As I'm writing this Monday afternoon we're being told to prepare for a major ice storm starting tonight and going on until...hell freezes over. Or at least until the Midwest does. Seems like Oklahoma took a direct hit today, which makes me wonder how Kaycie is faring. I like snow pretty well, but I have nothing positive to say about ice, unless it's in a big Diet Coke or a glass of unsweetened ice tea. I especially have nothing nice to say when it's coating the very old, very tall trees right outside my house. (The picture above has nothing to do with me, but it is pretty, isn't it?)
I've made some serious Christmas shopping inroads this morning, stocked the house with necessary storm food (pretzels to dip in chocolate, biscotti fixings and marshmallow popcorn) and picked up several gallons of water when I got the kids from school. Our firewood was delivered over the weekend, we're stocked on candles and wrapping paper and I have a pretty decent hunch that the kids will have a (highly anticipated) snow day tomorrow. The one flaw in this plan is the possibility of the power going out, but we'll manage. We'll eat cookies, wrap gifts and just generally hang out.
We're ready. Bring it on.
We've even, in a burst of overzealous preparedness, already had a dry run this week with the power going out. Thursday night a major transformer blew (with a very impressive orange pop through our neighborhood) and we were in the dark for hours. We threw another log on the fire, wrapped up in blankets (because of course our furnace is on the electric) and just waited it out. Being the Geek Family we are (capital letters, please), the conversation naturally turned to the evolution of the three camera video format for shooting television shows - with full family participation. If this worries you, you aren't alone.
I feel very Little House on the Prairie at the moment, imagining a roaring storm, a blazing fire...and picking out nits by candlelight. Just call me Laura.
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I'm posting early tonight. As of 7:30 pm school for tomorrow has already been canceled and it's really starting to come down. Better to post early for no reason than to not be able to later. No sooner had they canceled school than Sasquatch was up my hind end about a sleepover. Ah...teenagers.
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Morning Update: It wasn't as bad as they thought it would be, although it's still spitting and the technical "winter storm warning" is on until 6 pm. We got about half an inch of ice, still have our power, and (with no school for kids) I just slept until 9:30. Bliss.
Now I'm off to answer comments...
And I have no idea why my picture keeps disappearing.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
the icestorm cometh?
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35 comments:
you've gotta stop it. i swear to god i was itching when i woke up at 4 am and didnt quit for at least half an hour. enough with the lice comments. i think its giving me issues! argh!
my brother lives outside of oklahoma city (within spitting--well, driving, but not on ice--distance of kaycie). pretty damn icy there, but they still have power. he's worried about the roof of the little greenhouse he built in his yard--ice gets heavy.
hope it doesn't get bad where you are!
keep us posted.
This is what the fifteen-year-old girl had to say upon reading your post: "Awwww, they are so lucky!" and, "They have so many sleepovers!"
What we need here, or rather what the history project here needs, is a good snowday!
RC: The very fallible weatherman on the news tonight predicted that we would get snow, changing to ice, changing to rain, and that the temps would be above freezing.
Within 10 minutes both Mr. Pi and I made the necessary food run to stock up having been through this before, and having learned that our weatherman is a liar. He just rolls dice and pulls out a forecast.
So we're prepared. I have a 60 to 80-foot cottonwood in the backyard just waiting to crash into my bedroom. Good thing we paid to have the main trunks cabled together. Now instead of just one section of the tree falling, the whole darn thing will fall.
If you have power, keep us posted. Ice storms are the worst things I've ever been through. They make blizzards seem like snow flurries.
Good luck, and again, keep us posted. I'll be thinking about you as the wind howls here tomorrow morning!
Hey, RC, we're doing fine. Kept our power, plenty of food in the house, and the fireplace is going full blast. The kids are deliriously happy because they've gotten out of school not one, but two days. We've been very lucky. Lots of people are without power.
My kids wanted to play what they call Mama Trivial Pursuit yesterday. I ask them questions off the top of my head and they compete to see who can answer them. Talk about geeky.
I hope the storm runs out of steam before it gets to you. Or at least starts spitting snow. This ice is a bitch. Fingers crossed for you.
