Musings on a snow day

All weekend, they have been forecasting a huge snowstorm to move through the state. Polk County is going to be in a blizzard warning starting at noon today. But, the county my district is in (one over) isn't - just a winter storm warning. I still figured last night that this would at least get us a late start this morning before I went to bed because we are a rural school district. No dice. 

So, I got up this morning, cursing, because I was going to have to drive to school (although my route to school isn't typically horrid) and back when it was going to get bad. I'll be honest; I haven't gotten used to the stress of winter driving since we moved back. So, the thought of the 20-mile drive wasn't too thrilling. 

I double checked my email before I got in the shower. I had signed up for alert emails from the television stations even though we do have a phone tree. I usually get the emails before I get the call (just by a few minutes). No alerts. Poo.

I get out of the shower and see I have a voice mail. No school! The email got sent right after I got in the shower. The stinky thing was that I was up and awake. At 6:30. On a day when I could sleep in.

So, I've spent the last 2.5 hours being productive. 

• Caught up on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
• Worked on baby blanket No. 3. I'm almost halfway done!
• Started the oven cleaning (I shouldn't take credit for that; self-cleaning doesn't involve much from me).
• Wrote a blog post! (We all know what an accomplishment this is for me!)
• Started a new book (Incindiary by Chris Cleve; he also wrote Little Bee, which was excellent).

And that's not all that's on tap for today. Sammy needs to go on at least one walk today, and maybe I'll bake something. I also need to finish writing a unit test.

But, now, it's back to knitting.

Iowa weather

Iowa weather is nutty. Today, one part of the state was under a thunderstorm warning while another was under a winter storm warning. We got the rain and hail.

Anyway, there is little to no grass in front of our apartment. This is where Sam goes out to go potty, but he is picky about his paws and doesn't like to get them wet or muddy. Both happen to him if it is raining out.

So, I tried to help him out today and made him some "rain boots." He was not thrilled at first:

You can even see the mud tracked in from the past in this photo up by the Swiffer.

However, the next time when we went out, I made him some bigger ones, and he actually sat patiently while I put them on and didn't try to rip them off. He even trotted down to the mail box with me and didn't seem to be bothered by them. I think he actually figured out that they kept his paws dry, warmer, and clean.

Something has frozen over...

So this week brought the weather I so hated growing up in Iowa in January. Damn cold is the only way to explain it. When the high is below zero, that's just ridiculous.

All week on the weather, they've been talking about we haven't had cold weather for this long of a period since 1996. I remember that cold snap. I holed up in my room the entire week (we had no school because it was too damn cold). My room had a floorboard heater, which I had cranked, and this made my room the warmest in the house. I'd stick my head out every once in a while, yell for some food and listen to my dad gripe that I was going to set the house on fire by dropping something onto the heater (he was paranoid about fire).


Anyway, I decided that I was going to get equipment to help beat the cold that manages to freeze your nostrils together in a matter of seconds (it hurts, trust me). So, while walking through my favorite store here - Scheels (it's a sporting goods store filled with all manner of cold-weather fighting gear) - I found this hat. It may look dorky, but it makes my head sweat. I kid you not. I can go out in this weather, and my head and hands (woo hoo for my fancy gloves) will be sweating. It's a lovely, lovely feeling.

Part of the reason that I got all of this gear was that one of the munchkins turned 8 this week, and we were supposed to go sledding this weekend for her party. Sadly, the stupid weather has postponed it, but my hat, gloves, snow pants (the boy even got some of those this week), and boots will be waiting.

I also gave into fashion and decided I needed a pair of Uggs. Now, I always thought they were ridiculous when the anorexics of La-La Land wore them in summer, and I didn't understand why they were needed in Florida. Here, though, they make sense. I have been coveting a pair since going back to work after Christmas break. I see all the girls with them on and all their fleecy goodness as my feet freeze in my cute flats or heels. So, I searched online and found these:


They aren't as ugly as the typical Uggs, but they're just as warm. However, the problem is no one here has the grey ones. And they weren't much easier to find online, thanks to Oprah making them one of her favorites of 2008. So, they got ordered directly from Ugg central, and I should have them by the end of next week.

The saddest story of the week was Sam Puppy. He had some issues with having to go outside to potty in the frigid weather. He'd submerge himself into drifts so his little belly wouldn't get hit by the wind. Of course, he still managed to look like an idiot because he hops around when his paws get too cold. He was thrilled today that it got up to a balmy 18.

Yes, I used balmy to describe 18.