We last left off evacuating town due to the threat of bad weather. There was a bit of guilt on this decision- Rosie really wanted to go sledding with her friends. I get it, this is important. Luckily, the layer of ice that fell was so intense, it didnt melt: and we made it home in time to go sledding with friends before all the fun melted away.
Luckily our driveway faces north, doesnt melt easily, and since we were out of town and didnt get a chance to shovel, this was the state of our driveway 4 days after the storm.
Rosie and her friends had a blast, they stayed for dinner and a movie, mercy’s friend had a wipeout but she was tough and stuck through it. It was great!
We got home on wednesday, but there was no school on Thursday or Friday- a whole week!
Date night was a great relief. As a sidenote, Taylor and I have season tickets to the Tanger Center- which gives us tickets to 6 shows a year (or so?). We usually sell 1 or 2, and it ends up being a pretty good deal. But, we got a chance to have a date night at a local restaurant, Pangea:
Dinner was great, so was the show:
You might be wondering, so what? That sounds great- and it was. However, right on the heels of this fun date night was another 11″ of snow- and a little more madness.
We didnt leave the house on Saturday. It was cold as crap- 20-30mph winds, and 25 degrees. We dont love that here in NC, so I figured to try something for the second time and grill some babyback ribs. This was my second attempt, and I learned a lot from the first time. With a grill that ties into the natural gas line (so the tank will never go empty, ever!) I could grill on low all day. This was a great idea- nothing could go wrong. The thermometer was set- all I had to do was take it off when it reached the magic temperature of 203 degrees, while it was 18 degrees outside. All the recipes said 5-6 hours.
In the meantime, a neighbor invited us to have a special bottle of wine, so of course we took them up on it. What could go wrong, that sounds nice? I know, I thought that too.
Sometimes the pipes that supply water from the city freeze. This was our front yard. We were excited to be out of the house during the bulk of that time, and it was nice- the threat of living 24 hours without water went away while we were at our neighbors house enjoying a fancy bottle of Chardonnay. We made it home from our neighbors, the water was fixed, and I know what your thinking: “that sounds nice, what could go wrong?”
Remember how there was two inches of ice on the ground? Then 11″ of snow on top? That is hard to walk up, and even though the ring camera couldnt catch it because of that light, you can hear when I wipe out and fall on my back. volume on for this video above. “Ahhh geez- that really hurt!” I groan. Mercy walks past and says, “What is happening?”. The city trucks are still in the road fixing the water.
We made it home- safe and sound. What. Could. Go. Wrong.
The ribs were still short of the ideal temp. Taylor went to bed, but I was determined to see this $14 purchase of meat cooked to perfection. All the recipes said 5-6 hours (if you dont wrap in foil). After about 10 hours, still short of 203 degrees, I pulled em off: they were WAY over cooked. Edible, a solid 5 out of 10.
The car couldnt make it up the driveway. And we couldnt safely walk down. It was slick as crap. We couldnt drive up. And taylor was set to leave on a work trip at 11 am on Sunday. There was no way to carry luggage down the driveway to the car- the car had to get up the driveway. With a fire in my heart, I got a spade and just hacked “X” marks into the ice, and got pretty aggressive hitting the gas to try and make it up the drive:
This was more of a proud moment than what the video indicates. Anyways, Taylor made her flight to New Orleans after rescheduling a few things. Some great friends were out sledding and we met with them for a pretty great run on the sleds; Mercy and Rosie are tough, and I am proud of how well they played together.
I was talking with my friends for a few minutes, and realized Mercy and her friend disappeared near the teenagers, who were busy making a ramp. Since dad wasnt there to say no, I guess the answer was “Yes, you can go over that ramp!”. So, before I could even get there, off she went:
Sledding was a blast. Mom came over for dinner. Taylor is gone for 3 or 4 days- I dont even know what day it is any more. There is a crazy amount of snow outside. The temps wont be above freezing for days. The car might not make it up the driveway next time. Kids wont go back to school until who knows when. What. Could. Go. Wrong.
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