The Clean Up

The snow finally ended by 2200 Saturday night. Over 24 hours of snow! I would say that we ended up with at least 18" of snow here in our neighborhood. National Airport had a record breaking 16" of snow.

Here was the last measurement before the sun went down.....17"

The car was taller than me with all that snow!

James and I awoke early on Sunday and spent the morning shoveling the sidewalks, clearing the vehicles, and clearing our parking spaces and our neighbors extra space. It was crazy! We even made a trek out to Home Depot yesterday after the snow shovel broke. The roads were a mess. And last night the Office of Personal Management closed the federal govenrment in the metro DC area for today. And I am glad fort that after our short jaunt yesterday.

For those of you who do live where it snows alot and are shaking your head at us because 18" of snow is nothing, let me give you some reasons why it is a big deal:
1) The amount of snow we received in 24 hours is more than we receive in a winter's time;
2) Our department of transportations (in VA, DC, and MD) say they are ready for anything that comes our way but they are more concerned with I-95 than the secondary roads;
3) Many neighorhoods relay on the county to clear and as of this morning many are not;
4) Our public transportation outfits are running on limited service. Metro (our subway) closed all their above ground stations at 1300 on Saturday and only this morning reopened them (without Metro the federal government can't operate);
5) People around here do not have vehicles that are made for snow. So when it does snow they still think they can drive in the foul weather. Then they end up on the side of the road and the vehicle is buried under snow;
6) People around here cannot drive in snow or rain. Period.

Snow-torious update

As of 1200 we are under a Blizzard Warning until 1800. Yes that is right....a Blizzard Warning....

And 13" of snow. We've hit over a foot!

James took the measuring stick out to the yard and hit 14". But the back table is our measuring point.

The snow is just under James' knees!

Benning made an escape last night while I was getting a beer. He was pretty confused so I was able to pick him up and put him back in the house. But this afternoon we allowed him to take a look for himself. He made it about ten feet and then turned around and went right back to the house and wanted back in :)

I filled the bird feeders last night but the only one accessible right now is the variety seed right in the middle. The sunflower feeder has snow in the resevoir that is blocking the seed. You can see our Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

We will make another update in a couple of hours. James and I will take a walk to see what the neighborhood looks like.

Update on the "Winter" Wallop

Well, the snow started just before 2100. James was musing that the weather maps were showing snow, but that he didn't see it outside. I swear, less than a minute he says, "I stand corrected." And he was. It was snowing. We were heading out to Molly and Chris' to help them move the 1/2 cord of firewood that was being delivered. By 2200 the firewood hadn't been delivered so we headed back to the house. The streets were already covered. We threw the truck into 4-wheel drive and spent the next 50 minutes slowly making our way home. This drive usually takes about 15 minutes. Lots of accidents. Lots of idiots. When we turned in for the night we already had at least 3" on the back table.

We woke up at about 0800 this morning. And this is what we saw:

You are reading that right....8" in 11 hours. And the worst has yet to hit....stay tuned.....

Preparing for the storm....

As of 1157 this morning the National Weather Service is forcasting the following for our area:

Tonight: Snow, mainly after midnight. Low around 29. Northeast wind 7 to 10 mph increasing to between 15 and 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Saturday: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 30. Blustery, with a north wind between 17 and 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 8 to 12 inches possible.
Saturday Night: Snow, mainly before 4am. Low around 28. North wind between 14 and 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Sunday: A chance of snow showers before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Northwest wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.

Wow! And some other forecasters are predicting closer to 20" for parts of the region.

I am torn about this impending storm. I can't believe that this will be our second snowfall of the month. Second! Two weeks after our first fall. Did I mention our second snow fall!!?? And I would love to watch it fall snuggled up in my house. How often do I get to see snow!? But James and I were planning on traveling to Chesapeake to visit my mom, dad, and sister for Christmas and to celebrate my dad's birthday early (since we will be in New York for Christmas and have a really special package arriving on the 28th...stay tuned for that). And now with this storm coming I've had to rethink our travel plans.

