So, the DC area was hit by a crazy snowstorm this past weekend. Working for the federal government, I was lucky enough to be given a few days off. We were sent home early on Friday, which was good because the snow started around the time I would normally have been getting home. We have a big window in the living room, and so we got to watch as the snow and wind picked up. By the time we went to sleep, the snow had started to accumulate, but wasn’t too deep.
Fast forward to early the next morning, and we are in a winter wonderland. The earth and sky were both white, with a foot or so of snow blanketing everything, and even our window panes starting to collect drifts in the corners. These weren’t big fat flakes – they were small and fast and flew everywhere quickly. Luckily, I’d been to the grocery store on Tuesday before the storm, so had been able to get everything I wanted, and not worry about the bare shelves later. Since we had the girls with us, we decided to have a special breakfast, and I went through my recipe list, looking at what I had and what was possible, and decided to wing it with a tube of Pillsbury biscuits. I dipped each biscuit in some melted butter, and then into cinnamon sugar on each side, and baked them for only slightly longer than the directions on the tube. They came out hot and yummy – like the lightest donuts you could imagine. Definitely a treat.
The next plan of action was sledding. We went to the park near where we live as I had remembered there was a bit of a slope near the playground. The roads had been cursorily plowed (we live near a main artery), and there were a few people out trying to get a head start on digging themselves out. We didn’t worry about that, but what we did have to worry about was snow that was deep and getting deeper since this was mid-morning and still in the midst of the storm. Little E (who had been so enthusiastic about sledding) was suddenly not interested because she kept getting snow in her boots. All we could say was suck it up kid – it’s not often you get to enjoy a real blizzard like this. Enjoy it while you can! We were in the first handful of people at the sledding hill, and so got to break ground. I got to teach the girls how fast you can go when you dive down headfirst, but also that you’re likely to get snow down your front.
When they’d had enough we made our way home, where I’d promised to make hot chocolate, which I did. Nothing fancy – just the directions on the back of the cocoa box. But anytime you make hot chocolate with milk instead of water, it’s decadent and creamy. This one was so rich that the powdered elements didn’t dissolve all the way in any of our cups, and so even when the girls and I had finished, there was enough left to dissolve in a little more milk and pour into the boys coffee for a fancy mocha treat. 😉
The rest of the weekend was fairly lazy. We played a board game called Mice and Mystics that I’ll write about in the future once we are properly halfway through. The girls played Minecraft, I worked on a couple knitting projects, the boy caught up on work stuff, and then played a couple games. The boy and his girls went out and built a snowman named “Fred” who has slowly melted over the past couple days. We listened to an old album that we both love. I finished a couple books, and started a couple more (see my goodreads account to see which ones). The girls headed back to their mothers house, and we met up with a friend for brunch on Monday. I finished up watching a couple tv shows. Did some cleaning around the house that I’d let slip. Ventured into the world yesterday and saw a movie and bought some groceries (or bought what I could since the shelves are bare EVERYWHERE).
It’s been a good little break – I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly. But I suppose it’s time to get back to the real world and start life again properly. After all, we cannot live in a snow-bound world forever. What did you do in the snow? Were there snowmen built? Tasty foods cooked? Did you spend a lot of time watching Netflix, or were you bundled under your beds?