Cabin Fever in the Garden State

The kids have missed 8 days due to snow this year. 

We're expecting anywhere from 2 inches to 10 beginning tonight.

New Jersey does not do snow.

I had a friend, Christine, who warned me that when we moved to the East Coast, they go bonkers when the weather changes. I thought it would be nice to have a snow day here and there because when we lived in Utah, there were no snow days.

She tried to warn me, but I really could not have imagined that the entire East Coast goes into emergency mode this often when it snows.

 It's crazy.

If it is snowing, or going to be snowing during commuter hours, school gets cancelled and all of the trains run really late. Matt's office has people who come in not just from the city, but Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware and when those trains aren't running as they should, it makes for a nightmare. It's a pain in the butt as it is that Matt's commute is so long.15 miles takes an and hour and a half each way on good days, we were so spoiled before. Don't even get me started on the costs for the train....

I'm gearing up for another day of the kids being home. 

I love my children, but every snow day we take now, eats into either spring or summer break and I'd much rather have a longer vacation than a random day here and there where we can't do anything anyway.

We're all about to lose our minds.

Even the kids groaned when they saw the weather reports and Matt got that little wrinkle in his forehead that shows when he is stressed out. He can work from home, but it isn't ideal. 

Last week there was an ice storm.

Arizona girl here had never experienced an ice storm. 

Because we have a gravel drive and no garage, our family had to take an extra snow day when we got Zane's truck hopelessly stuck in the driveway. We couldn't 'rock' it out because Zane's truck was cheap and it dies every time you change gears, so we couldn't really get any momentum going to move it. We had to just wait until all of the ice melt started to work and then used a combination or pushing,  driving and swearing to fix the problem.

Street parking is pretty near impossible.

We also  laughed about how incompetent and helpless we were. How quickly we adapted to being East Coast snow weenies. 

I'm ready for my padded cell. 

I am even sick of hot cocoa and board games.

Enough with the snow days already.

Also- I discovered this blog/tumbler a few months ago and every day, she posts something that makes me smile.

She's funny and doesn't make long posts about the weather or crafts. You'll like her.

http://amenalready.tumblr.com/

This is Pure Snow! It's Everywhere!

Two points to the person who names the reference, and minus twelve to anyone who has no idea. 

--

So, that "post a day" thing didn't exactly happen, but it did get me blogging more consistently again, and that was the  real goal. 

We've been blessed with a ton of snow this December.

When I was younger, I lived in Idaho and some years Christmas was white, while other years, the snow teased here and there, but wouldn't really start sticking until January.

Snow that waits until January is just rude.

By January, you're looking forward to spring. 

There's nothing magical about January or February snow and March snow just gets on your nerves. 

Don't judge me, the voices in my head totally agree with my logic.

When I was in 9th grade, my family moved to Arizona and that was the end of any snowy Decembers.

It didn't bother me, it was nice to be able to still go out and do things in the evenings, to see the lights at the Mesa Temple with my friends and Arizona brought a whole new world of December that involved people and places and it was it's own kind of magical. 

I was in Arizona for a long time.

 I never once took my kids up North just to see the snow. I took them to the Zoo, to the park, to the Temple. Christmas was a time for outings because it wasn't 400 degrees outside. 

December was the reward for putting up with August.

When we packed up that U-haul and headed to Happy Valley, my body was not ready for this season called "Winter."  I bought the heaviest coat I could find and knew it was going to be a rough adjustment for me. I had no idea how to drive in the snow, and it seemed that my fingers would never warm up.

Until they did. I met this really tall guy who gave me a reason to drive in the snow, and who kept my hands and heart  warm with all of that mushy schmoopy stuff that Caleb would prefer I not mention.

Snow and winter have been a part of life, ever since. My joints ache and hurt and I'm still wearing that ginormous coat, but it's okay. I know that December snow is magical.

Last year, it snowed on Christmas Eve.

 It snowed as my seven children all went outside and danced in it, while they waited for Santa. 

December snow will do that.

December snow deserves to be danced in. 

I am thankful that I have kids who know that, and who remind me that even though there will be wet clothes and windshields to scrape- everywhere I look.....magic. 

Look out your window.

Do you see it, just glistening, as the sun shines on it?

Maybe the magic is in the branches of the trees, cold limbs reaching out, trying to grasp the sun so they can thaw.

Maybe the magic  is in the back yard where the kids have tromped and smashed and made chaos of the ground as they try to build forts and snowmen. 

Look outside, and find the evidence of magic that December has brought to you.

