Monday, January 10, 2011

Playing Catch-Up: Snow Day!


Okay, so last I showed my bloggy face around here, I promised you a stupendous slew of stories, didn’t I? Ohhhhhhh, I’ve got stories for you, alright. Mm-hmm. In fact, dare I say it?—EEK!—I just might have too many stories. I can’t even really decide where to begin, so I keep putting it off and neglecting the blog, and then the problem just grows bigger and hairier and soooooooooooo much worse.

Kinda like moldy cheese in the back of the fridge.

Or Kirsty Alley.

Whatever.

The point? Much has gone on in my wee wittle world the last month or two…. hence the fact that I only blogged a pitiful, inexcusable three pointless posts in December.

Three!

Pfffft! Sad, wasn’t it? I know.

*cough slacking-good-for-nothing-clown cough*

It may take me a little while to blog it all, so bear with me. However, God forbid, if I’m still slogging my way through it and still blogging about Christmas in June, someone slap me. Okay? Okay.

Anyway, on with the stories….

Snow.

I used to dread snow when I lived in Seattle. Stupid sucktastic snow. Every time it snowed there—*POOF*—the whole city turned Stone Age. No cars, thanks to the rollercoasterish hilly streets being lacquered in an inch thick layer of ice, forcing everyone to ditch their cars and attempt to hoof it like we were in the dang Ice Capades! No electricity, thanks to the snow-encased trees all choosing to fall on the power lines, leaving everyone shivering by candlelight in their chilly homes for days on end! Basically, life would come to an abrupt halt and we’d all turn feral. And, my friends, THAT is NEVER pretty.

Snow was a terrifying monster which I feared all winter long.

But here in Chicago snow is a tame and docile beast. More of a pet, really. The kind that follows at your heals when you go out for a walk, licks your face, and occasionally leaves puddles on your floor. Not the least bit threatening.

Snow doesn’t bring this city to a grinding halt; snow doesn’t seem to impact anything here much whatsoever. It’s just kind of there. And for the first time in my entire adult life, snow doesn’t stress me out.

In fact, I think I like it. Whodathunkit?

Our first big snow day here was at the beginning of December. We awoke one Saturday morning to a scrumptious-looking city which seemed to have been generously frosted with Marshmallow Crème….


And Gwen was THRILLED!!!!….



There was a Bake Sale/Christmas Fair at Gwen’s school that day, but, unlike it would have in Seattle, the newly fallen Chicago snow did NOT take a steaming poo on our plans to go. Nope. We bundled ourselves up and walked a block and a half to school, hucking snowballs at each other the entire way. (Heh heh heh.) I may have also attempted an artsy fartsy snowy picture or two as we went….



The Bake Sale/Christmas Fair was fun. We sampled some delicious treats (my favorite were the “Oreo Balls”) and looked at lots of crafts and handmade trinkets. But my favorite table was “Santa’s Gift Tree” where I won myself this marvelous monster finger puppet, which I thoroughly enjoyed taunting Gwen and her friends with! Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!….



After Gwen’s friends bailed (was it something I or my finger puppet said?!?!), Gwen, Scope and I took a whack at the Cake Walk where Gwen won the first prize: this uber-yummy chocolate M&M cake….



Then Gwen, Scope, and I ventured back home to nosh on cake and rush up to the roof of our condo to see our winterized neighborhood from above….



Up on the roof we made a snowman, which Scope (always the gentleman) so gallantly gave his hat and scarf (awwww)….




….and we had another big ol' snowball fight. Duh.

Then to top of the perfect Snow Day, we piled into the car and drove a few streets over to take pictures of ourselves outside the Family Matters house (think Steve Urkel) (or, eww, don’t)….



(What?!)

(Doesn’t everybody take mini road trips to cheesy sitcom houses on Snow Days?!?!)

(No?!)

(Oh.)

The moral of the story? People might tell you that Winter in Chicago is a big. bad, ugly thing, but I’m here to tell you that those people are ignorant. So there. :-P


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8 comments:

Scope said...

Be ware. Snow may SEEM docile here, but that's about the time you stop paying attention to it, and it bites you in the bottom.

VEG said...

I'm already so over snow for this winter. I'm ready for summer. Please tell me it's coming soon? Aargh. Having said that you found some pretty snow, so well done on that.

What? It's too early in the morning for a sensible, interesting comment so you get this. Deal with it!

BeckEye said...

Pittsburgh and Seattle seem so similar. It rains all spring and snows all winter, but drivers still act like they've never seen wet roads before. EVERY DAMN YEAR. And every time there is some precipitation, the newscasters act like it's the Apocalypse. EVERY DAMN YEAR.

Anonymous said...

hey, you are still alive! LOL! we had a lil snow yesterday but nothing that stuck around.

J.J. in L.A. said...

What BeckEye said goes for here too. The tiniest bit of rain and people freak out. We sometimes get minimal snow on the Grapevine (big hill heading north) and the officials close it down. Pisses off the long haul truckers, I gotta tell ya! lol!

And it's only your first winter in Chicago. I have a feeling it's just easing you in. ; )

SkylersDad said...

I have been in Seattle when it snowed, and you could not be more accurate! They paralyze themselves with fear!

Kal said...

ONLY you three would build a snowman up on the roof. What a terrific thing. You are all just my favorite animated characters ever. You could almost be custom plush characters. What? Too much?

I am glad you have come to peace with the snow. Here in the Tundra we learn to make friends with the frozen water that falls from the sky. Thanks for the update. I never realized how much I miss your sunny perspective until it wasn't around as much.

Vancouver is worse than Seattle when it snows. They are CANADIAN and they embarass us by their reaction. Must be a west coast of North America thing.

Vodka Mom said...

see that snow? Yeah, it came for a visit tonight.