Negative What?!

So, despite my best efforts to believe that winter was just going to be semi-cold with no snow, the snow arrived Monday night - with a vengeance. It hasn't stopped snowing since - light snow, but steady. I would guess that we've had 8-10 inches, maybe more. I still haven't become tired of looking out the windows at the beautiful winter wonderland, but it is cold!!! Today it is -15c which I believe is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit. And, it is supposed to get colder over the weekend - to negative 27 c! I guess the good news is that most people told me this is as bad as it gets. The girls love the snow - Lauren went sledding at her day care yesterday, and Katherine loves playing in it. I'm trying to figure out what is "too cold" to play outside - I think at some point frost bite is a real risk. Anyway, I've just let her play outside for very short amounts of time. Maddie (our dog) refuses to go outside and has not gone to the bathroom for almost a day (I'm afraid I'm going to find her potty spot in the house sometime).

And, as much as I would love to sit inside all day, life has to go on. But, driving is much scarier than I imagined. I have only driven in the snow a few times - and always with snow chains. I have no snow chains and no snow tires which I don't think is the best idea. I had to go pick up my parents at the airport Tuesday night and I drove about 25 mph the whole way. Stopping seems to be the main problem as the ice doesn't let you stop very well! Almost hit a couple of cars just trying to stop at a light. Today I tried to run an errand and couldn't get any traction to get out of the garage. And, last night Pete couldn't get up either of the two hills into our neighborhood. Unfortunately, I'm sure we'll have plenty of practice in the months ahead!

It's amazing that life goes on here - no schools cancelled, no stopping of mail service, nothing closed - I can't even imagine what the mess would be if we had 1/10 of this snow in Long Beach. Here are some pictures of the snow....













I think 2010 will be the year of many, many cups of hot chocolate!