More Snow

Ack!! More snow is due tonight and tomorrow. Haven't we had enough already??? The last two storms, back to back, were killer (and yes, this was in addition to that huge storm from December that messed up our travel plans).

We still have piles and piles of snow in the streets, in our driveway, on our roof, in parking lots. We saw this absolutely huge pile of snow in the Acme shopping parking lot, took up probably at least twenty parking spots. Parking at my train station lost about 20 spots (which means I have to get up extra early to make sure I get a spot).

They say that this is the second biggest winter Philly has ever had (at least since records were kept). It could even become the biggest, if we keep getting these big storms. These last three snow big snow storms were three of the top 6 storms Philly has gotten ever, and we got all three in one year! Usually Philly just gets one big storm a year (and by big, I mean between 6-12 inches). So far, Philly has recorded over 72 inches of snow this winter. The upcoming storm is predicted to drop another 6-12 inches.

In general, I like snow. I didn't grow up with it, so I still love watching it fall. I love playing in it. I love taking snow days off of work. The problem, however, is shoveling the stuff out of the driveways and dealing with the kids. When the kids are older, it won't be as much of a problem, but right now its hard. Elise is just a little too small to really play around and enjoy it, she can't keep her mittens on, she can't walk in it when its deep.

The other problem is school snow days. I don't mind the school being closed when its really snowing, or even the day after a big storm that went all night. We didn't get dug out of the second storm two weeks ago until after noon. But that was Thursday. We had been home for two days now and so on Friday, when most of the digging out had occurred, the streets were driveable, the weather nice, I had to go to work. So did Stef.

However, our daycare was closed because the school district was closed. The school didn't want to heat up the building for one day, when it was going to be closed again for three more days because of President's Day holiday. My babysitter was unavailable because she was still only two weeks removed from brain surgery, and would be out of commission for at least another month. Her two older daughters also had been home for two days and had to go work on Friday to make up for the time off. Basically, everyone had to work except teachers. So I had no choice, I had to bring my kids to work with me. Stef, who had missed client meetings for two days, was going to be out all day meeting with said missing clients.

Going to work was awful. I should have just driven and parked in the city, forking over $28.00, but our tax refund still hadn't come in and we had just shelled out $100 to get our driveway and sidewalks snow-blowed and cars dug out (yeah, we got hosed, we might buy our own snow-blower, but they are $900). So I was feeling cheap and decided to just take the train in, since the kids ride for free. What a mess. Instead of a train every 5-10 minutes, it was one train every 30 minutes and they were absolutely packed (because everyone had to work after being home for two days). We waited at least 25 minutes in the cold for a train and only made it on because two other people got off when they saw I had kids. It was brutal standing the entire time. When we got to the train station, for some reason, only one door on the train opened, I got pushed and fell, catching my leg between the platform and the train. Nice big bruise on my leg.

Finally got to work, and of course, after being cooped up for two days, the kids were not too quiet. I tried to keep them as quiet as possible, with DVDs and crayons, but they still wanted to run around too much. I had hoped to go home early, but I had a lot to do at the office that I couldn't do at home, so it took almost a full work day to get everything done. I know my bosses were not happy I had the kids with me, but I didn't have much choice. Totally unusual circumstances all around. One can only hope we don't have to go through it again.

The next storm is scheduled to hit sometime tonight. I expect tomorrow to be yet another 'snow day.' I'll bring home what work I can. Hopefully the storm will end early enough that it won't mess Friday up too, but frankly, I anticipate that it might be a very long weekend. After that last week with two storms, I'm really ready for spring to come.