I Suck At Blizzards

It has been one crazy weekend.

And sadly, the weekend is pretty much over and I can't say I really did much this weekend other than shovel snow. Interestingly enough, I do own a snow blower. My driveway is long enough that shoveling it by hand can take some time. So when the blizzard forecast came about, I thought I'd be good and actually get the snow blower ready. After all, the snow blower has practically been untouched for about two years, which was the last time there was a big chunk of snowfall.

Needless to say, I think my snow blower incident was an indicator of things to come during this blizzard. Yep, I suck at blizzards. Not only could I not get the snow blower running, I actually pulled so hard trying to get it to start that I ripped the chord right out of the blower. Not just once. Twice. Both times, I had to take apart the back just to rewind the pull string. It was frustrating, especially since I still could not get it to run.

And since I really couldn't spend too much time tinkering with the snow blower (I have kids), I decided I'd just forget about the blower and remove the falling snow the old-fashioned way... with a shovel. It took a while. But I suppose the plus side is that it was a great workout. Heck, I'm still a little sore from shoveling.

And yet, shoveling was not the worst part of the blizzard. Shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday night, we lost power. I only happen to know the time because I was up late watching a movie on my laptop. For anyone curious, I watched Fright Night. The reboot was actually pretty entertaining. I enjoyed the movie. But while the movie was playing on my laptop, I noticed the power went out throughout the house. Thankfully, I still had enough battery power in my laptop to finish the movie. Just kidding.

But for most of Saturday, we were without power... which I suppose made shoveling that much more bearable since it was something to do to kill the time. The down side of course... heat. My house runs on electricity, including the heat. If it were just Karen and I, we'd probably have no problem because we could always just wear layers and layers of clothing to keep warm. Well, I'd probably have no problem. Karen gets cold easily. But when kids are involved, that's when things get a little tricky. Truth be told, I was starting to get a little concerned after a while for my eleven month old daughter (Bridget).

Luckily, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) had power during the blizzard. Not only did she have power, she had heat. So off we went to her place, just as the driving ban was being lifted by the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I always knew Janine was my favorite. It probably should go without saying that it's good to know that we have a bunch of good friends and family who are willing to help us during times of need. So thank you everyone.

Anyway, it definitely felt nice to take a nice warm shower at Janine's. My two year old daughter (Briana) had a blast playing with her cousins and her auntie. It was a great time. Interestingly enough, Bridget took her first steps at Janine's. Similarly, Briana also took her first steps shortly after being at Janine's when she was learning to walk. That was yesterday.

So as to not wear out our welcome, we packed our things and headed to my parents in Quincy today. After all, the town of Norwell was not supposed to get power until three days from now... Wednesday. Things were looking pretty grim, not only because the temperature in our house had fallen to 40 degrees, but because living with my parents until Wednesday wasn't too high on my list. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. But spending that much time with them may drive me crazy. Yes, I know. I'm a terrible son.

Anyway, my parents definitely enjoyed seeing Briana and Bridget. They were extremely happy because today is Chinese New Year (the year of the snake) and they thought it was such a nice way to start the year off. The "nice" part being the fact that they got to spend time with Briana and Bridget, not the fact that there was a blizzard that wreaked havoc. I think my parents get all giddy whenever Briana and Bridget are around. It's cute.

While at my parents, my neighbor (George) called telling me that power was restored to our neighborhood. That was exciting news. Thank you Stop and Shop for being so nearby. I am guessing that may have benefited us. Truth be told, I think my parents were slightly disappointed to see us go home, probably because they wanted to spend more time with Briana and Bridget. But at least they got to spend some time with them, right?

All in all, it has been a crazy weekend. Thank you again to everyone who was involved in helping us. I hope the best for those who still do not have power from the blizzard.

I Suck At Shoveling

yesterday was day two of the snow storm. i think i am going crazy. i have not left the house since the snow storm began... with the exception of going outside to shovel. i suck at shoveling. the snow never stopped yesterday. it seemed like karen and i have done nothing but shovel the past two days.

i guess that is not totally true. karen and i actually watched a whole slew of movies to pass the time. karen was even ecstatic for a little while because she made a martini that tasted pretty good.

here are the list of movies that i have seen while being cooped up during the snow storm:

spiderman 3
the mummy 3: tomb of the dragon emperor
3:10 to yuma
kung fu panda
kung fu panda: secrets of the furious five
horton hears a who

yes, that is a lot of movies in the span of two days. too bad my bff (kerry) was not around. we could have spent the past two days watching season 1 of veronica mars. that actually would have been fun. well... at least i think so. i don't know if karen or kerry would agree.

unfortunately, i don't know what it is. i just have not had any motivation to do anything lately. i don't know if it's just because i'm not into the holidays this season... or not into my birthday this year... or what... i just don't feel like doing anything and it somewhat bothers me. perhaps i am in a rut. (for anyone curious, i think the last time i was in a rut was during the whole "scourge of evil" era... okay, so maybe the ex-girlfriend doesn't deserve an "era".)

i just don't know what it is. normally, people relish having a day to themselves. i sometimes wonder if i have become someone who just needs a distraction to keep my mind off of things. after all, watching movies and escaping from reality for a couple of hours sure beats having to deal with stupid things like property line disagreements and all that. i'm guessing by the end of year, i'll have become a full blown coach potato... just not as starchy.

having the past two days being cooped up in the house would have been a great time to actually complete some home improvement projects too. the only problem was... the snow blower and the shovels were all in the way in the garage... so i could not even at least be somewhat productive during the snow storm. oh well.

i am hoping the snow storm will end soon.

I Suck At Shoveling Snow

forecasters at the national weather service were predicting 6 to 8 inches (insert "that's what she said" comment) of snowfall today for the winter storm and mother nature did not disappoint. the good news, however, is that my commute home did not take 5 hours like the last time during the snow storm back in december... stupid mema (massachusetts emergency management agency)... where was the emergency management back in december?

anyway, even though my commute home in today's snow storm was much shorter than the commute in december, i still had some shoveling to look forward to when i arrived home. i suck at shoveling snow. part of the problem is that i have a driveway that could potentially fit four cars (two rows of two cars).

lucky for me, i had my trusty snow blower (insert "that's what he said" comment). back in december, i could not get the snow blower working. my snow blower is a pull chain, much like a lawn mower. during that fateful december day, i kept pulling and pulling. yes, i know, it sounds so dirty. i finally gave up, feeling defeated, because the snow blower would not start. my advice for those who have a pull chain on their snow blower, get one with an electrical starter. it will be much easier.

but that was then. today was a another day and a different snow storm. because i suck at shoveling snow, i figured i'd tempt fate again by attempting to use the snow blower. feeling all manly and all, i opened the garage door and wheeled out the snow blower. with my eyes toward heaven, i prayed that the snow blower would start with a few pulls of the chain. (okay, maybe i didn't really play. it was more like a "please please please please start").

the first attempt... nothing.

the second attempt... nothing.

finally, the third attempt... the motor started humming. too bad i played with the controls and accidentally shut the motor off... d'oh!

attempt number four... nothing.

lastly, on the fifth try, i got the motor starting again and actually kept it running. whew! needless to say, it didn't take long to shovel the driveway today...