We were heading to a birthday party on a Saturday afternoon when it started snowing down south where we were heading. I never watch the news so I didn't even know snow was in the forecast. It wasn't very cold at our house so it was a total surprise after thirty minutes when we were suddenly driving through flurries. We got home and it had started snowing just a little bit at our house. The next morning, when we woke up to this:
I thought it was just going to be a one day thing. I bundled the kids up and rushed them outside to play in what I figured would be the only snowfall of the year.
It was my daughter's first experience with snow. She wasn't afraid of it, but she wasn't very interested in picking it up. She just relaxed and watched us play. My son and I built a pint size snowman with the little bit of snow that we had in our small front yard.
I had no idea it was going to snow for a week. Washington doesn't salt roads much, so some roads were pretty bad. Plus, with a hill going up into our neighborhood and no four wheel drive, we were a tad bit confined to our house. My husband didn't have to work the entire week, and on Thursday we lost power and electricity. Luckily we were only without power for a few hours Thursday night and then again for a few hours on Friday morning. I guess the snowstorm interfered with satellites or something because we lacked internet for a couple of days. Almost 300,000 people were without power and here's why:
The ice on the power lines was that thick or worse. They were sagging to the ground from the weight of the ice, and tree branches were snapping off and falling on powerlines due to the heavy snow. A friend of ours with two children and a deployed husband was without power from Thursday to Sunday so she came out and stayed with us. We were lucky to get our power back so quickly.
I really can't complain about the few hours we were without it. My house smelled of an array of Yankee candle fragrances. The kids went to bed early. My husband and I had some nice, quiet, alone time and played a competitve game of Scrabble. He's been beating me lately, and I don't like it.
We have a gas fireplace so we didn't get cold. The main problem we faced with no electricity was that our water didn't work. I jokingly told my husband that he and our son would be using the bathroom outside in the port-a-john that is set up for the construction workers building up the neighborhood. ;)
We may have been stuck indoors for a few days, but we had a beautiful view to enjoy. When I first came to Washington, I was mesmorized by the beautiful evergreens. I just love the way the branches swoop upwards at the ends. They're beauty is magnified when they're covered in snow under a light blue, somewhat foggy sky.
Friday morning we had to dig our way out of here to go help our friend and her kids dig their way out of their house to come stay with us. She had no fireplace, so no source of heat whatsoever, and I was worrying myself to death about her kids being too cold. The sides of my car were literally sheets of ice. It was actually fun digging and peeling away.
The only downside of "Snowmageddon," as I heard it was being called on news stations on the east coast, was that my little lady got her first cold. However, there was even some joy to be had in that. My husband and I took advantage of some serious snuggle time with Miss Independent.
It was nice.
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