As I mentioned on Thursday when I was “thinking out loud about winter”, there was a big storm AKA Snowzilla slated to hit the Washington DC area this past weekend. I have to admit that I had a fair amount of skepticism about exactly how bad the storm would be. We do get the occasional HUGE snowfall, but more often than not, the weathermen are way off around here. (Unless you were completely off any sort of media or social media outlet this weekend, you know the weathermen nailed it this time.)
But let’s backtrack a bit…
Our weekend started early when the kids did not have school on Thursday. Roads were still slippery around here and some of our county is super hilly. I dragged the boys out to a doctor’s appointment with me – the dermatologist where I had a questionable sunspot burned off. PSA to all my long distance runner friends: reapply your sunscreen when you run for longer than 3 hours. Also, wear a hat.
Next stop was Target and Petsmart – one cannot get through a snow weekend without hot chocolate, marshmallows, and crickets. (No, the crickets were not for the boys.) Crickets are one of the few things I can’t buy nearby, so I needed to get enough to potentially last us a week.
In between laundry, cleaning, and work, I managed to get in a 3 mile run. It was relatively pleasant out, but there were still some slick spots, even in the afternoon. Late afternoon, we found out that school was canceled for Friday. I admit I was a little “Really??”, but whatever.
Friday morning I was supposed to go to the gym, but it occurred to me I’d not likely be running on dry pavement for a while. So, I went for a 4 mile run.
After all, I was likely going to be spending the weekend cooped up with my children, so I needed pre-emptive endorphins.
And then Snowzilla arrived – right at 1pm as predicted and came down pretty fast and stuck right away. Guess the school closing made sense after all!
Friday night we opted to stay in for dinner and then Shoo and I got some time out in the snow. I shoveled our sidewalk and front porch, not that it actually made a difference in the long run.
Saturday morning we woke up to a world of white. In fact, it was nearly impossible to open our front door! Snowzilla was already no joke! Of course, I headed right out to shovel!
With 15 inches already on the ground, it was a winter wonderland outside.
After shoveling the steps and the walk to the driveway (meanwhile cursing the previous owners who put in a curvy wandering path that is difficult to find in the snow), I headed in for lunch and got Shoo ready to go back out with me.
Next up was a shovel of our big sidewalk. Turns out, I managed a very crooked, shovel sized path along the main road by our house.
That snow was heavy! And because I could only move the snow to one side, my arms and back tired quickly. Shoo was having a great time, until his boot got stuck in the snow LOL, so it was time to go in.
It was a quiet evening in as the winds picked up and the snow kept snowing. We gave the gecko some time to soak off his extra skin and the cat decided he’d make a nice playmate.
All in all, Saturday was a nice day, but we knew that Sunday we’d be doing it all over again.
I slept in, so I woke to a completely cleared porch and a much nicer looking sidewalk than I’d accomplished.
We’d gotten about 22 inches total (maybe more because snow compacts as it sits), so it was a lot of work for Beer Geek and our neighbor to get it all done.
I shoveled the path to the drive (again!) and then a bunch of the snow around my car. It quickly became apparent that I was going to run out of places to put all the snow!
Shoo and I then headed to a friendly snowball fight at a friend’s house. Even walking a few blocks was quite a workout, but it was fun to see friends for a while.
When we got home, my poor little T-Rex arms were too tired to cook, so we walked out for dinner. Our neighborhood was a crazy mishmash of plowed, driven on, and completely virgin snow.
At this point, the boys have no school for at least two more days and I still have shoveling to do. While we live right by a snow emergency route, the street our driveway is on has not been plowed. Who knows when we’ll actually be able to get the car out??? Good thing I have shoes to run in the snow and we live walking distance to Gold’s Gym!
Anyone else hit by Snowzilla? How are you doing?
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I’m linking up with Tricia and HoHo for Weekly Wrap.
I cannot believe how bad it got.
