Winter Storm Warning and expecting up to 18" of snow tonight.  They've already cancelled school for tomorrow.  I'm starting to think I live in Minnesota. 

For the record, I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE IN MINNESOTA!

Our little town was the only school to hold classes on Monday and then today.  Every other school in the Tulsa area has been out since last Tuesday.  We have never cancelled school for more than three days in a row. Never.  Amazing.

Since the entire state of Oklahoma is terrified of another snow storm, everyone's been in survival mode.  I woke up and immediately started making a list in my head of all the things I needed to get done for the rest of the week.  I'm assuming I'll be housebound once again for the rest of the week.

First, I remembered that I have a baby shower on Sunday so I needed to get to Target and pick up the gift.  I seriously doubt they'll have the shower because it's the Masonic wives and some of them are older, which worries me.  I don't want the older women walking on an icy driveway and falling.  That would be horrible.  I did get to Target at lunch and did the quickest shopping trip ever.  I bought the Boppy Newborn Lounger, which is sooo super cute!

I think Kathryn will really like it for little Emma.

Second thing on the list was finding a way to keep my mother's bills organized.  I desperately needed a way to file them and be able to bring them into the office or living room where I'm paying them.  Yes, I pay my mother's bills for her online.  I'm that lovely sandwich generation that has small kids and an older mom.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

At Target, they had the cutest accordion file.  I was so excited when I finally found one.  It's slim enough to just file in the closet in our office and not take up too much space.

Third, I had to get to the office and finish all of my daily activities in case it started to snow early.  I'm terrified to drive in the snow and would have had a panic attack if the roads started getting slick.

I did get to finish most of the work I needed to do but I'm worried I won't be at work for the rest of the week, resulting in tons of stuff to get done next week. Yuck!

I came home after work this afternoon and fixed chili.  I tried a new chili soup mix and it was different but good.  The mix had rice in it and in Oklahoma, we don't put rice in our chili.  I looked at the package and it was made in New York.  New York!......get a rope!  Ha!

I'm putting a roast in the crockpot overnight just in case our electricity goes out.  We live in a small town and our electric blinks out when the stinking wind blows.  Hopefully, our snowstorm doesn't cause any power loss but just in case, I've prepared enough food for an army.

Things I've Learned Since The Blizzard

I've had a full 4 days to sit in this house and think. 
-Think about warm beaches in the carribean.
-Think about how nice it is to be able to jump in your rear wheel drive car and drive on clear roads, not icy ones.
-Think about how I would like to go walking down the nature trail when it gets warm this Spring.
-Think about how hard it is to not snack all day when you are trapped in your house with a ton of snow outside.
-Think about how I'm probably not going to get a paycheck for the month of February at the rate this month is going. 
-Think about how long the kids are going to be in school this summer since they've missed 7 school days so far with a foot more snow coming this next week.

I've learned a few things during this "relaxing period" at home:

1.  My menu planning is really a great thing.  We already had the groceries for the week because I bought them last Sunday before the blizzard hit.  I had planned to buy them for meals anyway.  I cooked exactly what I had planned and we were great with our grocery supply.  Well, not really-see #2

2.  When you forget to buy toilet paper before a blizzard hits and you run down to just two rolls in the house, you will start to panic.  We have two little boys, not a great thing with a small supply of toilet paper.  I even resorted to asking Mr. H to bring some home from his office building when he finally got out to work on Friday.  He actually came home and took me to Walmart though.  What a great guy!

3.  When you don't wear makeup or do your hair for 4 days straight, your self-esteem will plummet.  Sitting around the house with just sweats, a t-shirt and a hoodie on will destroy every single confidence you have in your appearance.  A woman can only sit in her house with no bra on for so long. Ha!  By Friday, I had to get dressed and do my hair.  I could feel the low self-esteem hitting me like a ton of bricks.  Hence, the great thing The Pleated Poppy has done with What I Wore Wednesday-you have to check out the postings.  Great outfits!

4.  If your puppy dogs only get to go out to the back porch to poop and pee, you will be amazed at how long they will hold it.  I think our boxer Allie held her poo for a good three days.  It was a doozy when she finally went out and did her business.  I think the dogs were feeling a little depressed so we took them out to walk them for a little while.  They were so excited, it was actually sad.

5.  Even if you adore your husband and children, after four days of looking at them, you will get sick of them.  They will get on your nerves and you will start separating into different rooms to watch TV.  Yes, we turned into the "separating into different rooms" family.  I hate that feeling, but you can only stand so much togetherness.  Just being real.  You know you would feel this way too! Tee-hee!

6.  I've spent the time at home trying to be crafty to make myself not panic due to cabin fever.  I made a few super cute flower pins to wear on my cardigans. 

7.  When your kids go in and out all day to play in the snow....your entryway in your house will end up looking like a war zone.

8.  When your baby comes down with a low grade fever, you will feel terrible that

a. he doesn't get to go outside to play in the snow anymore

b.  that maybe you made him sick by letting him play in the snow

He's trying to look sick in the pic

9.  Even blogs, online shopping and facebook get extremely boring when thats all you do for days on end.  We live in a small town and everyone is posting the exact same thing everyday.  My entire facebook photos page is of snow.  Yes, I've seen the record breaking snow that hit the Tulsa area, 200 pictures of it has definitely confirmed to me that everyone got snow!

10.  After griping in #9, I will say that I appreciate the Wal-Mart postings on Facebook.  You know it's bad when people start posting on FB that the milk truck just arrived at our local Wally World.  This is probably the reason why there was ZERO bread, beef of any kind or eggs when we went yesterday.  Oklahoma is definitely a meat eating place.

11.  Last but not least.....I hate Wal-Mart.  They are our only option for food and I feel like they control the world.  Ugh.  Wal-Mart ticks me off everytime the weather gets bad.  There...I feel better...I reiterated my dislike for the monopoly that is Wally World!