Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Snowmageddon, 2011

Holy CRAP, that's a lot of snow!

Like, snow on top of snow on top of snow.

Honestly, I think we're approaching 4 feet of snow in the back yard. Any self-respecting ski mountain would be happy with that. BUT IT'S MY BACK YARD!

Today was our third snow day off from school. And my husband's away. Not just anywhere... New Orleans. Yes, the city of my lost weekend with my sister where I ran away from home 4 months after Grace's diagnosis, and one month after the stomach bug from hell exploded in my house sending us back to the hospital.

Ah, the memories.

But back to the snow.

Have you ever watched The Deadliest Catch? It's a reality show about Alaskan King Crab fisherman. It's, as the title implies, an extremely dangerous profession. One thing they have to deal with is ice build-up on the boat. When too much ice builds up, the boat becomes top heavy and at risk of capsizing. This would be bad. So the crew has to take hammers and mallets and bang the ice off the boat. Like, 4 inch thick ice. But these are manly men and though they don't seem to enjoy this task, they know that it's something that must be done.

Now picture me, doing the same thing, on my back porch today. Hammer in hand, banging, banging, banging at two inch thick ice build-up. If this isn't done my house won't capsize, but it will create a fertile haven for ice dams. For those of you in warmer climates, an ice dam is when snow melt gets trapped behind roof ice, has nowhere else to go, so leaks into your house. This has happened before, resulting in anywhere from a small water stain on my wall to a nice rain shower in my kitchen (entire ceiling needed to be replaced). With my beloved husband away on business, the job of removing the ice falls on me. Good times.

I have to keep a close eye on Grace's blood sugar numbers in this weather, as slogging through 4 feet of snow takes a HUGE amount of energy, and she tends to drop quickly. Also, it seems that when she's out in the cold she doesn't feel the symptoms of a low blood sugar. So we test more often and are more liberal with the sugar free hot chocolate. I've also discovered that she ROCKS pasta on these types of days. She can have a regular portion of pasta and doesn't even need an extended bolus and her numbers stay level. WOO-HOO! (The story of how we discovered this is a blog post all it's own. Stay tuned.)

So here's to hoping that ice dams don't form, it won't rain in my kitchen, Grace's blood sugar doesn't go low tonight due to all the activity, and my husband returns home on Saturday as planned and doesn't get stuck in the next snow storm.

7 comments:

  1. Oh BABY you are speaking a language I understand...."deadliest catch" and "ice dams" been there done that ...and ... I keep going back for more fishing!

    We got quite a bit of snow here too. I swear the piles around the ice rink are 5 feet high. I'll try and get a pic soon.

    xoxo

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  2. Oh I have been thinking of you up way more north than us! I am so sorry about the ice dams! 2nd snow day here. I love that she rocks the pasta on days like this! Hang in there. Snow melts and two more months til Spring!

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  3. Ice dams... interesting. I guess I learned my new thing for the day!

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  4. WOW. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll say a prayer for your sanity...and that ice dam!!!!!

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  5. Lots of WARM wishes headed your way...and to think my kids are complaining about our "cold" storm of highs in the 40's......

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  6. Ice Dam - Hmmm!! Don't have those in my parts. :)

    Hang in there!!

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  7. Oh wow! Sounds like our winter LAST year. Yep. I am totally enjoying seeing other parts of the country get some of the action we saw last winter. Totally enjoyed your story! Took me back to some great memories . . . . well maybe not so great . . . but took me back, anyway! ;)

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