Ice Ice Baby

I heard Mindy’s phone buzzing/vibrating, but at the time I had no idea what it was. However, not knowing what it was wasn't really that important. What mattered most is that it woke me. For Mindy, though, it was the call she had hoped for. School was canceled. She learned that Hilliard schools were closed too, so both she and the kids would be home all day. I rolled out of bed and went to brush my teeth. It was 540a. Out the back door, I could see that we got the ice storm that the forecasters called for. Everything was coated in a thick ice. I proceeded with my sit-ups then took a gander at the weather via my PC. Temperature was hovering around 28 degrees, and it was expected to hold fairly steady throughout the day along with more icy rain. In fact, supposed to be under a winter storm warning through Wednesday. Next on the agenda, push-ups. I did 57. Not sure why I did the extra two – just because. Can’t remember if I poured my coffee before or after taking Frankie out. I do know this, Frankie wasn’t too thrilled to be out there. I had to carry her from the deck to the yard. The deck was like an ice rink, but so was the snow covered ground. IN some places, her weight was enough to break through the snow, while not at all in others. It was a tumultuous time for Frankie. I worried that she might not be able to focus on relieving herself, but happily she proved me wrong. We were both happy to get back inside out of the icy rain. Footing was treacherous for us both. I worried how my run might unfold. Oh boy! I enjoyed my coffee then relaxed with some meditation and later stretching. I was about 20 minutes behind my usual schedule but didn’t allow that to sway my approach. After all, with the kids and Mindy not going to school, I wouldn’t need the same amount of time to prepare for my day. I headed out for a run just a few minutes behind schedule, but still before 640a. The front steps and driveway were covered in about a 1/3” of smooth and solid ice. Not taking any chances, I sat on my ass to get off the porch in one piece. I then slipped under the weeping mulberry tree and through the yard eventually making my way to the street. The sidewalks were unusable, slicker than I’ve ever seen ‘em. Our street, being one of the main roads through the subdivision, had apparently been salted sometime through the night. It was iced over, but with the added benefit of being chunked up just enough to give me some traction. I kept my run exclusively to the roads. On the lesser and untraveled roads footing was tricky at best. At times my gate was reduced to less than one foot per step. The trick to running on ice is no sudden change of direction. Plus, I rely more heavily than ever on my eyes and ears to alert me of approaching cars or a sudden change of terrain. Somewhere along the trail, I decided to edit my run to three miles. Why push my luck? I arrived back at home no worse for the wear and quite content that I was able to finish a very difficult run without incident. I took a few minutes to cast some salt on the driveway and sidewalk to help melt off the ever mounting ice. In fact, it continued icing through the duration of my run. After stripping off my wet outer layers I started preparing my lunch and breakfast. I opted to make a cheese and bacon omelet for breakfast. I threw together a quick lunch that consisted of a lettuce salad, cheese chunks, and a banana. Bella came down while I was busy in the kitchen and asked if there was school. Once she got work that there wasn’t she quickly disappeared back up the stairs only to return a few minutes later with Jacob. Said they were going to the basement to play hockey. Wow! Not so fast. You’ll wake your mother, and trust me, neither of you want that.  They took my advice and went about their business more quietly upstairs. The omelet was terrific. I could’ve eaten more. Frankie wasn’t too pleased that there were no scraps left for her. Sorry, Frankie. It was about 740a when I headed up for a shower. Mindy woke as I entered the bedroom but remained in bed through most of my shower and prep. She got up just before I was ready to head downstairs. I took my dear old time organizing my gear for work. I went out to start and de-ice the Trooper first. I knew it would take a while for the ice to melt off. I had coffee with Mindy while waiting for it to clear. We chatted briefly about what triggered her outburst at HV last Friday night. At 830a I headed out knowing I’d still have to scrape some ice. Yep, I did. The ice came off easier that I thought it might. Apparently it rained before icing leaving a thin layer of liquid