Taquitos and back strain

Yesterday, instead of it being a day of rest, was a day of hibernation thanks to a Winter Storm Warning and a forecast of 9-12 inches of snow with gusty winds. I love days like that. I love going out the day before to stock up on necessities like frozen taquitos and a bottle of brown pop. I don't know why that is a staple of hibernation but they are indeed 'must haves' when looking at a day spent at home.

Sunday morn I hopped out of bed and was out shoveling by 7:30. By doing that, I shamed Big A out of bed and dressed in his former work attire to head outside and start up the snow blower since we already had about 6 inches. I love shoveling but I don't love shoveling that much so I happily step aside and let him do the main stuff while I do the minor things like the porch. We also did our widowed neighbor's driveway, sidewalk and porch which she was happy about. I'm glad I married someone who views a snowblower the same way I do - it should be used for more than just your own surfaces. The Lawn Nazi has a big industrial sized one but only uses it for his own driveway (and then he goes back out with a shovel to scrape up the snow that it couldn't get). While Big A is not a fan of inclemate weather, Hooch loves the snow but it was nearly impossible to get him to play in it with me. Because I didn't want to look odd, I too headed back in to watch it fall from the comfort of the living room.

The snow eventually stopped around 4 p.m. so Big A and I headed back out to rid some of the extra 3-4 inches that had fallen since the last time. We and the neighbors on the other side of us then headed down the street to a neighbor's house who had recently had heart surgery. His son-in-law had already somewhat did their driveway so Big A and the other neighbor did his sidewalks. I was in hog heaven walking down an unplowed street as the sun was setting but have you ever tried to pull a snowblower through snow as you head to someone else's house? Don't do it. It has been awhile since I heard the 'f' word come out of someone's mouth as often as it did Big A's as we were heading back home. It was probably well worth another gallon of gas to push it back home while it was running.

After we returned home at 5:30, it was beautiful out. The sky was a dark blue/gray and cloudless, the moon was just starting to come out and the wind wasn't quite as fierce as it had been but still I couldn't get Hooch to play with me. Time for a puppy!