April showers

Yesterday it was 70 degrees outside. We had two soccer games, and I got a little bit of sun on my nose. All night, I heard the wind howl, and the sound of (what I thought was) rain on the roof. This morning, I woke up to this:
A beautiful, marshmallow-y world of fluffy snow.
Granted it is April - and my daffodils are all out of the ground - but really, the bulbs get snowed on at least once every spring. Right?

Snowed in

Its only 10am, and I already feel like its time for bed. The day began early for me - at 5am - when Burton's barking woke me up. Ben was up getting ready for work (yes, he works at 6am on Sunday mornings) and he woke the dog. So, I got up too. I knew it was supposed to have snowed during the night, as the forecast read:

A major winter storm is moving through Utah. Snow will accumulate along the Northern and Southern Wasatch Front, but because of the Oquirrh Mountain snow shadow, the Salt Lake Valley will not see heavy snow until around midday, when the cold front moves through Salt Lake City. Accumulations will be heaviest in the Ogden and Provo East Bench areas with 5 to 9 inches, while the valleys along the Wasatch Front will accumulate between 2 and 5 inches. Much heavier snow will fall in the Wasatch Mountain Valleys with 8 to 16 inches around Park City and Liberty. The mountains will accumulate from 18 to 36 inches. Even the central and southern valleys will see significant accumulations from this storm. Those planning to travel on Sunday should be very careful, and should have a winter travel survival kit with them; and they should advise someone of their plans in case there are problems while traveling throughout the state.

That forecast may sound scary to some, but it didn't even faze me. After all the snow we've seen this season, I didn't give it a second thought. Especially since we live in the aforementioned "snow shadow" of the Oquirrh Mountains. I was expecting an inch or two - nothing more. So, imagine my suprise when I opened the door for Burton and a wall of snow fell into the house. It appeared that about 18 inches of snow had drifted up to the doors. I told Ben to take my car, since I have 4 wheel drive. It would leave me stranded all day, but I figured we'd be ok. (instead of regular church, today is a conference - aka bye week) He left, and I snuggled myself back into bed, hoping for a couple more hours of sleep. I had just about drifted off when I realized in horror that I had let Ben take the car with the only diapers and wipes inside. And he wouldn't be back until mid afternoon. That is a long time to go without diapers and wipes. Bryn had Mexican food for dinner - lots and lots of taco salad. We're gonna need diapers.

Then I remembered that I had some old swim diapers from the summer. I found 3 of them, along with a few wipes, under the bathroom vanity. Baring any major catastrophe, we should be ok. I snuggled back into bed.

When the girls woke 2 hours later, we got up and made some breakfast. I tried to let Burton outside again, only he wouldn't go out. The snow was deeper than he is tall. So much snow had fallen. I watched as my neighbor across the street tried to take his super-sized truck out in the snow - but the snow was too deep. It was about as tall as the big tires on his truck, and he got stuck in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

I decided that I needed to go out and shovel, as it was still coming down. I didn't want it to get too deep to ever be able to shovel. We may be snowed in until March. And I'm not kidding. I set the girls up with some food and a movie, and stepped into my snow boots while still in my PJs. As I opened the garage, this was the scene that greated me:
It may be difficult to see, because its so dark. The snow in the foreground was about as deep as the snow shovel blade - roughly 12 inches. But it had drifted away from the house. You can see a ridge of snow in the background that is a full foot deeper. 2 feet of snow, and it was still coming down in snowball sized flakes.
I decided to shovel the porch first. It may not seem so deep - but look closely. There are 3 steps up to my porch and only one is visible.
After shoveling the front walk, it quickly became aparent that I would not be able to shovel the enitre driveway in a reasonable amount of time. The girls were inside alone, and I could only trust them for so long. So I decided to at least shovel the side Ben would need to get up, assuming he actually was able to make it home. The snow on the driveway was at least 2 feet deep. I had to shovel a path first - look how deep! It took me 45 minutes to shovel just enough of the driveway for Ben to hopefully get the car inside the driveway. I was actually having fun, and would have finished the job if the girls hadn't been inside alone. And all I could think was: when can I go skiing?

The girls are stir-crazy today. We're not homebodies. I'd love to go outside and play in the snow mounts, but the girls snow pants, gloves and coats are . . . guess where? . . . in my car. So, its 10am, and I'm letting the girls eat Hot Pockets and Mountain Dew for an early lunch because I just can't handle their whining.

Oh - and the satellite is out - full of snow I'm sure. We've got a fridge full of food and a Super Bowl party planned - assuming anyone can get here. And we can get the satellite going again (someone needs to climb on the roof and clean it up). Should be an interesting day . . . I'll have to update tomorrow.

Thanks too for the great cleaning tips. I've merged Anne Marie and Carrie's bathroom cleaning tip: this morning while the girls bathed, I wiped down the bathroom. Only took 5 minutes, and it looks one million times better. Great tips! Anyone wanna tell me how to keep on my laundry too?

Snow day part deux

Thank you Martin Luther King Jr for having a birthday today, so that I could be off of work. Powder days like today happen once in a lifetime. It was wonderful to be MAKING MONEY while I was out in the snow.
Even if we did sit for 90 minutes waiting for the canyons to open up. It did mean we were some of the first people in the canyon.
And some of the first on the slopes.

There was no wait at Molly Green's for the famous plate of diet-ending nachos.


*Sorry to any of my blogging friends who have a dial-up internet connection. I promise that after the novelty of my new camera wears off, there will be significantly less pictures.

