Image by State Library of New South Wales collection via Flickr
This was a tough Christmas if you lived anywhere in the Central US. For me, all of the planning and prepping was for nothing. The weather kept people from getting here. Everything was canceled. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the day after we were supposed to have yet another dinner. I shoveled all day Christmas as the predicted 2-4 inches on already icy roads grew to 6 – 10 inches. And we got off easier than some!
I certainly wasn’t alone. I watched one video where the guy said he was home alone on Christmas Day with nothing to do, so he made a video of himself doing porch diving into the snow. The snow and icy conditions spread all the way down to Texas, ruining many a Christmas.
We’re not that stoic anymore. My best friend had an accident on icy roads on Monday, so she definitely wasn’t braving it. Nobody wanted to brave the icy roads, including me. Heck, I watched a snow plow get stuck Saturday night.
So, here I was with all this food. I had to cook it. So I did, and gave most of it away.
If you’ve been a reader for a while, you might remember Mary died last year of a massive stroke at age 47. Her husband lost his job a couple of months ago, and most likely they will lose the house shortly. I sent them a bunch of food, and cookies, and fudge. And I sent some with my sister who is on disability. And packages of cookies and fudge went here and there. The Magic Christmas cookies were awesome. Did you try them? I have to make more. They ran out first.
So then I thought I would get a head start on getting the January features up at Rebel With a Fork, but it seems like I spent hours on the phone instead. Now I have to play catch up again.
I went today to UPS to ship the presents, and the place was packed with people doing the same thing.
So, even though Christmas Day was a disaster, the spirit of giving still lived on…
And as if the weather wasn’t enough – there’s a really nasty stomach flu going around, and it’s making it’s way around the spa.
Sometimes being healthy is unfair. You’re the only one left to work…
How about you? Did you venture out? Have any good stories to share?
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Carole,
We had a quiet White Christmas here in Colorado. It was cold but we didn’t get as much snow as it sounds like you did. My husband and I spent the day talking on the phone with all our loved ones.
Yesterday, my sister turned the corner by the church she used to pastor, and slid on ice into the house across the street from it. No one was home and she didn’t know who owned it so she went to find out. Someone called the cops on her and the police chief himself found her and knows her, so luckily he believed her story on why she left the scene, and she is not in trouble. Her new car got banged up, but she wasn’t hurt and it could have been far worse. Her former parishioners will have some good gossip though for their grapevine! The hospice she works for now as a chaplain made her take a drug and alcohol test, since there was a police report. I don’t know if this is what you would consider a good story, but it’s the most exciting one I have heard this week. 🙂
Oh my gosh, she slide into the house? Wow. I’m glad she wasn’t hurt. That ice is trecherous.
Otherwise, it sounds like you spent the day much like I did.
Next year will be better all the way around for all of us, right? (fingers crossed)
This year in Scotland, temperatures plummeted to around -18C. Roads were blocked by snowdrifts, airports were closed, or flights were delayed. Journeys took that bit longer than usual, and I know that many “postponed” Christmas Day. Online deliveries of food were delayed, and power supplies were cut. By Sunday, things were starting to return to normal, and quite a few people had their get-togethers then.
Let’s hope the big freeze doesn’t return for a while!
I’ve been hearing about how hard Europe got hit too! Wow. I hope you managed to have a great holiday despite the conditions!
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