sNOw power :(

It’s noonish on Monday. I am sitting in my apartment on the couch wrapped in a blanket, wearing three layers, a hat and gloves writing this entry. Outside, crews are hard at work removing snow from the parking spots and sidewalks for the local businesses. Last time I looked at the thermostat it was 49 in my apartment, up one degree since I arrived around 1030. I haven’t had power at my apartment since Saturday morning 9am. My fridge is empty (I already carried everything to Mom’s), and I have broken into the emergency chocolate. Luckily the water still works and I can flush the toilet.

I hate snow. Even more now. I really wanted to get away for this snowstorm and I just waited too long to buy a plane ticket. When I went to buy it, the prices jumped… and not just to Florida, because then I spent time looking at every airport I have a friend near. They all went up.

School was canceled for Friday around 4:30pm om Thursday. I know this because a student in my room got a text message from another whose mom is on the school board. I went to Food Lion just to go, and spread the news to people I knew there. After the last round of snow days it was nice to talk to people. I decided I needed eggs and veggies and waited patiently in an overly long line. I joked with the ladies around me about what was considered ‘necessary groceries.’

It snowed all day Friday. It was gray outside and I covered the windows and did not peek often around the barriers. I spent the day reading. I baked scones, carrot cake, and a spicy chicken bake, and kept reading. I started and finished two books. I was very lazy, but still tired at the end of the day.

Saturday morning I was trying to get geared up for an exercise tape when the power went out. Boo. Because I was going to exercise, I hadn’t even made any coffee. Shortly Dan and Becca called and asked if I wanted to go to IHOP for breakfast. Sure… warm food and coffee sounded enticing. Maybe the power would be back on when I returned. Driving down 208 and the interstate was eerie. Everything was covered in snow, trees blanketed and drooping precariously, few people were out, and it was still snowing. There were trees down all over and more perilously leaning. IHOP was busy, but not crowded and there was a steady stream of incoming orders. We ate slowly, talked, and sat around. Dan and Becca kept calling home figuring if they had power their answering machine would pick up. Since it didn’t we went for a walk around WalMart. Not that we needed anything, it was just something to do. Eventually we made the trip back through more snow and snow covered landscapes. I did not have my camera which is too bad because it was beautiful.

Dan and Becca dropped me off. I still had no power, but my apartment was only 2 degrees colder than when I left. I read some and then decided I should go clean off my car. While I was busy, a lady asked me if I would help her because she was going to try to get out and go to a hotel because she also had no power. The power company had told her that the power was not coming on tonight and to get some place warm to eat. I helped her as best I could, but I knew it was chancy at best and that she might get stuck. She did. Luckily she had a friend who could pick her up and carry her away. Her van is still right where I left it. I hope she is enjoying heat somewhere.

I worked on my car a bit longer and then went back to my apartment to call Mom. It was now five degrees colder than this morning and temperatures that evening were expected to be quite low. I am lucky to have somewhere close to go. I packed a bag and my sleeping bag and headed back to my car. I loaded my car and realized that I hadn’t cleaned in front of my car. It wasn’t too much snow and a lot of it fluffy and light so I swept most of it aside and then decided I would try driving over the rest of it. The roads were very covered and slushy, but I kept my speed slow and steady and made it safely.

Mom had me plow into the uncleared driveway and we spent some time shoveling a little snow so I could pull in farther. She had cleared some before I got there, but apparently I made better time than she expected. Mom and Rich have not lost power yet, but even still have a woodstove to keep warm, like John and Shannon. I am not so lucky.

In the morning Mom and I got busy shoveling snow and spent most of the time doing that. Mom had a shovel that’s good for shoveling and one that’s good for shoving. Underneath all the snow is an icy slush that needed to be shoved out of the way. It didn’t take as long as I thought it would, but it was very hard work. School was called and announced closed for Monday around noon.

In the afternoon I headed back to my apartment to check things out. Some parts of the road were still quite covered and slushy and there were crews out in many places working on electricity and tree removal. My apartment was 58*, but the sun was shining so I opened all the shades to warm things up. I napped in a sunny spot in my bedroom because there was nothing else I felt like I could do. The power was still not on and not looking like it was going to come on, so I loaded my fridge and freezer into some bins and headed back to Moms.

Mom asked me to get some chicken for dinner, but they were out of it at the gas station, the line at Hardee’s was astronomical, and they didn’t have any at Food Lion either. I picked up lasagna instead and headed back home.

The Superbowl started way earlier than I expected so I missed the first quarter. Dan and Becca came over, even though they had their power back, as a reason to get out of the house. Shannon and John did not come over because their power was finally restored. I thought it was a good game and did enjoy a lot of the commercials. I liked the google one, but the rest are escaping my memory.

This morning I had breakfast at Mom’s and headed back to my apartment. Mom told me my outside light was still not on, but it is my place so I thought I would come hang out and see if the power was going to come back on. The roads looked really good, more places appeared to have power, but the school’s lot is not cleared, and I still don’t have power and neithedr does anyone else on the block. I have spent some time with the ladies standing outside Bank of America chatting to pass the time. They are on call if the power does come on, but so far nothing good.

Today when I arrived, the temperature was 48*. It’s pretty cold in here. I am trying to make the best of it, but there’s not much to do when its this cold and there is no power. I’m going to head back to Mom’s, but I really wish the power would come back on here. Someone I talked to at the hardware store said they saw two bucket trucks working on a transistor last night, but if they are working on restoring power now, its nowhere in sight.

So these snow days suck even more than the last ones because I have no power and I cannot even do things in my apartment. I have not been productive at all. No school work, very little baking, no work for my class, no movies, no internet, no nothing. It’s hard to do things at Mom’s because I don’t feel like carting stuff there. I feel like I have done a lot of eating because there’s not much else to do. I dislike these snow days even more than the last ones. And to top it off we are expected to get 1 to 3 inches of ice and snow on Tuesday.