Snow-My-Goodness

Our total was over 17" just shy of the "foot and a half" mark.  Here's how life's been for me lately:

Saturday morning: I slept in.  When I finally got up, I looked out my window to inspect the snow that'd fallen so far.  I then moved myself from the bed to the couch and continued my day of lounging.
Sometime in the afternoon, I finally made it outside to take some pictures.

Naturally occurring snow drift - the wind was for real.

The first time our lot was plowed

The "Christmas Tree" in the court yard

After photo session number one I got an hilarious call from Amanda.  The first few sentences were hilarious.  After that I did have the good sense to feel bad for her.  It went like this:

A - Tell me I'm a good person
Me - Ok, why am I doing this
A - I tried to call off work today (she's a nurse) and the supervisor started crying
Me - Laughter

The rest of the story was not so funny becuase it involved shoveling, getting stuck and depending on friends and Good Samaritans.  Amanda was also the first to describe the "shovel zombie" phenomenon that developed as part of this storm.  People just walking up and down the streets carrying around shovels....

At some point, I went out to actually dig out my car.  The only snow shovel I own, by the way, is an "emergency shovel" that fits in my trunk.  I bought it after I heard an episode of Car Talk where another girl who drives a stick called in.  I think she'd ultimately wrecked her clutch by trying to rock her car out of snow instead of digging it out.  When I went to evaluate my own situation I had an interesting puzzle.  Because of the crazy wind (no, really, it was a blizzard) one side of the car was fairly clear and the other side was hidden in a snow up to my waist.  (Ask me how I found that one out.)

Amanda - I still have your gloves.  They suck for shoveling snow but they are cute.

See all the snow between those two cars?  Yeah, me too.  The drivers side doors couldn't be opened.  Exciting!

Literally hip deep in snow!

Christmas Trees out front.

After day 1 of operation Shovel.

My shadow in the snow.

I spent a lot of last night texting Amanda, just trying to keep her spirits up about the insane amount of work she was going to have to do.  (Good thing she showed up because all of 3rd shift called in.)

In retrospect, this may not have been the most supportive picture I could've texted Amanda while she was in the middle of a 20 hour shift.

This morning: I woke up to find my state down a football stadium.  Oh my.  I again spent a large portion of the day on the couch.  Check out all the stuff I found on the internet.  (Aren't screen shots great?)

Who described 7* as "fair"?

Just so I know what's coming.  I'm all like, ooh, more snow but look how warm it will be on Wednesday.

Another nurse on her way to work - too bad Amanda couldn't do this.

Hilarious headline

See the hole in the roof - the dome popped like a balloon!  Now it's more like a sugar bowl.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Internet surfing is hard work.  I need another nap.

By this time the temperature had dropped from the balmy 25* it was yesterday to the 2* that was our high today.  So I really had to suit up for operation turn the car around.  (Is it odd that I can hear Gloria Estefan in my head right now?)  I rocked the car once and realized I had a little big more snow around the back tire that needed shoveling.  Then my car slid out of that snow drift like butter.  I just turned it around in the lot and backed into almost the same space.  (I just need to be able to get it out tomorrow morning.)

On the plus side, it is the first time I've seen sun in several days.

This is how we roll in Minnesota.

Oh look, the driver's side of my car, no longer in a snow bank.  Not entirely snow free.  (I should keep that in mind for tomorrow.)

My shadow is much bigger than yesterday.  Because there's sunshine.

Turn the car around - great success!

More of the Christmas Trees.  Most of the snow had actually blown off by this point.

And the courtyard Christmas tree too!

Just a shot of how high the snow got.  Those windows are about four feet off the ground.

For my next ninja trick - I will make my legs disappear in the snow.

After "turn the car around" I came back and did some serious cleaning.  I know, right, 72 hours stuck inside; you'd think I would've done that sooner.  I got done about in time to call my parents.  Then I texted Amanda (who, by the way, has been at work this whole time) to make sure she has a plan for getting her car out of wherever she got it stuck yesterday.

In a rare move, St Paul has actually declared a second snow emergency because they didn't get the roads clear enough on the first pass.  I'm assuming that people in St. Paul, much like in Minneapolis thought, "where am I going to put my car?  In a snow drift on the other side of the street?"  Or, "huh, I can't dig my car out; it's worth paying the tow fee to have someone else do it?"  So many cars in both places couldn't move for the plows that they're just going to re-plow. 

I have no idea if I'm going to work tomorrow.  I saw some people who were out today and reported that if I could get off our street I'd be fine on the main streets and expressways.