More snow...

is expected in Maryland tonight. I heard 10-12 inches. We still have 3 feet of frozen snow out there now.

Why am I being punished so?

The positive outlook on the prediction is if it snows...

1. I can sleep in tomorrow morning because the kids will be off school.

2. I can skip a trip to the gym because I will shovel snow and get my upper body workout.

3. My kids will be excited.

4. My husband is home this time.

5. More quality family time - yay!

5. Um....


But, if I am being totally honest here the negative outlook is winning the battle because if it snows...

1. My kids will miss another dang day of school.

2. I wasn't going to go to the gym anyway.

3. My kids will be hyperactive excited.

4. They will out of school and fighting all day.

5. I still have to work.

6. We could lose power.

7. I'm ready for spring and tired of wearing Uggs.

8. I want to wear my Tory Burch Revas and skinny jeans.

9. The kids will be in school until July.

10. Our bathroom remodel will be delayed another few days.

11. My floor will get even more dirty with the snow in and snow out of the house.

12. I already washed and packed away the snow pants.

13. I was feeling optimistic when I did that.

14. I might have to have a play date with my son's crazy friends.

15. Did I mention my kids will be fighting?

16. I have a 1/2 a bottle of white wine left in the frig (no wine = no fun).

17. There will be another weekend of no shopping and girlfriend needs to shop!

18. You can call me Nelly. As in Negative Nelly.

19. More quality family time. woo. hoo. Did I mention my kids will be fighting?

20. My cable bill will be huge again because of the on demand video rentals.

That's all. (not!)

21. Our bushes will go another few weeks under heavy icey snow dying slowely every day.

22...

My Favorite T

Even though a Pinot is not my favorite wine, this is one of my favorite t-shirts:

From one of my favorite wineries... La Crema Winery. Sonoma County

Their Chardonnay is excellent!

J.Crew #Fail

WTH?

Who in their right mind would wear this bathing suit? She looks like she's wearing a diaper.

I am curious how many of these bottoms J.Crew sold.
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Now the other J.Crew bathing suits are pretty amazing and I could very well see myself wearing this suit...

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Or this one...

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But definitely NOT the diaper.

It really is the little things

Last week we were in Colorado for our annual ski vacation. Getting out of town was a bit touch and go due to the snow here in the MD/DC area. Seriously... 7o inches of snow in one season IN MARYLAND is uncalled for.

The night before we were scheduled to fly out of Baltimore our flight was cancelled. And there were no alternative flights for us to take.

We were 2 steps away from being seriously screwed on this mostly already paid for vacation (flight, condo, lift tickets, etc - it adds up quick!)

So we hopped in the car and drove 4 hours south to dodge the snow. It was like our very own storm chaser episode but in our case we were running from the tornado because they were calling for snow in VA too!

On our way south we stopped at this little restaurant that my husband had been a few times on past travels. It wasn't fancy... and if I am being totally honest it wasn't very good.

Sorry, but I prefer FRESH greenbeans and not canned.

Any way at the restaurant I commented on the GREAT bright blue plastic cups. I don't know what I loved about these cups. They aren't extraordinary. But I liked 'em.

So on our "let's all go potty before we get back on the road" break my husband secretly bought me a couple of these great cups.

And he gave them to me on Valentine's Day. And it was my best Valentine's Day gift ever.

Imagine ladies -- he really does listen to me every now and again.

hmpf!

Valentine's Day

I love flowers on Valentine's Day.

More and more these days I talk to couples who don't celebrate Valentine's Day - including my parents. When I hear this it makes me sad. Most of the time the husband will say, "she doesn't care about Valentine's Day."

Not true men.

Not true.

What woman wouldn't want flowers saying, "I love you" on the day of LOVE?

I don't care if you do "special things for each other every day" - she would still like to be LOVED on this day. Even if she tells you she doesn't care. She does.

Buy your wife a dang flower you dumb-dumb.

Luckily my husband is not one of these dumb-dumbs. I love flowers on Valentine's day. I do!

Quarters

(not actual photo)

So my son Michael went bowling with a friend Tuesday and I gave him $20 just in case he needed it. I didn't specifically say this is for your bowling games or food only.

So what does the little bugger do?

He cashes his $20 in for $20 in quarters for the arcade games.

That's a lot of quarters.

Did it not occur to him - at any point - that his mother would never ever let him do this? Seriously, boy. Use your common sense.

They weren't at the bowling alley for more than 10 minutes when he pulled this genius stunt.

The mother called me to see if it was OK.

Um... no!

I'll take the 2 hours!

Finally kids in Maryland are going back to school after more than a week off from school due to the massive amount of snow we've been "blessed" with in the last almost 2 weeks.

We got the call today that the kids are have a 2 hour delay tomorrow.

Why... I don't know.

The roads are... have been clear... for several days now.

I don't care. I'm not going to complain.

My kids NEED to go back to school. And I'll take a 2 hour delay over a school closing ANY DAY. It's a good thing my kids are smart (even if i do say so myself) or I'd fear for their test scores. Seriously. Kids need to be in school. ESPECIALLY when their mother is not the home school kind of mom.