Then  make some hot cocoa and finish your holiday shopping online- it may be magic, but it's COLD, Yo.

Give Blood, Play Rugby

Last week, a huge snowstorm was predicted.

Everyone braced themselves for yet another 'crippling' storm.

(not my photo, swiped from the Internets)

I think that the way the East Coast defines 'crippling' is very different from the way a Utahan describes it. It seems that ANY snow, has people here bracing for Armageddon.

Not that there aren't plenty of wicked and nasty storms here, but there is major hype when there is even a hint of snow.

After two days of the news saying that it was going to hit hard in a few more hours- the bog storm finally came.

Yeah, there was snow, it was wet and heavy, but.....meh.

Grey and Roe went out to play in what we hope is the last snow of the season. 

Go home, winter. You've outstayed your welcome. Next year, don't come with a freaking hurricane that knocks out the power for 2 weeks and maybe we won't complain as much when you're still around in March.

 (Who am I kidding? Winter doesn't read my blog. Winter still has dial up. Ugh.)

 Roe built and killed two snowmen.

Grey had fun with the snowball launchers that I picked up on clearance at Target for 2 bucks each.

After he launched a few at the house and got in trouble, he started to aim for the few squirrels who have come out of hibernation.

 Look at these two.

Since when were they allowed to grow up so fast?

They were just babies yesterday for crying out loud.

Rugby season has officially started, but Zane does not have medical clearance to play yet.

He bonked his head against another kid during the opening scrimmage and had to get 4 staples in his noggin and he hit his knee so hard that he is still hurting from it, a week later.

I jokingly tell him before every game or practice that he is not to come back without blood on his jersey.

Maybe I should have just said "Run fast, Little Trooper!" instead.

I'm definitely not going to tell him to break a leg.

Hopefully the staples can come out tomorrow or Monday. It's not healing as fast as we were hoping, which means he can't play in the next game.

 He made it to the Varsity A team this year and is a starter, but not with Frankenhead. 

I think we all kind of saw this as his official entry into his new team. 

Rugby is a sport where there is little to no protective gear and it encourages the boys to play hard, but not stupid. Sometimes that works and other times it does not, but it's kind of a rite of passage to end up in the emergency room after a strong ruck. 

The guys on the team call him "Utah" and my little 6'5" 260 pound pipsqueak of a son is a welcome addition to the team for sure. 

Wind and Rain and Snow and Tomorrows

I've tried at least 5 times to write my "after Sandy" post.

I start each post by saying that we made it through just fine and I quickly start rambling about all sorts of things.

Point is- there is a part of me that is very much not okay after this experience. Being in physical and emotional survival mode for that long, being cold, being scared and knowing you can't do anything to fix it for that long took it's toll on my soul. 

(scary things lurk in the darkness...)

I feel so very fragile, like a chipped china cup, too close to the edge of the shelf.

I have not lived in sheer survival mode for a number of years, it amazes me how thoroughly all of those old coping mechanisms rushed into my heart and made a mess. 

There were people that lost so much in this storm, people who still are dealing with dark homes, broken buildings and freezing. I know that our experience was not even close to the worst of those who went through this storm.

However, suffering is not a competition.

While reminding myself that others had it so much worse helped me not complain, it did not change that this storm hurt us.

  

I watched my children shiver under piles of blankets and sleeping bags as we tied to keep the fire going.

 I saw my elderly neighbor wander around, confused and lost with the change of the landscaping and when I asked him how I could help, he started talking about the war and asked where someone I didn't know was.

 I saw some neighbors act in ways that grossed me out as they put others at risk in order to keep themselves comfortable.

 I huddled in  my family room, with mattresses over the windows and as my heart raced and I was terrified, kept calm and made jokes with the kids and told them we'd be fine. They had no idea what danger we were really in, they knew Matt and I would protect them, just as we always had.

 I worried that people were going to go even more crazy as supplies dwindled and the darkness and cold swallowed everything up.

 I could fill up a page easily sharing the fears I had, both real and imagined and the roller coaster we went through.

I could also fill up a page with things I learned.

I could certainly fill up a page with the blessings we received.

But not today.

I just don't feel steady right now, I feel a little bit broken and I'm forcing myself to blog as proof to my heart that I am not broken and it's time to bra up and get back to this crazy new life in New Jersey.

Last night we got our first nor'easter. 

So much snow.

And as much as snow sucks, it looked like.....home. 

It looked like Utah and made me feel more grounded.

Oh yes, seasons. Weather. Sunrise.

And school, blessed school is open again.