Snow Week!

So this happened this week.
In Texas, we usually get a couple of days of cold, then rebound to the 60s within a few days.

Not this time. 

Super Bowl Sunday was warm enough that we ate outside, and the next two days were similarly nice. I thought Wednesday would be, also, and that would be my day to bring in the plants/set up my outdoor cat, but even that day was cool. I managed to close off part of the house for the cat and the plants Thursday morning even though a cold rain had started. Fred wrapped the outdoor faucets, and we did everything we could to prepare for the forecasted temperatures.

BOY am I glad I did. 

Friday was cold, but Mom and I had already decided we needed to get out and do some shopping. That night the temperature went below freezing, and stayed there through Wednesday.

Fred and I went to pick up lunch on Saturday, and we didn't leave the house again until the following Friday. 

At first it was fun. Hot cocoa, hot soup. We were well-supplied. We were excited to see snow, which we haven't seen since 2017 (and that year we didn't even get a snow day, since the roads were safe.) We stayed up and watched it come down, bundled up and went out to experience it, along with the neighbors who had their little boy running up and down the street. It was absolutely beautiful, so peaceful, but SO COLD. The low that night got down to NINE degrees. 

​The next morning my bother texted that they had no power, and then my son. After that we learned about the rolling blackouts. My FB feed was full of people who had no power, who were getting just a few minutes at a time, if they were getting any at all. My son was getting little at a time, but my brother wasn't getting any, so he and my sister-in-law headed to Mom's, because she hadn't lost power at all. My son decided to stay at home, which turned out just as well because we lost power the next morning. Fred has been working from home, so of course he couldn't, so we sat on the couch under blankets and read. Fred grilled chicken on the barbecue, even though it was only 28 degrees and there was still snow on the ground! We were without 9 1/2 hours, and the minute it popped back on, we ran to charge everything. 

Oh, and that day was supposed to be my stepdad's vaccine, and my brother had an important dr appt. My stepdad made an effort to get to the vaccination, but the line was crazy, so they left (we were able to get it on Saturday, thankfully!)

My son and his girlfriend came over to warm up and have a warm meal, and almost as soon as they left, the power went out again, and stayed out until about 4:30 in the morning. We were toasty in bed--good thing I like to quilt! But when the power came on, I popped out to get some coffee. We lost power again around 8, so another day Fred couldn't work, another day of reading. I didn't want to write and wear down my laptop battery in case we needed it, but I finished 3 books in 2 days.

I think we got power back around 1:30 or so on Wednesday, and that day the temperature got up to 40, I think. Maybe a little more than that. Most of the snow melted. Honestly, I don't remember that day--they all kind of blended together. My brother and SIL got their power back on Tuesday and kept it, but never got internet back.

Thursday, the power rollouts were done throughout the city, though many of my friends were still without power. 
And that day, it snowed all day. That NEVER happens in San Antonio, so I pulled up a chair to the window and just....watched. I had planned to write, but I couldn't stop watching. I also had hot cocoa and hot tea and hot coffee, and I baked a coffee cake and made soup in the crock pot. I felt guilty that I could do that when so many couldn't though.

​That day it didn't get above freezing. 

​Friday it was cold in the morning, but got into the 40s, so most of the snow melted. We had a boil-water notice, so we had buckets of water in the kitchen, as well as boiled water in plastic pitchers in the refrigerator. (That might have started Wednesday. The days, they blended.) My brother and SIL came by to pick up some bread and water because the grocery stores were wiped out. The trucks hadn't been running.Then that afternoon, Fred and I went to JoAnn's because I'd put in a curbside order earlier in the week, and between the weather and the power, either I couldn't get there, or they weren't open.

Saturday I met my folks at the vaccination site to help make sure my stepdad got his vaccine, then I came home and we started taking my plants back outside after the weather warmed above freezing. It was SO NICE to have that part of the house back. I was getting a little claustrophobic. The water warning was lifted also, so we could get rid of the buckets, and move the cat back outside. It was a beautiful day and you could hear all the neighbors out working in their yards. 

We picked up lunch and ordered out for dinner, because we COULD. It was wonderful.

Sunday we tried two HEBs before we were able to get milk and Diet Coke, really the only things we ran low on. No eggs though. And there are no curbsides available until Friday, so I grabbed that. 

We are fortunate not to have any damage, other than a few shrubs that will need to be removed. My family seems to have weathered it okay, and for that, we are really grateful.

​But boy, I don't want to be that cold that long ever again!