When Is a Pain In the Neck...Not?

Yeah, well...
Here in the NorthEast we have had a hard winter.
Now I know, people from that place called Minnesota or Wisconsin or Siberia, that 20 inches of snow in 2 months is no big deal...
To you!

But here, where an overnight accumulation of 2-3 inches is considered apocalyptic, 13 inches in less than 8 hours is, to some, a sign that the world is about  to end.

Not that I feel that way at all.
I am an equal snow-accumulation hater.
I don't care if it's half an inch or 13 inches...
It's snow and unless it's a holiday,
the kind where no one has to work or go to school...
I have no use for any of it.

Don't even get me started on how much I hate the cold...
and by cold I mean anything below 65 degrees farenheit!

So, imagine my dismay when the weatherman was wrong...again...
the only job where you can lie every day and still get paid...
and the 4-8  inches over 24 hours became 13 inches in about 7.5.

While I was at work.
Over night.
Did I mention that it was 13 inches...
and that for an hour before I got off work it was sleeting and snowing?

So yeah, it was a bunch of snow covered with a bunch or those little sleety ice pellets that make a crust to rival the most awesome artisan crusty bread.

And I did not realize any of this until...
I tried to open the door to go home.
And the snow was 3-4 inches up the door so it wouldn't open.
So I pushed.
And I kicked the snice (snow+ ice=snice...like it? It's mine and I'm gonna copyright it!)
and the sneet (snow+sleet=sneet...again, it's mine...copyright to me!)
and then  I shoved the door some more cuz...
I really do not fit through a 4 inch opening...
No, really! I don't!

And then...
something hurt in my shoulder.
But there was yucky stuff on the steps and the wheelchair ramp...
not that I could discern which was which...
so I cleared the shoveled the steps...
and the walkway so I wouldn't trip over the bushes...not that  I could tell where they were...

And somewhere between the door and the bottom of the steps my shoulder popped...
like snapping yourself with a rubber band.

And it hurt...for a minute.

I managed to get my vehicle out of the snow and into the tire rut left by a larger vehicle...
made my way to my driveway...
where I got stuck about 20 feet in.

But I was home.
And I was tired.
And cold.
And wet.
And sore.

A hot shower and some ibuprofen and my shoulder still hurt.
And my neck. And shoulder blade. And my arm won't work. And my hand won't work. And my thumb has gone numb...

And a trip to a doctor, or two...
Some x-rays and an MRI...
but wait!
No MRI cuz the health insurance says no...
And a diagnosis of a "possible torn rotator cuff"...
and now I wait.
With a shoulder/arm/hand/head/neck ache...

When is a pain in the neck not a pain in the neck...
when it's a pain in the shoulder and battling insurance makes it a pain in the butt.

Looking out the window the scene is like a Currier & Ives postcard... only more wet and cold and REAL!

The SuperBowl is over.
The team I was routing for Won!

It's not MY team, well because, MY TEAM is the Redskins, and frankly, they haven't been winning much lately.

Doesn't make them any less MY TEAM, but it makes Sunday a bit depressing.
It was nice to have the team you are cheering for win for a change, that's for sure.

As for the weather here in the MidAtlantic Tundra Region?
Yep- more snow is predicted to start some time tomorrow afternoon.

GOOD NEWS! We got our driveway cleared with the help of a neighbor, or two, a snowblower, a chainsaw and some really thick rope.

This pic: HeMan Hubby preparing to cut it down. Luckily the fences did not break!

BAD NEWS! We only have one 4-wheel drive vehicle and the roads that we just ventured onto were so bad that ONLY 4-wheel drives could traverse them, and then only VERY carefully.

SCHOOL NEWS UPDATE: No School again tomorrow... no sh*& Sherlock!

And guess what?

There will be no school on Wednesday or Thursday and most likely Friday as well since the roads leading to the schools, let alone the school lots and sidewalks, are still under several feet of snow.

I really don't see them getting that cleared before the next round of
Man VS. Mother Nature commences.

The kids are happy.
Of course they are. They're kids.

I am not.

Of course not, I'm the one cleaning the friggin water-logged clothes off the bathroom floor, after the boys TOLD me they had put them IN the dryer...what? The dryer of On-the-Bathroom-Floor?

I had to vacuum and clean the kitchen, couldn't stand it any longer!
ManChild took over the vacuuming and did the kitchen and the breakfast room. I did the family room, stairs, the upstairs hall, the kids bath, my bathroom and bedroom.

I think the division of labor was a bit off, don't you?

So I enter the next phase of The Winter From Hell with a mostly clean house, enough wood to keep us warm for a day if we lose power again, water and enough candles to keep us from falling down the stairs and breaking something.

Like the hall tree or the leaded glass window on the landing.

We have plenty of milk, bread and toilet paper.
Not sure WHY the news people always remind everyone to get those. Is there an entire sub-culture of people who make a milk, bread and TP paste to live on when they run out of REAL food?

Me?
I think peanut butter, jelly and some cheese are MUST HAVES for storms.
TP is also necessary for those of us who sit EVERY TIME we use the Loo.

Unlike the other half of our family who thought I was nuts for buying the 48 roll pack... not so funny now that Nor-easter #2 is on the way.

Wal-Mart is OUT OF TP!
But we've got plenty... and it's for the girls only!
The boys can fend for themselves...

Never Mind, I do the laundry!

The week is off to a great start.

Now all I have to do is keep the water on for coffee and hot cocoa.
Keep food at the ready.
And keep the phone charged so when HeMan Hubby keels over I can call 9-1-1 ASAP... not that they can get down the street, let alone to our house.
But Hey! At least I can say I tried!

I hope all of you have a better week than I... or at least a less wet, cold and wintery one.

And if at all possible?

Send me some warm thoughts, or some sand, or seashells.... a potted plant? Chocolate?
ANYTHING to put me in a Summer State of Mind would be much appreciated!

Man VS Mother Nature...

I'll let you know who wins this round...

Pretty sure it won't be Man but Hey!

I did say I keep rooting for the Redskins, right!