My 88 year old uncle lives by you, too. THANKFULLY he hired a neighbor “kid” (he’s 45 :)) to help him shovel.
CARLA recently posted…Sleep Consistency Matters.
It’s crazy! Luckily our neighborhood is good about taking care of the people who can’t shovel for themselves.
You guys got hit hard! We got a bit more than the forecast up by me. I didn’t try the yardstick thing, although we measured a few spots and got 18-30+ depending on where it was. There was a lot of drifting near me. I had to chuckle a little about the crickets. I had a gecko back in college. Glad you all made it through!
Kelli recently posted…Blizzard and a lost cat
I have to get out soon – I’m running out of crickets. And I have a package to send your way, but I didn’t make it to the post office before the snow.
I still cannot get over the photos of the snow! You were smart to get out there to shovel at different times. I cannot imagine waiting until the end to try to move that snow. Hopefully your street gets plowed soon so you could get out if you wanted to!
Christine @ Two Runners Travel recently posted…Weekly Workout Roundup: Jan 25th
It was still heavy, even though I shoveled all along. Our street is always one of the last to get plowed.
We only ended up getting around 8 inches here, which I was perfectly happy with. Between the town plows and neighbors with plows we were out and about on Sunday.
Becky @ Ok, So Here’s the Plan recently posted…More Snow
I like 6-8. Enough to enjoy, but it doesn’t shut everything down.
ok now I am bummed I never bought those tights they look so cute! Hope you are surviving ok I am getting antsy
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner recently posted…Polenta Eggplant Stacks
I’ve been out and about or shoveling snow every day, so I’m fine. I just want my kids back in school so I don’t have to feed them and keep track of their time on electronics LOL.
I was actually pretty surprised how much snow we got. You never know with our weathermen! I still need to dig out my car but I’m going wait until about noon when it’s warmer! It looks so pretty though, I must say 🙂 glad you made it through the weekend safely.
Mar @ Mar on the Run recently posted…Friday Five: How a Runner Prepares for a Blizzard!
This happens every 5-6 years where we get a ton all at once. The other years they often predict one and we get nothing LOL.
Whoo boy did we get dumped on in NYC! We have almost two feet in Prospect Park and it is so cold that it isn’t melting any time soon.
Margo recently posted…Brooklyn Fit Chick Notes: SoulCycle and Target Team Up, Rachel Platten, Fit Bottomed Girls and More!
Thankfully it’s warm here, so lots of melting. I’ve run out of places to pile it.
Man, you guys really did get hit! Snow didn’t start falling in Philly until the evening, maybe after 7 pm? All that shoveling had to be “fun”, haha.
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets recently posted…Pinterest Scheduling: Why I Left Viralwoot for Tailwind
Yeah, the weathermen nailed this one, sadly.
My family would love to play in all that snow. We were hoping for some this weekend but we weren’t so lucky. They would love some snow days.☃
My younger son is loving it. My older one does not want to go outside LOL.
That shoveling snow has got to be a great workout! I loved all the pictures of the snow. It does make everything so clean and pretty! But yall keep that stuff up there! We can’t handle it down here, lol. Hope you’ll be back on track this week, hang in there with the boys, maybe you can sneak a trip to the gym. 🙂
Tricia@MissSippipiddlin recently posted…Weekly Wrap #25 Back in the Saddle Again
Ha – I’m sending it south. ;o) And my arms are looking pretty buff.
I loved that photo on Instagram of your family walking to dinner! In NC we did not get nearly as much as you did but all schools are cancelled today in the Raleigh/Durham area but hopefully it will all melt before this evening. Hang in there!
Becki S recently posted…The Kingdom of Soreness
Our kids are out for 3 days at least. Fingers crossed that they go back on Thursday.
I know the shoveling etc is no fun but the kid in me is still so jelly of all that glorious snow. We got nada here. Maybe rain this week. What?