There are certain places I like ice. On a pond. Picturesque icicles hanging down. Lightly iced trees are beautiful.
But ice storms are the worst. I am jealous of the snow day though. I want an unplanned day to play. And bake cookies and read a book in front of the fire.
I hope you get to keep the power.
My daughter feel down the steps today at her apartment in OKC. She may broken her elbow - we're 2,000 miles away. Wish we could be there for her.
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/
I've been seeing stuff about the storms in the Mid West on TV. I hope no-one gets hurt or freezes.
I hope all is OK for you. Ice storms are horrendous.
We rarely get snow here in Cornwall ut if we do, everything grinds to a halt. Glad hyou#re prepared anyway!
I am feeling decidely left out, having never experienced an ice storm or anything like it. Got caught in a blizzard for 3 days once in the Alps, but ice storms? Not too prevalent in Europe - and never (so far) seen in Central London. Thank god. Good luck!
wow, potty mummy....three days in a blizzard in the alps somehow sounds more romantic than an ice storm in oklahoma. (apologies to kaycie.)
Almost anything done in the Alps sounds more romantic than doing it in Oklahoma.
Hope it won't be as bad! Thinking of you.
Fabulous picture - pretty cold this side of the world too. am sitting here with cold feet and the picture pretty much summed up how it feels. But we have bright sunshine today.
Ah, such fun! Your icy mess is currently passing over us. The power lines are still functioning in the town I work in but are getting heavier by the minute as the freezing rain comes down.
Schools are closed but Charles is in doing principally things. They are considering closing the clinic (clutches heart) at noon. That's never happened in the 7 years I've been with the network.
I find the whole thing rather amusing, but that's because we still have power and I don't drive for a living.
I feel guilty that it's been in the 80's and sunny here, and will be until Friday or Saturday.
kaycie It's good to hear y'all are alright.
RC, stay safe, no unnecessary trips, etc.
i'm so glad i don't live where it snows....i'd go nuts w no electricity, no computer, and freezing my hiney off in the process. you KNOW how much i HATE the cold, don't you? lol kids LOVE snow days, what the fail to realize is that they have to make up those days at the end of the school yr, hence, getting out of school later than others lol no ice storm here and my kids' school making up 9 of em because they opened late due to construction.
p.s. here's hoping that it doesn't last too long and everything is ok. xo
lil mouse - okay, I'm taking an oath of silence with (that word) today. Promise.
laurie - the last ice storm we had the sound of tree branches snapping was all you could hear. I guess I'd never really thought about how heavy ice is.
my two cents - my little guilty confession is that I really like snowdays. Sleepovers - not so much...
pixelpi - it can really make you mad. I know how fallible the weather people are, but they scare the bejeezus out of you. I heard something yesterday I'd never heard - "Chance of freezing rain - 100%". Not 90 or 95...but 100%?? And we had our trees inspected last spring and they look fine, but they scare me anyway because, like yours, they're so tall. Hope your storm doesn't get worse.
kaycie - yay. I've been worrying about you. I know you posted but I had no idea what had happened since. We'll be having a day much like yours - baking, reading and fireplace.
And you are KILLING me with the Oklahoma/Alps comments!! LMAO!
ped crossing - they are peaceful (as long as the power stays off and you don't have to go anywhere). The FG still has to go to school, because they almost never officially cancel school. If they do the food service workers don't come in and all the kids in the dorms don't get fed. So it's up to each individual teacher to decide. Guess who is going in "just in case?"
rick - welcome and I'm so sorry about your daughter. That's got to be incredibly frustrating for you. I hope she's doing alright and has someone with her. Good luck.
willowtree - well, we're trying our best to stay in one piece. Can't promise we'll be unfrozen.
wakeup - thank you. I think (fingers crossed) that we've missed the brunt of it.
flowerpot - we're prepared, all right. And it seems like nothing grinds to a halt here. People are out doing their business, and I'm sitting at home thinking "are they out of their minds??"
potty mummy - ooh, a blizzard in the Alps. I'll bet that sounds a lot better to us now than it felt then. But it sure does sound...peaceful.
laurie and kaycie - stop it. You're killing me here.
bella - I think we've dodged the worst of it. I think it hit kaycie.
lady thinker - welcome. I love that picture but I don't know what keeps happening to it. It's there one minute and then it's gone. Aargh.
