Snowbound for five days

After our second historic winter storm you would think we would get a break. And we did – for one day.

Yesterday a blizzard dropped 10 inches of new snow. A storm that I agree actually was a blizzard, and I’m picky – I’ve read The Long Winter multiple times and have a literary sense for what a real blizzard is. It’s the kind of storm you get lost in while walking home from school and are saved from death only by brushing the edge of the last building in town before wandering onto the prairie forever.

Okay, our blizzard wasn’t that bad. But there were 50 mile an hour wind gusts that blew our powdery new snow all over the place, and visibility was extremely limited.

Meanwhile, Eva and I started to get cabin fever. Matt has been out shoveling every day and even got to go to work for a half day on Tuesday, but Eva and I haven’t seen the outdoors since Friday, aside from the ten minutes we stood on the front stoop on Sunday. Add to that our lack of Internet and a cold (how did I catch a cold while housebound? I am baffled), and I might have been getting a little cranky.

In the name of Mama and baby sanity, we did things we never do, like watching to the local news (all snow, all the time) and figure skating. Matt managed to get Muppets Studio working on his laptop, and Eva visited with Animal and Beaker for a few minutes. As Matt took pictures of Eva watching YouTube (at right), I said, “This is a preview of teenage Eva, lying on the floor and flipping through a magazine… Oh wait, she’ll probably never read magazines.”

The blizzard ended yesterday at dusk and Matt went out to shovel. I strapped Eva to my chest and we stood outside for a half hour. That half hour made all the difference in the world. I saw that there was an end in sight, and Eva was shrieking with laughter by the time I brought her inside for a bath.