We are still waiting for the snow. We had about 3" overnight (Saturday into Sunday) and it's bitterly cold with the wind (-18F at the moment). The snow is starting to come down seriously, so we'll see what happens. We have been downgraded to only "a foot-plus" but they are also starting to talk about the dreaded "wintry mix." My husband (Karl) is talking about going outside to shovel once we finish coffee and breakfast. Round 1, as he says. He'd rather do several shifts of lighter shoveling than one big snow removal at the end of the storm. It's usually my job to keep up with the front steps (5 of them) and the front porch, as well as keeping the coffee hot and making soup! I'm not too worried about losing power; it'll get cold in here, but we'll be OK. I worry about the pipes freezing, though. Right now the thermostat is turned up to 64F (we usually keep it at 58) but the house isn't very warm. House is 112 years old and the insulation isn't great, so it's never comfortably warm in here, and the wind makes it harder to keep the temp up. I am not too worried about the storm. Plenty of cheese & crackers, PB&J
The drive home from Ohio wasn't that bad; I was surprised. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to do the entire drive in one day, and we were fully prepared to stay overnight in a hotel somewhere along the way. I felt good when we got to central Mass (around 6-ish maybe) and when we crossed from NH into ME at 9pm, I still felt alert. When I still felt good as we passed through Portland I knew I'd be OK for the last 2 hours home. It really wasn't a bad trip; we stopped every 3 hours for gas and a potty break (and another big cup of coffee) and spent some time driving around Syracuse as we lived there for 5 years while Karl got his PhD. We used to do a lot of road trips in our younger days (including driving from ME to SanFrancisco), and I think managing this long trip this easily has made me feel like a kid again!
Today will be a shoveling and cooking day, as mentioned. I'm also starting to think about our summer plans. Originally we were hoping to go to France for a few weeks this summer, but now that DD is getting married in June, our dollars will go to that rather than vacation. However, we have beaucoup Southwest rapid rewards points so can fly someplace domestic, and maybe find an airbnb or something affordable for accommodations. My SIL thinks we should go to Las Vegas as they love it there, but I'm not sure what there is to do in the area. Neither of us is thrilled over the idea of gambling all the time. I know there are shows and such, but I'm not sure of what we can do outside in that area, things to go see, etc. I am going to give that some thought today, as well as other options for travel. NOT Disney again; I'd happily spend a week floating in the pool at Animal Kingdom Lodge, but DH is rather "over" Florida for awhile... although he has a dear friend in Cocoa Beach who is ailing (and is 75), and we love Kennedy Space Center, and we've never been to Universal (no real interest) but would LOVE to see the Harry Potter parks... we'll see. I am thinking NOT Florida, no matter how hard I try to justify it. I will also spend today writing out a "traditional" sequence of events for a wedding. DD has only been to one wedding that she remembers, and she keeps asking me how they should do things, can they do this or that, should they do something else, etc. I am going to outline a traditional ceremony so she knows what the over-40s in attendance will expect; if they vary from this, it's fine, but IME people like to be "told" what to do when things vary from the traditional. For example, they don't want guests to be seated by ushers, much less a "bride's side/groom's side" but that's still pretty standard here. I think they should post one of those cute signs if ushers aren't seating guests, something like "Pick a seat, not a side, we're all one family once the knot is tied" so people know it's OK to just find a place to sit. Stuff like that. It feels like we are on top of everything for this wedding, but I also know that June 16 is going to sneak up on us fast, so I'll spend today organizing my thoughts and making lists/timelines; the last thing I want to be doing on the morning of the wedding is finishing frosting cupcakes or something like that.
Well, as you can tell, I like to chat... if you've hung on this far through my post, more power to you! I hope everyone has weathered the storm so far, with less snow/ice than anticipated. I am just counting down the days until spring!