Stay warm!
diana - but don't you have to drive everywhere to get anywhere?? I have this mental image of you way out in the country. Am I way off? Or are you just so used to it that even driving in it doesn't fluster you? Now me...I'm quite flusterable.
jen- I don't plan on stepping foot outside today. But...tonight is our Bunco Christmas get-together about a five minute drive away. Although the hostess is calling around to see if people want to reschedule. I guess we'll see. I won't drive anyway. I'll make Elly Mae do it. She's a native and ice doesn't faze her a bit.
ciara - I don't mind the power being out for a while, but it gets old. And cold. So far so good.
The house is warm and life is good...
called my brother in oklahoma today. my niece said it's still very icy out there, and it's raining. if it gets a little warmer, maybe the whole mess will start to melt.
laurie - that's what worries me. first it melts...then it refreezes.
ps, and what the heck IS the picture? i've looked at this posting three times and all i get is a long skinny empty box.
Well, it used to be a really cool picture of a tree all bent over from ice and arching over some water. But now it's...a long thin box. When I go to edit I can't even see it to delete it.
So I guess we're stuck with it. For now anyway. FG is bringing the good camera home and I'll post some pics of our yard.
Glad it wasn't as bad as expected! Cozying up to the fire sounds lovely though...
Oh I missed all the drama.
Bugger.
Glad you're warm and snug though. :D
Can't resist updating Kaycie and Laurie, RC, I hope that's OK.
Yes, it was romantic (bearing in mind it was pre-kids, we still got to do romantic stuff then), but rather less romantic when having left our chalet (to go to a bar, obviously), we got back 2 hours (ish) later, and couldn't get back without crossing police lines. An avalanche had taken out the next village, 1/2 a mile away. 19 people died. Kind of makes you think. You take it for granted that a skiing holiday is safe. Not always true.
I never got to see the picture. Sounds pretty, though.
I just checked and it's 37 degrees F here at 2:30pm. It was pouring rain when we got up this morning, now it's sorta misty. The ice is beginning to fall off of the bushes and smaller trees and the roads are completely clear. There are still so many people without power, though. My mom and dad, MIL, brother, a cousin, a couple of friends. We were very lucky.
Glad you guys weren't hit too hard. I think the storm sort of petered out in the end.
Wow, potty mummy, I just read that update. It sounds nice then very scary. I may be the only person in the free world who thinks skiing is crazy.
kimberly - well, it would be cozier if my children would take a pill and chill out.
jo - warm, snug and relatively drama free. (see above comment)
potty mummy - oh my god. That's really scary. I think that would make me head someplace tropical next time.
kaycie - it did pretty much the same thing here. There's ice hanging from the trees but it's raining and melting some (not much) of it. The roads look slick but I'm not budging. Add me to your list of ski-phobes. No coordination and a fear of pain = no skiing for me.
I'm a bit late - I suppose it's all melted by now?! Keep warm.
Mya x
Pretzels dipped in chocolate? Some people do disasters better than others!!!
Glad it turned out O.K.!
No need to confess really liking snow days - I'd shout it from the mountain top, but no one here would know what I was talking about! Number one thing I have done wrong as a parent is deny my kids the thrill of a snow day. Glad you are safe and warm. Have fun at Bunco!
Be safe KC! I was out driving, and we did not have even close to an ice storm, just some ice on roads, totally went though the stop sign. I am a very slow and careful driver too, especially in bad weather, but with ice, you have no control. Luckily, the angel guiding my car, helped me avoid hitting anyone, a true miracle indeed!!
I have to say, you do make storms sound so warm and cozy. Wish we could cozy up at your house for your famous hot coco and other warm, yummy, perfect for storm snacks. Your such a good mom, who knows how to do it right.
XOXO
Add me to the anti-skier list. Cold, wet, danger, no thanks. Glad everything is hunky-dorey.
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