Date night

Ben and I rarely get a date night. After having the girls in daycare 4 days a week, I feel guilty leaving them with a sitter on the weekends. But on Saturday when my mother-in-law called and offered her babysitting services, we couldn't pass it up. And we knew exactly what we wanted to do: night skiing at Snowbird. From 5:30 - 8:30 they have their "bunny hill" open. But its only $7, and its skiing (or snowboarding for Ben). Where else can you get that much fun for only $14. Even if it is just the easy hill.

So, we dropped the girls off and swung by my parents' house to pick up our gear (we store it there since they live so close to the canyon). Then, we were on our way. The drive up the canyon was fun, because there were coyotes on the road chasing our cars - just like regular dogs. We got there quickly, and before we knew it, we were on the lift.

Although it was just the "bunny hill" we had so much fun. On the side of the run, we could get into some fresh powder and even ski a bit through the trees. Someone had also built a descent jump there, so Ben gave me the courage to try going off the jump - something I'd never tried before. Imagine a 30-ish, slightly chubby mom going off a ski jump with all the teenagers. I'm sure it was a sight to see me flailing through the air - it was probably pretty freakin' hilarious. I never actually landed a jump, but I gave it my best and came pretty close to landing a couple of times. And at least Ben was there, landing 360s to balance me out.

It was a great night. We laughed. We goofed off. And we even made-out in the car like teenagers (until someone walked by the car and freaked me out). It was wonderful to reconnect with my husband. We're good at the fun stuff. Unfortunately, we're not always so good at the day-to-day stuff, like bill paying and house cleaning. So often we get frustrated with each other. We need to try and reconnect more often to help us get through the monotony - Saturday night was just what we needed.

Snow day

I didn't take a picture of our poor phallic snowman. Utah is the greatest snow on earth - for snowboarding and skiing - but unfortunately not so good for snowman making (its too powdery and doesn't stick together). The kids had a great time anyway, especially Bryn, who couldn't get enough of stomping around in her "spoots"

So. Incredibly. Sore.

I laughed at the alarm when it went off at 4:30 am this morning. Then,
I reset if for 5:15, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Screw
running, I need my beauty sleep.

My brother surprised us this weekend, but showing up unexpectedly from
Cincinnati. He and a friend came for a weekend of snowboarding, and he
convinced Ben and I to go with them on Saturday. Of course I was the
only skier in the group, so I felt like I was holding everyone up. But
it was a great day for skiing (or boarding) - they sky was blue, and the
temperatures were in the 30s. I actually dressed too warmly, and really
needed to shed a layer. We went to the Canyons Resort, by Park City,
and other than a couple of nasty falls, it was a fun day. I did get
completed blind-sided by a 12 year old snowboarder. Somehow he knocked
me off my feet, but he stayed on his. I got a nasty bruise on my hip
and severely damaged my pride, but other than that I was fine.

After a few more runs, I got my confidence back, and let Ben convince
me to take a double blue run - The Sidewinder. Now, the only difference
between a double blue and a black diamond, is that a double blue is
groomed, whereas a black diamond is not. And grooming The Sidewinder
run only made it worse - since it is a west-facing slope on a sunny
afternoon; it made the run very icy. Now, I would consider myself an
intermediate skier. I can generally hold my own, as long as the run is
wide enough for me to make a wide traverse if need be. But, this run is
a bit narrow and busy for me to slowly take my time. Of course my 3
companions blew by me at the beginning of the run. I stayed at the top
to survey my course of action and to let some other people pass me.
Then, I slowly started down. I was doing fairly well, going back and
forth, but I started to get a bit bored. I convinced myself I could be
more daring. So, I pointed my skis downhill and went for it. Of course
I crashed. The hill was so steep and icy that I probably slipped
downhill about 100 feet, head first, on my back, with my feet (skis
still attached) flailing in the air. When I finally stopped, I found
that I couldn't get back up. Every time I tried, I slid again. So, I
went over to the edge where the snow was softer and took off my skis.
But I still couldn't even stand up, and of course my companions were no
where to be seen. I had fleeting thoughts that I could die up there on
the mountain, when a good Samaritan came to my aid. He was so nice to
me, and asked if I was ok. I told him that only my pride was damaged,
that this hill was way above my abilities. He helped me up, helped me
back into my skis, and went on his way. I found that I could stand
sideways and slip down the mountain, but I looked silly and it was
taking forever. So, I decided to just go for it again.

I was doing really well, until I came to a place about 3/4 of the way
down the run where 2 ski patrol members were standing with a big Caution
sign. They were warning everyone that this was an especially icy place
on the mountain, and they'd had lots of injuries there today. I could
see my group waiting for me at the bottom of the hill, and I wanted to
get to them quickly. So, I went for it again, not really heeding the
warning. Big mistake. I biffed again (and apparently so did about 8
people behind me). Ben and company were having a great time watching
everyone crash at that spot. I decided not even to try to ski the rest
of the way. I just slid on my butt until it leveled out a bit. Then I
put on my skis, and amidst applause from my husband and friends, skied
to where they were waiting for me.

Actually, they'd all had a difficult time with the run. Only my
brother had managed to stay upright the entire time. Ben had hit hard -
the worst fall he claims to have ever had. So, I felt a bit better
about myself. We did a few more runs without incident, then headed for
dinner in Park City. My parents brought the girls up to eat with us,
and it was good to see them. I love skiing, but I miss my sweeties.

I actually felt pretty good yesterday, but today at 4:30 when the alarm
went off, I was sore and stiff. Even my forearms hurt. I've got about a
dozen bruises too - the badly bruised knee from my spill in the snow
running the other morning, my hip, a bad one on my calf (from my ski
boot?) and many other smallish ones. I'm a mess. I'll have to do
Tues, Thurs, Saturday runs this week, because I was too lazy to run
today.