So sick of snow.

I'm so sick of snow I could spit. Or curl up in a little ball and sleep until June.* Or have a massage because I'm so tired out from shoveling.

When we had our first REAL snow of the year, back at the middle of December, I thought I could shovel my driveway myself.

I gave it a good try. Granted, having only a mini-car shovel and a big honkin' scoop to do it with, I wasn't exactly what you would call 'equipped' for the task. In fact, that storm ultimately led me to what I believe to be the best decision I made in 2007.

The weekend of our first winter storm I had been in Halifax. To be completely truthful, I actually WENT to Halifax at the beginning of the storm on a Saturday night. I wanted to be there--and honestly, it's just snow. The roads were remarkably clear up until I hit Truro, and by then it was too late to turn around anyway.

It was pretty darned nasty though. I was off on Monday, so went to Gaelic class in town. I stayed on Monday night, in fact, partly because the weather was so icky on Sunday and during the day on Monday. I didn't work until 10am on Tuesday, and wanted to a) milk my visit for as long as I could (because Hey--BED!!! Seriously the best part about visiting Billy for the last month has been sleeping in a real bed--no matter how cramped or uncomfy); b) I wanted to go to Gaelic class in person, and c) the roads were BAD on Sunday night and weren't all that great on Monday night either--an extra day could only help.

It took me almost 3 hours to get back to Amherst on Tuesday morning because the highway was still very snowy, and people are petrified of snow. I got back to my house (late for work already) and had to run into the house to get my uniform. I had to park on the street because the snowdrift at the end of my drive way was 3 feet deep. The top of the drive had blown clear, but the porch steps, and the foot of the drive were snowbound. I scaled the mogul in my sneakers, and dashed off to work.

At work, I wisely purchased the very last snow scoop we had for sale. It was $40 and I very nearly didn't buy it. I HAD a perfectly good snow shovel--in the closet--in Halifax. But I had a feeling the scoop would come in handy some day. (oh what a feeling!)

I worked until 7:30 that night. It was dark. Because I still had no worldly goods, I headed to Wal*mart. I needed boots. And mittens that didn't have a hole in them. I got some great boots in the boys' section. The least ugly, most practical boots that $23.97 will buy. Then I headed home to shovel.

I dug out a path wide enough for my car to squeak through. I shoveled off the front porch so the mail-man wouldn't die delivering my Visa statement. (The poor guy already is risking a hernia from the sheer weight of the thing!) And I parked the car. And I cursed myself for buying a house so close to the NB border. And I cursed myself for being single in a world made for couples. And I realized that I was leaving town for 10 days in just over a week. And that if it were to snow again--even one time--as much as it had this weekend? I'd never, EVER, get caught up again.

So the next day I did the only sensible thing a girl could do. I asked the snow-plow guy from work to add me to his list of people to dig out in the event of a snow-phoon. *cue angels singing*

I've been sooooooo happy the last few days. Oh, I've had to shovel, don't get me wrong. And it's been hard work. But in limited quantities. I've learned how it is that old people can be found dead in their driveways after snow-shoveling induced heart-attacks.

I have a confession. I don't even have a clue how much it's costing me to have my snow moved. And I DON'T CARE.

Exhibit A:



This is my house at noon on December 30th. Note the insane size of my snow hill. I was incredibly grateful to not have had to shovel that hill. Note that the driveway is clear, and pretty much down to the bare pavement. Remarkable day, that was. Nice and sunny. Things melting. Snow clearing. Birds singing. (but only the retarded birds, the ones that weren't smart enough to fly south. Dumb birds!)

It didn't snow all day on the 30th. It waited. Oh, there were warnings. The radio kept telling of 20-25 centimeter snowfalls, followed by rains and possible ice pellets. But snow followed by rain isn't so bad...it means melting. It means no blowing. It means you can get in your car and drive 2 hours to Halifax where all the fun NY Eve stuff is going on. Yeah. It promised.

The snow began to fall around 7 am on Saturday, December 31st. And it fell steadily. And it fell silently. And it fell. And it fell. And it fell. And it didn't stop until about 7:45 pm. At which point the blowing commenced.

The plowing happened all that day, that night, and into the next morning. On Sunday, the plow guy brought dump-trucks to work to cart away the ridiculous amounts of accumulated white stuff. Again, it was a sunny day so stuff began to melt late in the afternoon.

And today? The same thing. SNOW. Oh boy, snow.

We actually closed up shop at 3pm today because we couldn't see the gatehouse from the back door of the store. It's probably about 100 yards? I was afraid I was going to lose what precious staff I have left in a snowbank and not find them until spring.

EXHIBIT B:



This was taken this morning at 8 am. Note how high my mountain has grown? (I'm having the chair-lift installed next week.) I look at that and am sooooo grateful that I only have to shovel the 4 feet that gets stacked in front of the garage doors every time the plow comes. I'm grateful that I don't have to shovel my triple-wide driveway. I'm pissy that the snow manages to stack itself 8 to 12 inches up my front door every single time it snows. But I'm glad. Oooooh boy am I glad that I got Steve to plow my driveway this winter. I don't know how much it's going to cost me--and if it's close to $1000 then next winter I have to buy a snow-blower...but this year? Happy. That's me.

Oh yes...and it snowed and blowed all day long--so the snow mountain is now about a foot higher than in this photo. Yeah. Good times.

Anyway, I'm off to bed, Poppets. This has been a long post, but it feels good to be back to feeling normal again. Welcome to 2008!


*June is likely when my snow mountain will finally begin to melt.