Where is Spring???

Snowquester

We have been really lucky here in northern Virginia the last couple of winters.  It has snowed, but not enough to even bother shoveling.  Whenever it snows just a little my husband and I debate whether to shovel or let it melt.  If we don't shovel and it doesn't melt, well, our driveway will be an ice skating rink.  I get excited each year for the first snow fall because it is so pretty, but shoveling really really sucks.  It looks like our luck has run out though.  I live somewhere on the line between blue and purple.  C'mon blue!!!

It's March!

 

I made it through another January and February!  Yipppeee!!!!  As you all know, I hate the cold weather and winters here in Virginia.  March is the point where emotionally I believe winter is over and good times will be here again.  I suffer a bit from the winter blues each year but this year was not so bad since it was the first year where I recognized it and tried to do something about it rather than wallowing in it.  Soon there will be the smell of mulch in the air and my husband will be glued to the TV watching March Madness.  There will be a sprinkling of nice days where everybody wants to be outside and on their decks.  Daffodils will start popping out of their winter homes.  I know it is still technically winter and a big snow storm is brewing for next week but as Barry Manalow said, "looks like we made it".

 

Winter Has Arrived

Snow Gridlock

Finally  Home!

The DC metro area's "snow force field" was finally broken yesterday and it snowed like mad...and right at rush hour.  It was a complete mess with people being on the roads for hours (up to 13 hours!).  It took me 2 hours to get home and it was frightening.  My usual commute takes 20 minutes.  The roads had not been treated because it rained earlier in the day and it seems everyone left work at the same time.  Federal workers were let out at 3pm and most people at my work left right as the snow started at about 3:15pm, as did I.  I got home at 5:30 and seriously thought about having a drink.  When the snow started, it was heavy and with all the cars on the roads, the plows supposedly couldn't get the streets cleared.  I eventually changed my course to the path less taken where there were only a few cars on the road and there were still no plows (on a snow emergency route!).  I saw many many cars stuck and people abandoning them.  It was nice though to see people helping each other...but then got their cars stuck because they tried to help someone else.  One car slid out of control in circles and backward before finally coming to a stop facing the wrong way.  At one point I was on a more deserted road and everything was so white that I didn't even know where I was or where the road ended and a ditch/sidewalk/curb started.  I had no idea if I had missed my turn or not.  Visibility was less than 100 yards at times.  I'm so happy I have 4WD and next time they say it's going to snow during rush hour I am going to work from home. 

An Open Letter to Old Man Winter

Dear Old Man Winter,

Today is the first day of spring so your time here is done. I understand you come "in like a lion, out like a lamb", but what the hell was that you did to us in the middle??? Two blizzards in one week? December, one day and season total snow records? Oh, and the temperature rarely went above freezing. I would have never moved here had I known you were going to do this. Please do not do this to us again...what did we ever do to you??? I trust this explains my position. See you again in about nine months when I hope you will go easy on us.

Kind regards,
Patrice

Snowmageddon

Yes, that's what they are calling it...Snowmageddon. Last month when we got close to 2 feet of snow, we thought that would be the worst we would ever see. This is our sixth winter here and we haven't had much snow, usually just a few inches a few times a year...until this year. I have no idea how much exactly we got, but I think it's around 2.5 to 3 feet and that's before it drifted. My husband spent 6 hours shoveling us out today. I helped for a few hours, but he really did most of it. We live on a "shared" driveway that is long and wide and mostly ours. I would say the entire thing is about 4 times as big as most people's so it took forever. I'm pretty sure this is a record breaking winter for this area. Hubby says if it was like this all the time, we'd definitely move back to California. Prior to this year, he didn't think the winters were bad at all. Anyway...we made it through with just a couple minor problems. A tree was leaning on the house, but we shook off enough snow to get it to stand up a little and the satellite dish is covered in snow and can't get reception...boo! Who knows when it will work again so we will likely miss the Super Bowl. Tonite we used the Roku to get a move thru Amazon on Demand so we can still watch movies. I am thankful though that we have power and heat and the tree didn't hurt the house. The piles of snow are so huge that I bet it will be spring before they melt. I hope all my fellow Snowmageddoners made it thru without any major problems too!

I Shouldn't Complain

I shouldn't complain about the cold. These poor little monkeys have to huddle together to try to keep warm. I hate seeing anything bad happen to an animal.

Just When I Thought I Had Things Under Control

I really did my best this year to keep holiday stress away. I had done all my shopping and everything is already wrapped and shipped. I thought I had done well and left me my 3 days at work this week to focus on work and make sure I get a lot done so I won't need to work much (from home) the week between Christmas and New Year's. I was feeling in control and not stressed. Well...then we got 2 feet of snow which this area is not equipped for..then our heater broke. It's been below freezing for days and not expected to get warmer for a while. "Warmer" being a relative term. I think the high today was 37 and it was in the teens last night. BRRRRRRR!!!!!!! I used to have a contract with a HVAC company that included emergency service, but that ran out a month ago and I wanted to get signed up with a new place. Nobody would come look at it yesterday without having one of these contracts so we had a very cold night. Our house has lots of windows so it doesn't hold heat well. I got up early today to call the HVAC places again to get on their schedule for today. Henry arrived at about 11:30am and was able to "jump start" the heater, but he had no idea how long it would last. Our choice was spend $800 on repairs or buy a new furnace. I wanted this done before we leave for CA so I wouldn't have to worry about it breaking again while we are gone. Of course it will take days to get the part, but they can do a new furnace on Wednesday. We need a new furnace anyway so I just bought it. We usually try to buy appliances in the off season and before they break but today we were in a bad position. It will give me piece of mind that it won't break again when it's cold. Me and the kitties were just miserable. Let's hope it stays working until the new furnace gets here.

