how the winter storm affected my neck of the woods .....

I'm from the upper midwest....Wisconsin....winter is NOT a novel concept to me......
So, before moving to coastal South Carolina, I too was one of those nay-sayers who couldn't understand why the south panics and shuts down at the mere thought of a potential of an inch or so of snow......

until we relocated to the southeast.

Two days ago my weather radio alert went off: "winter storm warning."  I literally have not heard this since living in WI, but even up north,  it probably didn't go off for winter weather, because that's the norm.  So quite frankly, it may have been the first time I heard it go off for winter weather.  I giggled less at this time...knowing a "winter warning" down here just meant at or just below freezing temps and moisture in the air.  I giggled less because I suddenly found myself VERY concerned about my hubby's 40 minute, country road/nature preserve commute....
not that he couldn't handle it...I trust his driving...and the new tires on the jeep.  He has experience....but driving on unsalted roads with locals, many of whom have NO winter driving experience....THAT scares me!

So yesterday, about 2:30....DADDY CAME HOME.  He completely surprised us and I was SO happy!  His company literally shutdown and staggered (it's a very large company) sending all of their employees home yesterday afternoon and all of today.  All of the schools shutdown.  The military bases closed.  And Tanger Outlet closed:)

I get it now, I really do....especially in this area.  Everybody knows the rule of thumb that bridges ice over first.  Well, guess what....the Lowcountry is comprised of intracoastal Atlantic waterways....which means we have bridges....EVERYWHERE!  It is impossible to go almost anywhere without crossing bridges.....and we don't have salt trucks.  Which means the roads are slick.

I've seen some news clips of Atlanta...wow, that is such a mess.  I really feel sorry for all the accident victims and children trapped in schools and on busses, etc.  And I am VERY grateful that my neck of the woods took extreme precautions, heeding the warnings, valuing people's safety first and foremost....even if it seems ridiculous to some of my northern peeps.  I truly get it now....we have little to no methods of "cleanup," coupled with very little winter driving experience (which can truly only be learned by driving in it), and probably tires that aren't of "winter" driving quality.

Well, we are enjoying our snowday together.  And, as an added bonus, we don't have any big messes to shovel, or scrape, or snow blow...no roof to clean, no driveways to salt, etc.

The also closed the bridge that goes to Hilton Head Island down....just until they can get it salted...smart choice...first accident would shut it down anyway and leave people stuck in their cars (and could damage the bridge):
http://www.wsav.com/story/24574635/bridges-to-and-from-hilton-head-island-closed 


So, here are the much-awaited photos from our version of the big Winter Storm of 2014 (along with some nostalgia of my sweet girls and their rosey cheeks and big smiles:)   (plus a little northwood's girl fun tossed in for good measure;)


Fairy Girl made a snowball and put it in the freezer...she's also starting an icicle collection:

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Friday:)  Yes, Friday.  Backtracking....when our little girls came, I will admit that it was a letdown for me that it was usually very difficult to spend holidays with all of their grandparents, together.  J is from one state, I am from a different state...and both sets of parents ditch those states for the winter anyway!  But the good news is, they ditch it for Florida!  And guess what, we are now only two hours from the border of Florida, so my wishes came true---now we are able to spend every holiday with all the grandparents---my mom hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas, and J's dad and R host Easter (they live two hours from my parents).  Anyway, it's just under a five hour drive from our house to my parents'...so rather than leave on Wednesday night after he gets home from work, we opted to leave Thursday, well, around noon (you know, after sleeping in, packing, loading the car, running a couple of errands, hot breakfast, cleaning up, playing with friends...ok, I think it's really cool (having come from so far north in Wisconsin that we can now say, ok, let's run down to Florida now; and it is no longer a major ordeal!)  

 

 So, we of course had dinner with my parents, J's dad and R, and close family friends who go back and forth between WI and Florida as well.  As a side note, the actual Thanksgiving meal served ON Thanksgiving day was: brats, sauerkraut, veggie pizza and water melon:)  Friday was of course a different story---oh and there was dessert, lots and lots of dessert!

Another favorite pastime in Florida, we picked Meyer Lemons...

And oranges....

