Snow Much Fun And Then Some

Yesterday we received about 11 inches of snow.

Yes, that is a lot of snow for here, especially since we received 5 inches just a couple days before.

And yesterday's snow wasn’t just any old snow either…it was perfect snowman snow. Wet and heavy and perfect for packing.

Some might say it was perfect for snowball fights, but we don't tolerate such violent activities here at the PBA. All those Nerf weapons are merely for show.

Church was canceled due to the weather. It’s not that we are wimps…most churches and businesses and frankly almost everything was closed. (It's still closed...they have already closed schools for tomorrow. Tomorrow. Not the PBA, of course, which has gone over well, I must say...but I digress.)

But since the air temps weren’t cold (comparatively) yesterday, Mr. Always Random took the PBA outside to play. 

And shovel.

As an aside, Mr. Always Random cleared the driveway 4 times yesterday.

Indy so desperately wanted to go outside. Oh, the whining at the door…I couldn’t stand it so I sent him outside too.

He loved it.

And was very helpful in building the snowman…as you can only imagine.

In fact, you don’t even have to imagine because I took pictures. 

From inside. No way was I going out in that.

The three (four if you include Indy) of them ended up building two snowmen, as well as an Indy replication; apparently Indy was a tough critic of the 12yo’s work because he knocked down his replica at least three times in the process.

Notice the dog's chain...that didn't work for too long and he had to be relegated to a different location.

Notice the tree branch to emulate the fluffy tail. That’s my favorite part.
Also, notice Indy in the background...he was running around in the snow like a spaz.

No, my lens wasn't dirty...those are big fat snowflakes falling...they were the biggest ones I've ever seen.

By the end of the day, the arms were weighed down with snow.

Today they have taken on new personas because the Packers lost...so the snowmen wanted to take off their Packers Fan gear.

Fairweather fans? (See what I did there?...it's ok, you can laugh.)

You can tell by how the “new” hat is sitting how much snow we got over the course of yesterday.

That mound is the "Snow Indy"

And as an aside, I must confess that yes, we do have a “How To Build A Snowman” kit, as it were, complete with all the essential pieces for the quintessential snowman.

Because I am cheap (some might say thrifty), I didn’t buy it full price. Or even half price. It was marked WAY down, because it was end of season. And the box was damaged (which, of course, affects the interior contents how?) so they took even more off.

It has come in quite handy… because I rarely have what we need to make the face, we are always prepared. What…are we supposed to be creative?

And who doesn’t love a pre-fab looking snowman?

Personally I think the Cheesehead gave it a certain “je ne sais quoi”, don’t you?

Anyway…the snow is not exactly what I wanted to write about today. I have a PSA for you.

Well, for those of you who get temperatures which dip below freezing and linger there for a while.

You know how pipes on outside walls can freeze, and eventually rupture?

Well, no worries, that didn’t happen to us. We have had pipes freeze up on us in the past but never burst (knocking on wood as I type…ok not really, it makes it too difficult to type… but you understand…).

No, no the PSA about which I am talking is in reference to how you try to keep the pipes from bursting.

You know what I mean…the part about keeping cabinet doors open so warm air from the room circulates into the cabinet and around the pipes.

The second part of that being to leave the faucet on with a tiny drip or trickle of water running out.

Well, these things are uber-helpful to keep in mind, and put into practice.

BUT…yes, you knew there had to be one…BUT, when instructing your children about such things, there are two things which you should keep in mind:

1.  Make sure your children understand what a “trickle” is...and that having a faucet “on” vs having a faucet “on a trickle” are two very different things.

2.  Make sure that the sink does not have a clog and does, in fact, drain properly.

You are a super-astute readership so I know you can see where this is going…the good news is we now have:

• A bathroom sink and counter which have been completely wiped down.
• A bathroom cabinet which has been cleaned out of any extraneous supplies, including those bothersome extra rolls of toilet paper and boxes of Kleenex…all of which had quadrupled in size in their attempts to soak up excess water. (As an aside, I have to admit that I threw up a little bit in my mouth when I picked up the soaked roll of toilet paper, even though I knew it was only soaked with water from the sink; there’s just something about soggy toilet paper that makes me gaggy. Don’t judge.)
• A set of bathroom cabinet interiors which were wiped down in their entirety and are completely crude-free.
• Cabinet doors which have also been wiped down and are also completely crude-free.
• Bathroom floors which have also been mopped…and are...say it with me: crude-free.
• A linen closet which has been liberated from all those free-loading towels that were hanging around in there doing nothing.
• A washing machine which gets to do its job and wash a load of towels at the beginning of the week (we don’t usually do that…towel-washing day is on Friday, unless someone is sick).

How’s that for being glass-half-full? I am trying…and speaking of staying positive, I ONLY have the rest of today and all day tomorrow until I SHOULD be able to leave the house.

I am POSITIVE I may go insane by then.

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