Snow!

All I can say is we got a lot of snow!

In The Purple

I live in the purple part of this map. We are expected to get 10 to 20 inches of snow. Funny how the ranges change as they get higher. Usually we are told 1 to 3 or 3 to 5. Now it's 10 to 20...those two numbers make pretty big differences. It's now crazy outside as people are trying to get their holiday shopping done and stock up on supplies (???) for the weekend snow storm. I don't understand why so many people need to go out and buy a snow shovel? What happened to the shovels they used last year?

Spring Has Sprung!

Last night on the way home from work I saw the first trees starting to bloom! Then it started snowing this morning...but that's ok because spring is near!

Done

I haven't had time to post much lately. I have been really busy at work and was working late most nights. I went crazy on eating snacks and know my JC weigh will not be good tomorrow. I am ok with it though. This project has been weighing on me for a while and I finished today at around 4pm (yes, on Saturday) and feel so much better now. It was a beautiful day today with the temperature going up to 65! Unfortunately, I started my day with getting my eyes dilated and then once I could focus and read again, I had to work. We did get out for a walk at about 4pm though and it was still nice. One thing happened though that I could not believe. We saw a couple with a dog and they let the dog off the leash. It starting running toward something...then I saw it was chasing a deer! Why would someone let their dog chase a deer??? It seemed so cruel.

Hoping for Good Weather

Who would have thought I would have to worry about the weather in Vegas??? My Christmas trip has us going to California with a one day stop in Vegas. My husband's parents are driving out to Vegas from CA as well. Hopefully the craziness will stop since we fly from here to Vegas on the 23rd, then Vegas to Orange County on the 24th and finally Orange County back to VA on the 26th. I am really hoping the weather across the country clears up and doesn't cause us any problems since we don't have any room for delays. I paid a fortune yesterday to ship all the gifts to get there by the 24th and I want to be there to see them opened.

Let It Snow

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I am ready for it to snow. Since we moved here the snow has caused me a lot of anxiety....mostly around driving in it and shoveling the driveway, both of which I hate. I've gotten used to driving in snow (4WD helps), but I still don't like shoveling the driveway. I wish there were some kids around here who wanted to make some money. I would gladly pay someone to do it. There are lots of kids...just none of them seem to need any money. I prefer it to snow on the weekends though so I can stay in my pajamas and eat pancakes all day.

Too Bad There is a Hole in the Roof

Looks like it is going to get windy and rainy here in Virginia. Too bad I have a hole in my roof that I just learned may not get fixed until late November! I love this picture though...so many things going on in it.

The Career I Should Have Had

I think it is a shame that people have to make choices so early in life regarding education and careers paths. When I was a kid I wanted to be a cook in my own restaurant or an astronomer. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was in college. I was good in math and with numbers in general so I started out as a math major. I took calculus in high school so when I got into college my first math class was the third calculus class that only math and engineering majors took. I could do the problems, but didn't really get it. I got a B- which was probably the worst grade I ever received in a math class. After that I knew I wasn't cut out for it and I also didn't know what kind of job I could get with it. Looking back, it probably would have been a good choice of majors. Then I decided I would probably do something in the business world. I had no idea what, but it sounded good at the time. My school had more theoretical majors rather than things like business administration or accounting, so I became a business economics major...which was economics with some accounting thrown in for fun. I still had no idea what I was going to do with it though. When my senior year of college came around and I had to decide what I was going to do with myself, I did the only thing I could think of...keep going to school. So I took the GMAT and applied to business schools to get a MBA. Even after my first year of MBA classes, I still did not know what I was going to do. The summer between the two years I started looking for internships and fell into corporate finance, and here I have been for 12 years. I like the work I do, but it's really the same thing month after month, quarter after quarter, year after year. I often think of what else I could do, but at this point in my life I don't want to take a pay cut to start a new career.

I should have been a meteorologist. I find weather fascinating. I love watching the weather channel and tracking storms. I don't want to be on TV, but would like being the weather expert behind the scenes who runs the models. This time of year is especially exciting (and tragic) since it is hurricane season. Since moving to Virginia I have learned more about weather since not much exciting happens in California. Terms like nor'easters and clippers are regulars around here in the winter. I will never be a meteorologist, but I am the resident weather expert in my house!

Hanna

Hanna poured rain down on us all day. The wind did not pick up until later in the day, but it wasn't bad. Storms like this will definitely point out any problems with a house. We had two issues today. The first being a problem with one of the gutters and it caused water to come in a window. The second is a bigger issue. A while back I noticed water stains on the ceiling of one of the bedrooms, but couldn't trace the cause. I checked it after other rains and it wouldn't get wet again. Well, today was the day to figure it out since the ceiling was very wet and starting dripping into the room. I spent about an hour in the attic tracing the water. I still don't know exactly what the problem is, so I need to call a roofer, but now I can say where it is coming in. My husband put a couple holes in the ceiling of the bedroom with buckets underneath to catch the water until we can get it fixed. We didn't lose power and no trees came down so all in all it wasn't bad.

Here Comes Hanna

Tropical Storm Hanna is coming my way! I never thought of Northern Virginia as being in the path of a tropical storm, although Hurricane Isabel wreaked havoc on this area back in 2003. I'm not sure what to do...is it like a snow storm when everybody goes out and buys milk, bread and toilet paper?

Early Fall?

I wonder if we are going to have an early fall? It's only mid August, but I am already seeing the leaves start to change and some have already fallen. I hope not though. I know a lot people like fall with the leaves changing color and all, but it just makes me think that winter is coming.