I can see Clearly Now...

So, snow is frustrating when it piles up, freezes, piles higher, keeps falling from the sky, freezes more, piles higher and never seems to end.
This kind of snow can cause an uncommon amount of stress into one's household.  Even to the point of one's 5 year old, sensitive and darling daughter to say "no!  I don't want any more snow!" when a simple 3-6 inches is in the forecast for the overnight.
Each storm that has hit since Christmas was a big one.  Not one storm that has been forecasted has failed to perform.  In fact, most have outdone themselves.
And each. one. has. been. on. a. weekday. while. Jay. was. away.
I have plowed, snowblowed and shoveled more snow in the past 2 months than I have ever moved in my life.  Seriously.  You can ask my dad.

Then, we had 2 beautiful days in the 50's.  I actually wore my flip-flops to bring the garbage pails up one day when it was a balmy 36.
The snowbanks melted down more than a foot.  My driveway and the roads widened.  We can see our new pool deck again and the mailbox is reachable from the road again.  I could actually resume our mail delivery.

With the big meltdown came some wet ceilings and walls.  There's water in the walls, water in the ceilings...  who knows where else.
Annoying but certainly a homeowner's claim - not a life-threatening issue.  Our roof did not collapse, we did not lose water, power or run out of oil.

Bathroom ceiling.

We could just style the rest of the living room in the same "Jungle Striped" theme that the wet ceiling started.

Aside from an aching back and some snippy moments of exhaustion, I think I came out of "January 2011" relatively unharmed.

It's cold again.  And tonight we're getting "3 to 6".  But the snowbanks and patchy lawns are dirty and crusty with snow so the fresh snowfall will be a lovely change of scenery.  The stores are displaying Easter decorations and gardening supplies.
The promise of spring is in the air.  And maybe we can actually get out in it tomorrow and have some fun.  I'd like to show my daughter that snow is still fun.  (Especially now that we can walk in it without getting stuck up to our hips.)

This is a picture of my "footprint" (mid-thigh, really) where I fell through while digging a path for the oil delivery guy.

It's the time of year I start to look forward to raking blisters, the smell of dirt and pansies in every color I can find.
Crocuses and Daffodils will pop up earlier than it feels like they should.  The kids & I are going to start our flowers from seeds, probably earlier than we should.
I'll rake out the flower beds and count down the days till I can plant and mulch.

One thing this winter taught me was that I am much stronger than I thought.  Physically, for sure.  But also mentally.  I managed to keep my cool (most of the time) during what, at times, felt like catastrophic snow & ice.  I took care of the house, the kids and the minor emergencies that cropped up while Jay was out working his end of things - stuck in airports, delayed, missing connections and then actually having to work 40 hours in 3 days and get back into the uncertain skies to return home.
All of this reflection about a "winter" that was really only a few weeks of the season.

I refrained from buying the beautiful wrought iron dragonfly hooks that I saw in Joann's today.  I could just picture the lineup of brightly colored towels hanging from them on my new pool deck this summer.  But, it can wait.
First I will buy seeds & soil.