Thursday, February 3, 2011

Snowmageddon

Holy cow...make that holy WHITE cow! Our blizzard warning went into effect on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The news all day was that the "Blizzard of 2011" was on its way. People were storming the grocery stores, stocking up on food and water. (I, myself, went grocery shopping on Monday morning...thus avoiding the lines and crowds. I get a gold star for being prepared. I also made sure we had gas for the snow blower. Make that two gold stars for me. Actually, just make that gold jewelry.) The news coverage started on Tuesday night and people were told to stay off the roads. They interviewed one couple in Grand Rapids who were the only customers in a restaurant. They seemed surprised they were able to park right across the street from the restaurant and they were the only diners. Duh...smart people were at home...or had the delivery guy bring them pizza. Schools closed left and right around the region...even the colleges (yay, Keaton!). Reporters on the news led people to believe that the end of the world was coming...not quite Armageddon, but Snowmageddon.

We awoke to about a foot of the white stuff on Wednesday morning. Turning on the TV, all local stations were broadcasting live news feeds from around the area. "The Blizzard of 2011" was top news around the area...and I didn't get my Matt Lauer fix for the day. Not good. The news crews stood in snow drifts and reported that we had a lot of snow. Yep. The news crews stood on sidewalks not shoveled and reported we had a lot of snow. Yep. The news crews stood in snow drifts next to roads and reported that a lot of roads were not plowed. Yep. The news crews reported that people were stranded in their vehicles because they were stuck in the ROADS THAT WERE NOT PLOWED. THESE WERE THE SAME ROADS THAT THE STATE POLICE WARNED PEOPLE FROM DRIVING ON...PERIOD. This latest breaking news kept me from watching The Today Show...and Matt Lauer. I get so frustrated with people who fail to heed advice...and news reports on these people and their mistakes and then make me miss out on my morning ritual.

So, with all that said, Matt (not Matt Lauer...sigh) worked from home on Wednesday. We opened the garage door to about a foot of snow. Poor Cyrus jumped in the fluffy white stuff and promptly disappeared. I tried to get Cyrus to wear his cute little booties, but he just kept kicking them off. Unfortunately, Matt couldn't get the snow blower to start on the tractor, so I started shoveling. I'll just say that I shoveled the porch, sidewalk and about 1/10 of the driveway before the neighbor came over and plowed for us. There are still nice people in the world.

Awakening this morning, there were lots of schools closed again today...including Plainwell. (Sorry, Keaton.) I was so happy to see the sun coming up and my life back to normal; no local live news feeds reporting on "The Blizzard of 2011" and Matt Lauer live on The Today Show. It'll be a good day.