winter storms & warm food

We got our 1st winter storm today and what a doozy... Ice followed by icy snow followed by snow all mixed with a cold, blustery, north wind - a typical Missouri storm. We didn't get a lot of accumulation, maybe a couple of inches, but what we have has drifted up to several inches in some places.

I had a terrible time driving... my little truck slid all over the roads and parking lots with just the slightest bit of acceleration. I drove mostly in 2nd gear and seldom over 20 or 25 mph. The roads in Belton were in far better shape than in Raymore and very apparent to anyone traveling on 58.

When I left to get Shawn for work I had to scrape and chip at the ice that covered the window of my door. I dropped Shawn off then made it to Home Depot for tube sand, barely without incident. When I left work tonight I think it must have taken me about 15 minutes to find a way out of the parking lot then up to the highway - every way I tried I was literally met with ice and absolutely no traction. There is something to be said for the donut technique of blowing through a parking lot or street - it gets you where you need to be in the end!

Perhaps in an effort to balance out the stress of the day, I had the desire to cook (anyone that knows me well knows that's rare!) and fixed a pot of noodle soup to finish off the remains of our weekend turkey. It turned out hearty and very tasty. The oatmeal-peanut butter-choc chip cookies were all but gone so mixed up another batch and just took the last tray from the oven. It's cozy here in the kitchen-warm because of the busy oven and smelling wonderful.

Erika is confident school will be cancelled tomorrow, Stan & I aren't as much. I think if we have a snow day it needs to be bad enough out where no one can go to school or work and we all get a snow day. :-)

Here's a couple of pics that were taken around noon when it'd been blowing and snowing for a couple of hours.