It's a Marshmallow World

And while I could be talking about my thighs, I'm talking about the unexpected blizzard currently blowing outside my window.  We checked the weather last week, knowing we'd be on the road Friday and Sunday and not much was said except there was a storm that would probably be out at sea to the east of us.  We proceeded with our plans and had a lovely, if whirlwind holiday weekend.  Arrived at my childhood home at 3PM, exchanged gifts with Mom and Uncle and by 4PM were at my cousin's for a nosh-fest and more presents, and then by 6:30PM were at church for services and (more importantly) to hear my favorite soloist and childhoold friend belt out "O Holy Night" better than Pavarotti.  By 8:30PM at my best friend's house for more food, more presents, more visits, and more fun.  Home by 11:15PM, asleep by 11:30PM. 

Saturday morning we checked weather again and heard a little bit of accumulation might occur late Sunday night.  By 11AM we were headed to another cousin's and arrived in time to watch all 5 of their kids, and them, opening about 1,000 gifts.  (You can tell my cousin and her husband both work in retail....they've been shopping since August.)  They had TWO trees!  Count them two.....both in one room (telling you how big their living room is.  And one of the trees was no less than 15 feet tall....honest...I'm not exaggerating!  We took no pictures, of course, but we ate like we hadn't eaten in 4 days, and had a lot of fun smashing months worth of visiting into a few short hours.  We were back at Mom's by 7PM - since our hosts had retail duty starting at 5AM today.  When we turned on the weather, we heard the accumulation might be greater, but probably starting late afternoon. 

Everything changed in 12 short hours.  This morning we woke at 7:45 to hear the words BLIZZARD WARNING!  So, instead of staying at my mom's house until about noon and having a leisurely brunch before getting on with our 6 hour drive, we hightailed it out right away.  In fact, I think we may have left skidmarks on her carpet we ran out so fast.  (Sorry Mom!)

Mom, ever the realist, wanted us to be safe more than anything, so she packed us a survival bag (water, laughing cow cheese, granola bars, and at my gentle reminder - a box of christmas cookies!  She also threw in a blanket.  The roads were so clear and light on traffic for 4/5ths of the ride, I was starting to wonder if this was another case of media hype, but we hit the 50 mile from home mark and it started coming down and the traffic started slowing down and the reports of local accidents started ramping up.

Home before 3PM and we realized it was perfect timing.  We unpacked the car, backed both cars tight to the garage (unfortunately our 2 car garage is too full of storage to get either car inside right now...definitely need to do some more freecycling and sorting). Brought in our glass patio table (yes, I know, should have been done months ago) and promptly built a roaring fire in the fireplace.  For the last 30 minutes I've been watching the snow coating building up on my office window since it is blowing horizontally, and I've also been watching the cars skidding up and down my road (get home people!)

We'll deal with tomorrow and digging out and getting to work if we need to, but for tonight, it's a toasty fire, frozen pizza, one purring kitty, and cable movies.

Hope your holidays were merry and you stayed ahead of any blizzards in your life (real or metaphorical) as well.