We could make it out of Northern Virginia no problems tonight. But then on Sunday we would most likely spend an hour shoveling out our parking space and a path to the house. And that is not something I am interested in doing. Without winter boots on my feet (which by the way I just purchased a pair for our forecasted white Christmas in New York so they better arrive before we leave).

So I just spoke with my mom and she agreed that with this amount of snow coming to the area and the I-95 corridor that it would be best if we stayed put. I am sad that I won't see my parents before Christmas and for my father's birthday....but I'll make it up to them by making snowcream.....

Kickin' off the holidays in style!

The Washington, DC, area typically doesn't get snow until January or February (if we get any at all!) so the area ws all atweeter (and not the blogging kind) when the forecasters started predicting snow for Saturday, December 5, 2009, last week. We all waited to hear if the forecast was going to suddenly change as it usually does. But much to our delight at around 1000 on Saturday morning the rain turned to snow! REAL SNOW! And lot's of it! Okay, it only go to about two inches and iced over in the night. But it snowed!!!! Before Christmas!


It was the perfect weather to attend James command holiday party at Fort Belvoir's Officer's Club. Which was in an area of Fort Belvoir I'd never been to. We were given the wrong time and arrived just after the first food rush. But our friend Marlene saved us a seat and there was food still left (unlike last year). The food was okay, but friendship nice, and the skits put on by the various parts of the command hit or miss. But the view was great!

If it wasn't snowing so hard you would be able to see the river from the horrible additional they slapped on the back of the historic Officer's Club. Good thing I was inside the horrible addiitonal, but I did see it from the rear of the building as we entered. And I commented on it, out loud.

You can see the rest of the photos from the holiday party here.

After the holiday party James and I went to the store and bought supplies to make homemade bread. We like to give homemade bread as Christmas presents to our friends and family. And I think after three years we are finally getting it!

We kneaded the dough for 30 minutes, each taking 10 minutes a piece. Might have been overkill but the results were really nice :) Almost to perfection.

All in all, Saturday was the perfect day to kick off the holiday season! Coming up this weekend? Christmas tree decorating with the boys!!!

Birthday Celebrations!!!

For James' birthday, we went to Brasserie Beck in Washington, DC, for food, drinks, and good times. And we got more than we thought possible. Everyone was running late to dinner and they wouldn't seat us until the majority of our party arrived. When our numbers reached six we asked if we could be seated, and away we went. And ended up at the best table in the joint.

Brasserie Beck has an exhibition kitchen, meaning you can see your food being made. Watch the Executive Chef analyze each and every dish before the servers whisk them away. And simply have a live show while you eat. If you are in the right spot. And we were. Directly across from the kitchen's opening is the Chef’s Table. Normally it is reserved for the Chef's Menu experience. I suppose they had no takers for the Chef's Menu as we were seated there and were in awe. I am sure that large parties get sat there all the time, but for us it was a true delight!

The food was absolutely amazing. Hands down one of the best meals James ever had. One of our friend's cleaned his plate. Literally, took a piece of bread and cleaned the remaining sauce off his plate. Our server was outstanding. Simply describe the type of beer or wine you liked or were interested in and he had the perfect selection. One of the beers the men were drinking even had a presentation that was really cool and made our minds wander into the gutter a little bit. And for dessert they decorated James plate (see above)! Check out the album for all the photos.

It was a fabulous time. Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us. It was truly what James' wanted for his birthday.

License Plate Game

My favorite thing to do on a long car trip is to play the License Plate Game. If you live under a rock and don't know what I am talking about it is when you look at license plates and try to see if you can find all 50 states. To make the game more interesting we don’t count trailers but only the big rig itself. Canadian plates are bonus as are any territories. During our recent trip to NC for Thanksgiving we saw 37 states, Washington, DC, and three provinces: 

AL    ID     MA    NC    TN  
AK    IL     MI     OH    UT    
AZ    IN     MN    OK    VA  
CA    IA     MT    OR     VT
CT    KS     NV    PA     WV
DE    KY     NH    RI     WI
FL     LA     NJ     SC    Washington, DC
GA    MD    NY     TX

Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Quebec

I can't wait for our trip to NY this month! Eight hours of hunting license plates!