Snowmageddon 2014

Ai yi yi!  The snow here is unbelievable!  It is so beautiful outside, with the snow falling steadily and the wind (!) blowing it around our house.  I'm so glad that I don't have to be out there...though really, the city has shut-down completely. Everything has been canceled and everyone is asked to stay off the roads during this winter storm. Thursday night, RWF sat in his office forever (even though everyone  else left at Noon!) because he wanted to avoid all the traffic.  Late that night, after he had been home for a couple of hours, he got a couple of texts from colleagues, stating that their trip home from the office had taken over 4 hours!  That is some crazy drive time.  

Portland is not set up for this kind of weather, so everything has been pretty much shut down since Thursday.  RWF worked from home on Friday (as I'm sure most of Nike, Intel, and other businesses did).  Access to the main road from our neighborhood has been barricaded (because it's on a hill).  I had to run out to the store yesterday for milk & other essentials (I had taken a longer route around and gone to a store I normally don't shop at).  There were very few cars out and even those were creeping along so slowly. We still have snow tires on our 4 wheel drive car, so I felt comfortable driving (but was still safe, and I refused Bode's request to come with me, for safety reasons). The store had been ransacked, and had very little milk (!) and no bananas.  It just seems crazy.  (When I talk about this shut-down like, "I just can't believe how everything's shut-down, it's just a little snow...." RWF laughs at my know-it-all, "been-there, done that" attitude. Ha ha)

We are having fun though.  We have a steep hill in our backyard (it's actually a roadway/drive to the last house behind us) and we've broken out the sleds!  It has been so much fun sledding down the hill, over and over, with Bode and Gianna.  RWF and I both have taken turns going out with them.  Nico doesn't have any proper footwear, so he can't go out. I also don't want Nico out in the cold, It's not anything that he needs to be out in right now. 

Last night, I made chicken enchiladas, black beans (in the slow cooker), and rice for dinner.  We sat at the dining table in front of our big window with candles lit, enjoying the snow scene, each other's company and food, in our warm house. It was a very nice evening.

These pics were taken when it first started snowing. Bode was so excited and could not wait to go outside.  Priscilla was a very happy, bouncy dog, running around and enjoying the cool temps, too!

These photos were taken Friday afternoon:

Bode, my little dare-devil, would scheme all kinds of ways to go faster down the hill. Gianna went down by herself a couple of times, but preferred being with me. I felt like a kid, laughing and whooping it up as Gianna and I flew down the hill in the red sled. We got going pretty fast, and I would take my legs out to brake just as we neared the fence. Exhilarating!

Our only plans for the rest of the weekend are to stay home, stay warm and enjoy the slower pace of life.  We're not going out. There will be no skiing this weekend, either, because of the roads. I have enjoyed having my little family home together, "grounded" for the time being by the city and the weather. Life will be back to its regular pace on Monday, when the snow melts and everything goes back to "normal."

Happy weekend.

xo