Marcia recently posted…Workouts this Week: Still On the Fence
Once they plow my street I’ll like the snow again LOL.
I’m quite jealous that you live near cleared roads and in walking distance to the gym. We’re getting cabin fever over here!
Kathryn @ Dancing to Running recently posted…Scenes from Blizzard 2016
One of the benefits of living in the “city”. We can walk anywhere and we live on a corner – the one side is a snow emergency route. I still can’t get my car out, but I can walk out easily.
Gosh, I feel left out of all the snow shoveling everyone did this weekend! Um…not really. It sure is pretty to look at, ski on top of, and make snowmen out of — but I draw the line at snow shoveling. Ha ha. On the rare occasion it snows here, Mother Nature melts it pretty darn fast. The crickets (which we needed for our fire bellied toad) bring back lots of great memories! Do you feed your crickets apple slices? That’s what we did. Thanks for linking with us Erika!
HoHo Runs recently posted…A Look Back (WW # 25)
I feed them a powdered food and a gel water – it doesn’t get as gross in the cage. Crickets are gross enough without help LOL.
I live in California, so a weekend with that much snow actually sounds fun. But only once…I don’t think I could live where it snows for too long!
Maureen recently posted…Weekend Food Prep 1
It doesn’t do this often – about once every 5-6 years we get slammed.
We got a ton of snow, too!! A part of me was kind of hoping the city wouldn’t be on top of it so that we could have the day off work on Monday, but alas, they cleared the roads right up. It was a nice relaxing weekend, though. One perk of apartment living is not being responsible to shovel the walkway!
Nicole @ Fitful Focus recently posted…Paleo Eggs & Hash {gluten free, dairy free, soy free}
The main roads are good here, but the neighborhood roads are really hit or miss. I know it will get better soon, but ugh…
I think a lot of us got our runs in on Friday! I shoveled for 3 hours Saturday and 2 hours Sunday. Still waiting for the plow to come …
Coco recently posted…Ten Minutes To A Stronger Core
We haven’t been plowed yet and at the rate I’m going, I’ll end up shoveling the whole street before the plow arrives.
I do love those big snowstorms and the day after. Then the day after that, it can all melt. I’m just no fun.
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home recently posted…Loss and the run
Yes, it could all melt now. Right.now.
That is some serious snow! We had a few flurries, but certainly no accumulation. Of course, the grass is always greener, and I will say that it would be fun to have a snow day from time to time – I remember waking up after a fresh snowfall and thinking it was the most beautiful, peaceful thing in the world. Obviously, that’s pre-shoveling and plowing and dealing with all the mess that goes with it.
And I absolutely love the cat vs gecko photos! So cute!
Jenn recently posted…weekly recap: 1.17 – 1.23
It was awesome on Saturday, less awesome on Sunday, and not awesome at all today. The kids have off school through Wednesday, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be totally hating it by then.
Your preemptive run was a good idea! Now Snowzilla for me. In fact, so far we are on track for another dark and dreary winter with too much ice but without much snow at all. The silver lining is that I haven’t had to shovel lately.
Ray recently posted…First TNT Meeting
I was actually surprised that I got to run today. The county is doing better with the snow removal than it did in 2010. I had plenty of roads to run on.
We were expecting snowpocalypse! We got nothing. Not a single flake. How does that happen?
jill conyers recently posted…17 Fitness Tips To Make the Most Out of Your Workouts
Wow! That is some snow! Thank you for sharing! We dropped to the mid 30’s in Florida I thought we were cold- LOL! Stay warm and enjoy all that extra family time!
Mary Beth Jackson recently posted…Does January still equal Optimism?
I was loving Snowzilla up until about two days ago when all of our constituents started calling and yelling at each of us. THEN I wished I was a kid again and could just play in the snow all day! Looks like you guys had a good time, though, so it’s nice to see people enjoying the snow!
Lex @ Flecksoflex recently posted…What to Wear on a Winter Hike