water underneath the ice. I scraped it clear then barreled down the road towards work. Once out of the subdivision the roads were clear. No ice. Of course the reason schools were closed had little to do with the condition of the main roads. Instead, they were closed because the walks and subdivision roads were iced over. It was still icing when I arrived at work. Wisely, I raised my wiper blades away from the windshield before heading inside. Didn’t want them buried in ice by day’s end. I was surprised that all but one team member made it in to the office. The one who was out was working from home. Midday the icing stopped, but only briefly. That was predicted. Unfortunately, it was expected to pick up again around rush hour, and according to some, get even worse than Monday night. I called mom some time in the afternoon to see how she was fairing after her surgery last Thursday. Sounded pretty good, upbeat even. Said she had a cold, however. We talked for about five minutes. I talked with Mindy a couple of times. She said her and the kids scraped the driveway clear of all the ice. Wow! I know first hand how difficult of a job that is. They left for a trip to Target late afternoon. Said there was no currently no precip. I shared that the forecast wasn't so promising, expected to start up again around 5p. The radar confirmed just that. It looked nasty just to our west. In kind, I asked if it might make sense to cancel Bella’s adoption day dinner at Minelli’s. Given the current weather, Mindy didn’t want to. I conceded. But not 30 minutes passed before she called back and agreed that we should cancel. Apparently the icing started up again just as it was predicted to do. It was a very busy late afternoon in the office. I ended up working until 6p. Mindy asked that I call just before leaving. I called as I was walking out the door, Bella answered. Told me to drive safe. Cute! I had to scrape away another thick coating of ice before heading home. It was still coming down, too, and even harder than that morning. I took my time driving home. Being in any type of hurry couldn’t end well. Like earlier, the main roads weren’t in too bad of shape at all. However, as soon as I turned into the subdivision that changed. Our street was a slick sheet of ice. And the down hill and bridge just before our home was the slickest of all. Mindy was on the driveway chipping away more ice when I pulled up. I was worried about parking along the curb, a sure recipe for disaster. Just asking for my Trooper to be side swiped. I quickly dropped my gear inside and headed back out to help clear the rest of the drive. She had it ¾ of the way done already. Jacob headed out to help too. I saw they ordered a pizza. I woofed down a slice of that on my way out the door. I showed them how a real man scrapes away the ice. Jacob commented that I made a lot of noise with the square shovel. Yep! We salted the crap out of it too. Once it was drivable, I pulled the Trooper halfway up the drive to get it out of the road. We all headed inside. Mindy & the kids were in good spirits after their snow day. Mindy eagerly warmed my dinner, leftover beef stroganoff. I snacked on another slice of that yummy Minelli’s pizza too. Dinner was good. I shared my thoughts about Wednesday school. No chance! Walks and side streets worse that earlier today. Expecting icing and heaving rain all through the night with temps hovering around freezing. But the forecasts varied source to source. Some said it was stay around 31 degrees while others said it would get as high as 36 overnight. As it was, some of our tree branches were starting to droop significantly, and other less fortunate neighbors were already dealing with downed trees and branches. In fact ,we had a 3" diameter branch down out back. More ice could spell doom for our trees. Then, once the ice and rain stops, it’s supposed to snow and drop into the teens. Great! After dinner we celebrated Bella’s adoption day with a sheet of brownies, a candle, and a song. That was fun. Afterwards, I published a few blog entries and then poured a Jack & Coke. I then went to the familyroom sofa where Bella was sitting watching a DVD, Bedtime Stories. Ugh! Seen it at least 10 times. We rarely let her watch programming on our TV, but no one else was watching TV at the time. Instead of insisting on changing the channel, I sat and watched with her. However, I quickly lost interest and dosed off. I woke around 1010p and headed up to bed. Mindy was already there but reading a book. The light was somewhat bothersome, but I dealt with it. I knew that I’d be asleep in a matter of minutes.