And I am not the home school kind.

Me + Patience = a big NOT!

8 bottles of wine on the wall, 8 bottles of wine...

I had 8 bottles of wine in preparation for last weekend's snow storm here in MD. And as of last night I had 7 and half bottles of wine.

You do the math.

That means I drank only 2 glasses of wine in the 3 and a half days of being snowed in.

What is wrong with that picture?!

Yes, I felt fine. No, I wasn't drinking vodka or beer. Yes, it was my favorite type of wine. No, I didn't forget it was there. Yes, I still love my wine. No, I'm not giving it up.

I guess I just wasn't in the mood.

Puh-lease.

Say it isn't so Mother Nature.

You just dumped nearly 30 inches of snow on us this weekend and now I hear you are dumping another 20? WTF? Don't you know MD is almost a southern state and we aren't suppose to get more than a foot of snow a year?

Ever hear of global warming?

The Storm of the Century

So it looks like we're going to get a boat load of snow here in the MD - DC area. A boat load meaning 2+ feet. And if you read my last post you know this means I am not going ANYWHERE in the next 3 days.

And I am doing what I can to maintain my composure.

I am one wrong step away from having a full blown panic attack. Yeah, I am serious. The next 3 days are going to royally suck for me.

Not because it's cold and snowy.

Not because my kids will be in and out of the house all day for two days straight dragging dirty snow into my semi clean house.

Not because we will have snow clothes, hats, mittens, boots, etc laying around the kitchen/mud room for two days.

Not because I am going to have to shovel a path from our back door for Holly to go out and have a comfortable area to do "her business."

Not because my kids are going to watch enough TV to last them a month.

Not because I will watch enough TV to last ME a month.

Not because I am alone making sure my kids are safe, happy and comfortable while we're stuck.

I am near panic because my husband is in California and due to come home Saturday afternoon right when the snow is going to be at it's heaviest and wettest.

Meaning he's not coming home.

Meaning if something happens I will have to deal with it.

Meaning I don't have someone to take care of me.

Meaning if the power goes out we are stuck in a cold dark house because I can't drive my mazda.

Meaning I have to pay the neighbor boy to shovel our walk and driveway because it's not in my job description.

Meaning I'm going to be lonely at night.

Meaning I'm going to have to figure out how to open the flue of the fireplace if we want to (or have to) build a fire.

Meaning I'm going to have to build a fire.

Meaning I'm going to miss him.

sniff.

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(disclaimer: I am thankful we have a shelter and food and I do fully intend to take full advantage of the quality alone time with my children and I might even break out a craft or two!)

Mazda CX-7 #FAIL

If you used to read my old blog you may remember my new car situation about 2 years ago. Here's the abbreviated version...

I had a Tahoe, my husband sold it when he bought another bigger car, he told me I'd get a new car "soon" but in the meantime I could drive his brand new Avalon, I hated the Avalon, he reneged on our deal, I had to drive the Avalon, I whined, cried and pouted until he agreed to my new car, all I wanted was a Mazda CX-7, I got one, I loved it, I even monogrammed it.

Flash forward 2 years and 1 month.

While we were at church for my son's first reconciliation on Saturday morning it started to snow. By the time we left the church at 10:30 there was an inch or more on the road. Big whoop, right? It was slippery. Lilly and I had to run to the mall to pick up the fuzzy blanket we had monogrammed for her friend's birthday. On our way to the mall I was driving very carefully (yeah, I'm one of those slow snow drivers). At the mall intersection my anti-lock breaks kicked into gear and I freaked. I know about anti lock breaks. I was gently pushing on the gas and nothing was happening.

NOTHING. As in no acceleration (that's not normal, is it?)

I freaked. I put the hazard lights on so the ass behind me who was honking at me to go would know my sudden immobility was not by choice. We were in the middle of the intersection. Cars were coming. And I was trying to stay calm so I wouldn't scare my daughter but freaking and crazy was about to surface. I may or may not have said a bad word - loud enough for my daughter to clearly hear.

We made it to the mall. I foolishly thought it was a one time situation because that intersection was extra slippery. We shopped. I was calm by the time we got in the car to drive home.

Again, I was driving cautiously and for those of you who complain that people can't drive in the snow should stay off the roads... I 100% agree. But sometimes even people who can drive in the snow have the wrong kind of car to be driving in the snow... and they should still stay off the roads! People who can't drive in the snow AND have the wrong kind of vehicle for driving in the snow should really stay off the roads (my hand is raised). And your honking only makes it worse. Patience people. Have just a little.

My sporty little Mazda CX 7 does not handle well in the snow. I had two more freak out moments on my way home but we made it home in one piece.

So my cute little sporty Mazda CX 7 that I fought so hard to get was a major #FAIL in the snow. If you live where it doesn't snow... you'll love it as much as this almost 40 year old mom does. If you're looking for a car that will get you to and from the mall in the snow safely - do not buy a Mazda CX-7.