BLIZZARD! And not the DQ yummy kind.

Like the rest of the east coast of Newfoundland I woke to the cheery news that Environment Canada had issued a weather advisory for the Bonavista and Avalon peninsulas for tonight and into tomorrow night. A blizzard. And to just make it clear just what we're talking about here, here's the link to the advisory : http://dd.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/bulletins/alphanumeric/20120203/WW/CWHX/09/WWCN16_CWHX_030900___60515    Scary stuff right?  Well, wikipedia defines a blizzard as this : A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have sustained winds or frequent gusts that are greater than or equal to 56 km/h (35 mph) with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or less and must last for a prolonged period of time — typically three hours or more. Snowfall amounts do not have to be significant.

Gus, age 4 watching the snow fall!

 I am a big believer in Santa, unicorns and yes I'll admit it, I have even seen a UFO or two in my time... right Erin? But I am not a big believer in the forecasts issued for Newfoundland. Even the BEST meteorologists will tell you that there is just too many variables at play in our position out here in the North Atlantic to allow them to be perfectly accurate as to snowfall amounts, paths of the systems, wind speeds and durations of the storms.  We don't get upset. We just accept that they were wrong yet again, put on our big girl panties and drudge on. Now, despite their woefully inaccurate track record when the meteorologists issue a forecast for a blizzard a lot of people get really worked up. Not me. This is one retired school teacher who was disappointed a few too many times when my phone did NOT ring at 6:30 am with the joyous news of school closures.  Not getting ME again! I figure it will be windy tomorrow and we will get snow, but in the aftermath of the event, the reports will probably in all likelihood be that we were spared the brunt of the storm. Best case scenario.

I looked out at the brilliant sunshine today and wanted to scoff... I really did. I wanted to pretend that tomorrow was going to be a perfectly normal weekend Saturday morning. But alas, I failed miserably. I started to feel like maybe there might be something to this afterall. So off I went to the store and bought chocolate chips... gotta have a bit of chocolate during a BLIZZARD!  I stopped at Sears and picked up the bed skirt that I found that actually matches Ryan's bedroom (only been looking for 3  years!) and came home to settle in for the big event. Dusted, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom and then I spied the pretty new bed skirt.

Changing a bed skirt is freaking hard work. By yourself. Exhausting gut wrenching work. But my mind went on a rollercoaster ride like this: I want to reclaim the mattress that is on Ryan's queen sized bed, because it is so much more comfortable than the new one we bought for our bed three years ago, and if I am going to put on the bed skirt, now would be a great time to change the mattresses over and then I could change the sheets in our bed, because everyone knows rumpling up the clean sheets during a blizzard is a whole lot of fun, and if I am changing the sheets now would be a great time to switch out the mattress and even tho it will be hard work, if I wait for hubby to come home he will discourage me and say he'll do it tomorrow and by then the blizzard might be passed by and rumpling up the clean sheets is not nearly as much fun as it could have been in a blizzard, so I am going to do it NOW! PHEW. I was exhausted just thinking about it.

And these are the things I learned today:
 1. I am not nearly as strong as I was before I met my husband 8 years ago. OR... Mattresses have gotten a whole lot heavier in 8 years.
2. Queen sized mattresses need a lot of space and cannot occupy the same bedroom at the same time... Newton was right about that one!
3. Sliding Mattress A into the bathroom to avoid an encounter with Mattress B is in theory a good idea. But when Mattress A sort of collapses in the door way and gets jammed I am expressively happily overjoyed that
4. We just finished installing bathroom #2 in the basement.
5. And no matter HOW tired hubby is when he gets home on this Friday afternoon, he WILL be moving the mattresses the rest of the way into their final resting places. I am knackered.

SO happy blizzard weekend everyone! Hope you all have fun rumpling your sheets during the blizzard and if the blizzard just happens to pass you by? I hope you have fun rumpling your sheets.

Love from Lethbridge!


UPDATE: 3 pm the SAME day!

 I pushed through and got the mattresses moved! And I think the effort was TOTALLY worth it!! Any guesses how long it takes hubby before he notices  a) he's sleeping on a different mattress and b) the bedskirt now matches!???

Having a Blahy Time... The January Blahs

Well the good news is, they are about to end. It is, after all, the 27th of January as I write this and no matter how bad the month has been, there are only 4 days left to be " Blahy" !  Unfortunately next comes February with its usual snowstorms, winter colds, icy roads and even more blahy days. You will note that I did not use quotation marks on  "blahy" that time. I think we can all agree that it is a word that should work its way into our everyday lexicon. "How are you today?" could be the question, and this one word answer, "Blahy." would suffice, nay triumph! as the reply. No you aren't sick, no you aren't home hiding under the covers, but you're seriously not in sync with the weather, the boredom, the mindnumbing sameness of each day that is January and February in our fair land.

