In Like a Lion

Wow. That saying about March coming in like a lion? It is true. Or at least for our little neck of the world this year, it is SO true.

Last Sunday, March 2, it was a GORGEOUS 60 degree day. I took a few minutes to just sit on a lawn chair in the backyard soaking up the sun and enjoying the tiniest green buds forming in the tippy top of the trees. I could FEEL spring just waiting to burst upon us.

But then it didn't.

On Monday, school got out THREE AND A HALF HOURS EARLY because of an impending storm. I had never heard of getting out that early. Does it even count as a school day? It better. Then school was canceled on Tuesday because of snow. Seriously? Snow? Again? Ick. It was just a light dusting and no big deal, but that's the way we roll in the South.

On Thursday, at my tennis match I heard rumors that even MORE winter weather was on its way. You've got to be kidding me. I am SO done with winter. I had a big Girls' Night planned with my school friends because Jayne is in town. But I'm officially a North Carolinian because I decided to call it off because of the threat of winter weather. I was afraid I would not be able to really enjoy myself...just wondering how early I should leave to make sure the roads were safe.

Well, it's turns out it was the right decision to make. The storm that started on Thursday night and lasted through Friday was TERRIBLE. The worst storm we've had in the 11 years that we've lived here. Yikes.

We lost power sometime in the middle of the night on Thursday/early Friday. Thankfully, Andrew and I bought a portable generator last year. And a space heater last month. Woo hoo! Andrew was excited for the chance to rev up the generator. We hunkered down in the piano room, kept the doors closed, and let the little space heater do its thing. We played a couple board games, the kids were able to charge and play on their portable devices, and Natalie (my RS secretary) and I made lots and lots of phone calls to check on our church friends.

Here's how things looked outside:

Trees sagging down with the weight of ice

 Snapped trees in the backyard.

Luckily, the basketball hoop was unscathed.

 Brrrrr.

There used to be a sidewalk leading up to our front door.

Now it's covered with all the saggy bushes.

This was the worst part of our property.

These big evergreens toppled down on top of our neighbor's car.

Oh no!

Amazingly, it was not damaged.

 Icy limbs are so pretty. But so dangerous.

It was terrifying to hear all the wood popping outside

and wondering which tree was that?

And how much damage did it do?

 See how the snow is tinted brown at the bottom of the driveway?

Caroline was convinced it was a Pepsi slush running down the street.

I convinced her not to taste it.

By Saturday, the weather was GORGEOUS again.

 But the damage had been done.

 A pretty holly tree at the corner of our house.

Or at least it used to be pretty.

 Evergreens that used to stand straight,

now permanently leaning over the edge of our roof.

That can't be good.

 We took a walk around the neighborhood.

Broken trees everywhere.

So sad.

Here's how things looked inside for us:

 B had a friend over.

They are normally playing on their laptops.

With no wifi, they actually played with something

that was not electronic. Miracle!

Brrrr...It got down to the low 50's in the house.

 This little champ space heater kept 

the piano room in the "balmy" low-60's. :)

 Caroline won our game of Apples to Apples.

Lots and lots of extensions cords.

Once we got the power strips hooked up to the generator,

the kids were happy to have their laptops/kindle/ipad back.

On Friday evening, Bridget and Kip invited us and 

Carissa's family over for dinner. So nice! It felt great

to be in a home with a real heater. And to eat something

that required more than a microwave to heat up.

 That night, we pulled out the sofa bed,

the kids brought down their sleeping bags,

we put Napoleon Dynamite on the laptop,

and we hunkered down for the night.

The generator ran through most of the night before

running out of gas. We stayed warm all bundled up together.

 Breakfast on Saturday morning was another story.

Care Bear needed her winter coat inside the house.

Our hot water heater is gas powered, which was awesome. So we took hot showers in the morning and then called around to see which businesses had power so we could go somewhere warm. The roads were fine by then. (Except for most stoplights not working, which made those intersections dangerous! You're supposed to treat them as a 4-way stop if the light is out, right? People were being crazy.) We spent some quality time at Target and the mall. We stopped by the library, which did not have power. I felt so bad for Ms. Maria having to work in the cold, dimly lit place. It was kind of spooky. When we were about 2 minutes from home, our neighbor texted to let us know that power was back on. Yippee!!

It was kind of a fun adventure for our little family. But now we have the not-so-fun clean up to begin. And many of our friends were told they won't have power until WEDNESDAY. I'm hoping the power company was giving an overinflated estimate and that they get power back soon. Church was even canceled today because we didn't have power at our church building. I REALLY hope this was the last we see of winter. I'm looking forward to the second half of that saying about March--that it will go out like a LAMB.