Blogging about life in Minnesota, raising our six kids with Down syndrome while battling Breast Cancer.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, "Oh shit! She's up!"

Monday, November 10, 2014

Here Comes Winter

Sunday night:
We live in Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes and a lot of cold. Last year we, along with the rest of the country, put up with the Polar Vortex multiple times (would that be Polar Vorti?) making it one of our coldest, and longest, winters on record.

For the last several days there have been rumblings of a big winter storm coming. Its a little early for this type of storm, but most of us remember THE BIG ONE of Halloween, 1991. It brought with it weeks of dealing with washboard roads and general mess.

This morning we woke up to this headline


A headline like this causes mothers - ok, maybe a few dads - to move into panic mode. Its time to hunker down!!!

Are there groceries on hand?

Where is all the winter gear? Does everyone have boots? Snowpants? WHERE are all the snowpants?

OMG where are the snow pants?????

Is the snowblower running and is there gas for it?

This kind of preparation was not on my agenda for today. I had planned on getting all laundry and the kids' bedding cleaned and their rooms thoroughly cleaned. Dean is sick so he would be trying to get some rest. (this ended up not working so well.)

I ran around here like a semi-organized maniac all day. First, got Audrey's laundry going. (thats 2 loads) Next into the washer was a whole load of hats, gloves and mittens that needed to be cleaned. While those were going Tyler got everyone outside for some fresh air and I made a trip to Costo to stock up on a few things. I needed to get boots for Abel (which they didn't have) and winter coat and snowpants for Audrey.

When I came home I focused on the girls' bedroom, getting all their bedding, including comforters washed and dried. (three more loads) I went through their collection of jackets and packed away all the light-weight, off season things so Audrey stops dragging them around the house. Angela helped me clean up Audrey's toys and get the room vacuumed.

Next was a load of 5 winter coats and 4 pr snow pants that needed to be washed. When that was done Axel's laundry went in. As I type Asher's clothes are in the wash.

Have you kept tally on the loads of laundry? That's NINE loads of laundry I've done today! I still have about six more to go since so much time was spent doing bedding and winter gear. Normally I do laundry throughout the week but with my surgical incisions my mobility has been limited. Everything is so far behind so I'm busting butt trying to get caught up.

Dean and Tyler moved the motorcycles around to get the snowblower to the front where it is easily accessible.

At least I know all the kids will be appropriately dressed for the weather that is threatening. Ok, maybe not Abel.

Monday morning: Welcome to winter! The snow arrived around midnight last night and we expect to get around 10 inches in our area. The kids are all wound up because they may end up coming home early today. I hate the snow that arrived so early. It is going to make our winter soooo much longer.

3 comments:

Rubypat said...

It's hard to comprehend what winter in your area must be like! In the southern hemisphere we're getting our summer - and had one day of 36 degrees celcius on Sunday - our hottest day so far this season.
Good luck with your winter!

Cindy said...

Oh my goodness! We've been hearing about this cold coming down from Canada. We're in Seattle so the only thing we're expecting is temps in the 30's. Not happy about that. :(

eliz said...

12 inches here today :o)
And I had everything ready but the boots. Why do feet grow so fast?? :o)
((((HUGS)))))) and prayers
and yes it looks like a long winter!