Now I can see people jumping up and down and shouting at their computer screens. There are those that enjoy winter (a shout-out to my stepson Mark here!) and are excited to see the snow fall and go to bed each night hoping for more! Alas I am not made of such fibers! I do enjoy a good snowshoeing venture on a sunny Saturday a couple of times a season, but beyond that winter just leaves me.... blahy.

Living next door to a Department of Highways depot can be blamed partially for this. Do you know that SALT and SAND are delivered in July!? For a week in July,  the trucks delivering the salt and sand to  the depot are non-stop. Their jake brakes and gears changing sing out to me, "Winter's coming! Winter's coming!" One memorable year, the boat must have been docked in Catalina (Bonavista?) and every single load of the traction giving substances was paraded along by our living room window. Fun. AND then when winter arrives every truck that leaves the depot and passes along by our house headed north, are still changing gears as they pass the window... How can you not notice?  Is there anything more blawy in the winter world than the sound of the plow blades clanging along as they wing back the snow after a huge snowfall? Probably not. While I am not driving in winter on snowy days, many of the people I love are... I can hear Ryan and Raisa chuckling all the way from the beaches in the Phillipines... and the thoughts of those people driving in winter...makes me SO blahy!

I hesitate bringing up the next blah-inducing item on my list. It is a touchy subject. Not with children... they love it. Not with teachers... they are thankful for it... But the rest of you out there? Probably not big fans. I'll whisper it quietly, SNOWDAYS,,,  So you're all thinking, but you were a teacher why are they blahy for you? WERE is the operative word here folks. Since retirement, I've tried to awaken and feel the same little lift on school closure days but I just can't muster it! The first year I followed the routine that 30 years of snow days had instilled in me... "Make this day COUNT!"  I would find a project that just couldn't be done after supper or was too messy to be handled on a weekend, and I would go to it! Closets got cleaned out, cupboards re-arranged, quilts got cut out and partially assembled, rooms got painted... not all on one day, but you get the drift.(Pardon my pun there)  Snow days were productive! Now I get 365 snow days a year. And I could be really really really productive, but instead snow days just remind me that  I am not as productive as I sh/could be. They tell me that I am aging and that things that I looked forward to with gusto, are now just a little too much for the old back to handle. ( Yes I meant to use "back" there... not "hack"... as many of you thought!) ... BLAH!

While we're on the topic of my back... let's trot out the next item. Limited mobility. There is NO one who will argue this one! Just the words can send shivers down my spine.  Limited mobility is a big reason that I am still on my weight loss journey. I don't want it. No way!  I want to give these hips and knees and my pretty little spine a fighting chance! Get that weight off. Stay active. Be flexible. MOVE! And along comes January. First Mr. January sends us a lovely coating of beautiful white fluffy stuff... and decides to wash it away. I'm with you so far, Mr. J. But wait! He doesn't wash all of it away, he leaves enough in the walkways and driveways that he then turns to solid sheets of ice. And then changes his mind once again, and sprinkles just enough white stuff to cover up the places where the ice is lurking below. Evil. Pure Evil.  Remember that snowshoeing I was talking about? Last Saturday we had enough snow to go for a little jaunt. Missy Erin skipped along on top of the snow like the little butterfly that she is. Her Mama and Step-Paul being twice her weight, had our snowshoes hit bottom every step... right to the ice that was EVERYWHERE on the trail. I fell twice... graceful backward tumbles that caused no damage, and I slipped forty or fifty times. You know those slips? One foot is firmly planted in the North snowbank and the other foot heads south faster than a plane full of Newfoundlanders headed to Cuba.  ( MY first analogy was a E/W one with a boatful of Tamil refugees but I thought this one was more politically correct). IN anycase, the splits are not on my list of approved stretches for the geriatric body. We headed home and built a snowman in the front yard. On the flat, in an area six feet away from the front step... safe territory for those with that damn limited mobility. BLAH!

So the blahs are here to stay... I will have my blahy days. Galaxy Radio is delivering at this very moment, Anne Murray's "Snowbird"... HONEST! I swear! And while the sentiments expressed in that classic song are so apt for a person of my ilk, "If I could you know that I would fly away with you..."
These lines will keep me here with my quilting, doll clothes and loving husband...limited mobility and all.
"Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean
The unborn grass lies waiting for its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings the song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers that will bloom again in spring."

I hope Ryan and Raisa are enjoying their time in the hot sunny days of Manila! As for me? I don't necessarily love Lethbridge at this time of the year, but there is enough to love about Lethbridge the rest of the year to keep me smiling through the blahy days of winter!

Talk to you all later... I am off to shovel snow and daydream a little about those beautiful Lethbridge sunsets!