LOTS AND LOTS of lemons and oranges; I am unable to distinguish them with absolute certainty:O

And of course we did some sledding, you know, because we were in Florida...and that's what Floridians do, after picking lemons and oranges.

In skorts and flipflops, of course.

 At the town's tree-lighting ceremony we had a blast: carolers, crafts, musicians, dancers, food, rides, ponies, stilt walkers, sledding, etc etc---oh and I was talking to a couple of guys who had been playing Christmas Dixie (joking with them that they were lacking a clarinet, and they said they really were, the guy has never shown...and they offered me a spot:)  anyway---turns out the tuba player's son is an economics professor at Atlantic Armstrong State University in Savannah, home of the Savannah Winds---the only group in the area...I've been going back and forth on joining because they are such a serious group---guess what...that was the straw that broke the camel's back...it's time...so I contacted the conductor and will join the group in January!!  No more whining or bandless dreams:)

 We decided to head out on Saturday so we could go home and deck the halls.  Since it was only a five hour drive and it was only Saturday, we decided to go visit Amelia Island, via a very beautiful scenic route...the infamous Highway A1A...but on the way we decided to take the route to take us on the Ferry across the St. John's River...it took awhile...a long long while (because somehow, north of St. Augustine, we lost Highway A1A, found ourselves somehow no longer on it:O)  and after ALL those hours in the car, we owed the girls a ferry ride...so, we found the ferry, after some backtracking....and enjoyed ourselves a THREE MINUTE FERRY RIDE!  

We never made it to Amelia Island:/

BUT, there were pelians, LOTS AND LOTS of pelicans!!!

(and on the ferry,  we were within two feet of the pelicans...guess what---THEY STINK!)

Snow Midgets

Fairy Man

Angel Man

We're Buried--again

I know, more pictures of my backyard:) Just a record, more for myself, of a large amount of snow yeserday. According to what lay on my patio table as of yesterday afternoon, there was 14 inches, and the snow was still falling. And a special note to Julie---J did come home with two gallons of milk yesterday--only because we were out:) He did say the health food store where we purchase it, was empty though:)
Happy shoveling and snowblowing everyone! Oh, I should also note, there was an earth quack in Chicago at 4 am, measuring 4.5---boy, what a blizzard:) http://www.wptv.com/content/breakingnews/story/earthquake-chicago-illinois-midwest-4-3-magnitude/0Rs69-jI_UOmc58fXVc7YQ.cspx

Snow Much Fun!!

I know I'm posting a lot of winter pictures--but I'm hoping that as beautiful as winter is, that this is our last one from the "northwoods."

We're Slightly Buried...

I'm not sure how much snow we got--guessing 8-10 inches. The storm hit us last night pretty strongly around 7 and after--it was pretty bad around 9 pm. I had driven to rehearsal fairly carefully, but visibility wasn't that bad--the roads weren't plowed that well, but I took it slowly as did the other drivers; most of us are used to this around here. HOWEVER, when I left rehearsal, the conditions were pretty much white-out---I was driving on a MAIN THOROUGHFARE--(Bluemound Rd, for those familiar with the area)--I couldn't tell if I was on the road or not! I then tried to turn down what I thought was Calhoun--and couldn't at all tell if I was on the road, and found out I wasn't on Calhoun, and wound up parallel with I94--turned around and went back to Bluemound (thank GOD for four wheel drive--these roads were not plowed!) Then I decided to just take Moorland Road---I was trying to go straight and there was a left hand turn lane going onto Greenfield--and somehow I would up over the small median because I couldn't see it or tell where the lanes were:) Again, thank GOD for four wheel drive:) So, it took be about 45 minutes to get home--visibility was really really bad, I didn't know where the lanes and sometimes roads were, but I found my house!

As a note, only about 10 of us idiots I mean troopers:) made it to our first rehearsal back last night--and my band director gifted me with an AWESOME solo piece----The Theme from Schindler's List; it's such a beautiful piece!!!!!----I am the entire solo part--so hopefully my parents can make it to that concert in Mid May--this is a first for me and I'm excited! Of course that means I might have to actually, gulp, p-p-p-practice?