More snow pros and cons

Pro: luckily, our city is good with snow removal. We don't usually see these backhoes, but actually picking up the snow and moving it elsewhere is necessary when you get this much. Below is our usual snowplow/salt/sander.

Con: as the snow on the roof melts, it drips onto the front porch. Each morning, there is literally a 2 inch thick layer of ice. At this point, it is nearly impossible to find ice melting salt or sand anywhere, even if we wanted to use some. Although we do have 4 distinct seasons in Maryland and get a dose of snow every year, people around here still go crazy and raid the stores of bread, milk, eggs, etc. It's really unnecessary. In addition, people don't know how to drive on the roads, either driving dangerously fast or dangerously slow. Though our city limits is good with plowing, the main roads and highways are not always plowed logically - 3 lanes will suddenly need to merge into 1 as a wall of snow will halt traffic in lanes. The big pro of living in Rhode Island (we lived in RI for 4 years) is that they really know how to deal with snow. Roads are salted and plowed promptly and properly. I guess the big con is that the potholes in RI are notorious and something serious to contend with after the winter season!

Below, you get a sense of how it's necessary to literally dig your car out.

Though shoveling on a calm, brisk, afternoon can be exhilarating, a cold wind that blows snow/ice into your face doesn't feel so good. After finishing the front, we moved onto the next task - shoveling the perimeter of the house. Why? Because (con), one year there were a few warm days after a big snow that caused the snow around the house to quickly melt and flood our basement!

Other thoughts:

Pro: being in pajamas for a week straight now.

Con: being a kid and having to cancel a sleepover.

Pro: being a kid who doesn't have school for the next several days and being able to reschedule for tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day, or the next day...

Pro: actually paying attention to the needs INSIDE the house (as opposed to neglecting the house for the garden). How come I hadn't realized our wall hangings were outdated? Or that we could really use a new couch? Or that the storage space is at a minimum in this house? Or that the kids' broken dresser really needs to be fixed or replaced?

Con: being out of my gym/work routine, and being stuck in the house means I'm eating just because I'm bored and have probably gained 5 pounds this week. I think I ate 100 cream puffs this week (just went to Costco and was going to bring these to preschool for my little one's birthday).

Con: CABIN FEVER. If you've ever been snowed in, you know what I mean. Family is great and all, but...

And the biggest CON: my sister, BIL, and almost 1 year old niece who has JUST learned to walk were supposed to fly in from North Carolina today. This is too sad to leave you with so I'll think of a final pro...

Pro: I got to hit Blockbuster before this second storm. It was funny because as expected, it was busy, but every customer had about 5 or 6 movies, bracing for another snow-in. Though I rarely have time to watch movies, not working means I don't have to get up at 5am, and that means I get to stay up really late (I am a night owl). I've had a Grey's Anatomy (DVR'd) marathon, watched Truman Show and Remember the Titans, watched The Wrestler last night (still can't get that out of my head), going to watch Julie and Julia tonight, and The Lady in the Water tomorrow night.