Why couldn't this have been LAST week?

Whenever it starts to snow, I start singing.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful"
That it is. We haven't had this much snow in I don't know how long! We tend to get a little bit of snow every year here, but just a little. This year was so mild for so long, I didn't think we'd see any white stuff this winter. But, it started snowing a week ago today. It essentially hasn't stopped. We've had breaks in the snowfall, but the weather has been so cold, it hasn't melted off any. It has been in single digits most days, but there were two (or maybe three) days that got up to a seemingly warm 23-24 degrees. There was just enough time for the city to get out there and plow the roads well enough that we had to go to school EVERY day last week. Granted, we had five 2 hour delays in a row, but we were in school every day.

"But the fire is so delightful."
Well, the fire used to be delightful. But we have burned through all the firewood that was usable. The stuff we have left is either too wet and buried under more than a foot and a half of snow, or too green. We resorted to burning a few duraflame logs last night. But we ran out of them. J may just have to brave the cold and bring some of it in to the garage to hopefully dry out a bit. He intends to put a roof over the firewood stand as soon as he possibly can.

"And since we've no place to go, let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"
Oh, boy, this is so not true this week!! We have places to go! We want to get across to the other side of the state to see our family. Our original plan was to go to Federal Way / Seattle first, to see my folks, then make our way south to see J's folks near Vancouver, then back home. I got out of school on Friday, and we decided to stick around for the weekend so we could get stuff done and have plenty of time to do it. We intended to leave first thing Monday morning. Last night, when it started snowing again while we were running errands, we got online as soon as we got home to check the pass conditions.

It's closed. From milepost 34 near North Bend, to milepost 106 near Ellensburg. With no opening time in sight because of continued bad weather.

So, let's look at alternate routes. Hmm...Hwy. 14 is closed until further notice.

White Pass appears to be open. But there are parts of Hwy. 12 that are slippery, and could potentially be closed any minute according to WSDOT.

Well, we could always drive down into Oregon and back up. Portland has been hit with snow, and they are requiring chains for all vehicles. But that's okay, we just got chains for my car, even though we have 4-wheel drive. Oh, wait a minute, no we can't. I-84 is closed from Troutdale to Hood River.

Well, shoot. I don't know what we are going to do. Hopefully it will stop snowing soon.

"It doesn't show signs of stopping"
Oh, that's right. There is more snow forecast this week. For the next five days. Crap. I really don't know what we're going to do.

"And I've bought some corn for popping"
If only that would make me feel better. Right now I think I need a stiff drink, and I don't drink.

"The lights are turned way down low"
Yeah, but that's because the snow clouds are so heavy, it appears to be twilight, rather than early morning.

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"
I changed my mind. Let it stop, let it stop, oh, please, let it stop.


I love a white Christmas, usually. This is kinda crazy, though. If we really had no place to go, this would be wonderful, and romantic, and just all around fun. Because we have places to go, this is highly stressful and no fun anymore. Why couldn't this have happened last week? I would have loved a few extra days off from school!