Snowmageddon

2014 has started off with a bang...of snow that is.  Just so happens that an arctic blast collided with a moist warm from right on top of the deep south.  And for us 4 inches of snow here with a layer of ice on the bottom has caused serious issues.  Traffic became the biggest disaster I think I've ever heard about.  My Brothers-in-law David and Joe both had to leave their cars and walk home.  I am so glad they made it home.  There were others that weren't so lucky.  My mom being one of them.  Stuck on I-20 for more than 6 hours in her car she was more of a trooper than I would have been.  After Joe made it home, he put some warmer clothes on, and grabbed some things for mom.  Then headed back out in the cold snow.  He drove as far as he could then walked, on the interstate, to get my mom.  By midnight they had made it back to their house and she stayed the night with them.  This morning she still has to figure out how and if she can get her car off the interstate and if she can make it home.  I know my dad has to be stir crazy being stuck at home and not being able to help her.  I know I am and so are my sisters.

  I have heard stories of strangers sleeping at friends houses after husbands abandoned cars and brought them home with them.  I know the kids school had teachers and staff stay til midnight or longer making sure the children who were stuck had food and fun until their parents could get to them.  The roads were a mess and then the added cars in more numbers than I had ever seen caused so much trouble.  Many times I have defended the south in our reaction to snow.  And I will again.  We are not prepared for this as much as other states who regularly get this kind of cold weather.  So where many states have tons of trucks and chemicals to prepare for this we don't always know if it's really going to even happen.  Predicting snow in the south is so difficult.  There is no normalcy to it.  But give us a tornado or tons of rain and we can tell you what to do and how many twisters we've seen!  Ha!

  Now, I will move to the more fun side of the snow "storm".  The kids were suppose to come home at normal time.  But once the roads became so scary the school quickly had to let out, if any of the kids were going to make it home.  At one forty-five  I was at the bus stop praying that my kids bus would make it to the stop safely and with my kids on it!  Thankfully they did.  There were some kids whose parents weren't there so all the moms came together and we all took kids home that weren't our own!  I just have to say I love our neighborhood!

 At 1:45 we already had this much snow on the ground and it had accumulated on the roads!

   After making it home the kids, of course, wanted to play in the snow.  So I got out all the warm clothes I have and bundled them all up so they could have a snowball fight!  It was great to see smiles when I knew of all the trouble for friends was still happening all around us.

 These are the Marshall kids we brought home with us.  Their mom was stuck in traffic and we had them over for a snowball fight!

Brett has been the one that I have had to force to come in from the snow.  He loves it and doesn't seem to be that bothered by the cold!

  My dogs have been cracking me up in the snow.  Bones gets lost in it because it's up to his shoulders.  Chuck wants to play in it but his feet get so cold he can't walk after awhile.  He tries and just falls over!  I got the doggy heating pad back out for them and Bones is not getting off of it.

 This is Bones being a trooper and going potty outside!  

This is where he is ever other minute of the day!  That's a heating bed that turns on when they step on it.

Our Snow in GA

Yes, we have little flakes of snow blowing in the wind.  We don't usually get much snow in the deep South but when we do I try to capture every moment of it.  And with this snow it has been sunny the whole time!  So the snowflakes have shimmered as they fell.

We enjoyed our Christmas and New Years' celebrations.  With such great friends and family it was easy.  Sometimes life is a struggle for us all, but I love when I am smart enough to enjoy a great moment when it happens.  Well, at least I'm working on getting better at it.  So from the frozen area of Alpharetta, I wish you all a great start to this new year!