snowpocalypse survival kit

I have been enjoying my day at home with Emmy and Joe. We had a fun day, exploring the icy roads and playing in the snow. As we checked out all the damage, all we could say is "we are so lucky..." I have watched the news and read facebook updates about the terrible ordeal so many people have faced. My own family was separated, hosted in strangers and friend's homes. By the end of the day, everyone made it to their own homes and are safe. 

I thought about how ill-prepared we were (just like everyone else) and how I am going to start keeping my car prepared for the unexpected. And, yes, "snowpocalypse" is a very accurate term to describe the abandoned cars, walking miles in a completely shut-down city. This kind of storm probably won't happen again for a very long time but there are still ways to keep items in your car for emergencies. 

I dressed for work with thin black pants and wooden hills. I was miserable outside, sliding all over the place and the snow went straight through my clothes. I was cursing myself for not keeping a pair of tennis shoes (or better yet - rain boots!) with me at all times. I should have also had a gym bag full of extra clothes and contact solution, a toothbrush, snacks and water. I used to keep a little victorinox knife on my keychain. Then, the airports got all "you're gonna take someone's eye out!" and I stopped carrying it. I'm adding it back. Just in case, not much protection and not much help but it is a handy little tool.

We usually keep a blanket in the car for Emmy and another that is waterproof on one side for picnics. One day I decided they were cluttering my car. They will be back in the morning! I also left my scarf and hat at home. I'm not outside long enough for those to be necessary and most of the time the static makes me frustrated but if I had to walk home I would have really risked frost bite.

Finally, cell phones and chargers. I have a cell phone charger in my car, I only bought it a few months ago and I was so thankful to be able to talk, text and track my family without worrying about the battery life. This blue and white square thingy is called a Triple C universal charger. It can charge anything as long as you have the adapter. It would have been great for the people walking home or to help someone else with a low car battery. 

snowpocalypse

Today is a day I will not soon forget. But just in case I do... here is a bit of my "getting home adventure" with Joe. 
I woke up today motivated for a good day at the office, going out and making sales calls with my team. While I was loading my car up with gas, the snow flurries began. Flurries, yay! It's going to be a good day!

I got to work and we noticed that it was looking more and more like actual snow. By 10:15 the first person was out the door, calling back to tell everyone that the roads were really bad. So we had to make a choice... wait it out or make a run for it? I called Joe and he said his office wasn't going to close. BUT, I had his cell phone so I waited at the office for him to come get it before I left to go get Emmy. By 10:45 he still hadn't made it to my office. It's usually a 5 -minute drive so I was afraid he'd wrecked. I started driving towards his office and my car couldn't even make it up the hill. I managed to go down the hill and get out of the circle. As I approached 280, I realized what a mess we really were in. Snow and cars everywhere. I wanted to turn around, but I decided to at least make it to Joe's office. We may be stuck there but at least we'd be together. 

I made it to Joe's turn just as he called to tell me he'd had to turn around but he had made it back to work. As I was approaching his street, everyone stopped. Cars started sliding sideways, hitting each other and spinning. Without the main road's straight lines and tread marks, people were clueless. I had never seen that in real life. I tried to take another road but it was gridlocked too. I was sandwiched in.

I tried calling Joe but the cell lines were jammed and I couldn't go through. I just started crying. I was further away from my family and feeling so helpless. I finally managed to get a call through to Joe. He talked me through the next intersection while my tires spun and cars slid sideways toward me. I started crying. It was such a shock to see the chaos, to feel my own car slide out of my control. Once I turned the corner, I saw ambulances and firetrucks blocking the road ahead so Joe decided to walk and told me to stay put. 

I went in to Walgreens while I waited. I met a girl with two babies in the bathroom, I told her I felt bad that she had her children with her and that I was trying to get to mine but I shouldn't complain because at least I don't have my child crying in the car. She said, "not having your baby is worse, I can find shelter as long as I have my girls with me. Good luck honey".  I realized she was right, I headed back out and picked up some water and snacks and just started sobbing. I have never been so scared in my life.  Joe ended up getting a ride from a friend with 4WD and I immediately snapped out of it once he was in the car. An hour and a half after I left my office, we started heading back towards our house and Emmy's daycare.

Then the real traffic hit us. Hwy 280 was gridlocked. We moved .4 miles in an hour. There were abandoned cars everywhere and people walking between the lanes and right down the middle of the empty northside highway. It really felt like an apocalypse and Joe and I realized how unrealistic our zombiepocalypse plan really was (our plan was to do whatever was necessary, get to daycare and wait for each other there... or at home depending on the level of zombie violence). 

 As we passed my office again we talked about giving up and staying at my office but we were scared for Emmy and we didn't know if it might get better ahead. After 2 hours, I told Joe to cross over to the wrong side of the road. There were very few cars and it was our only chance to move forward. It was wild and terrifying but it turned out to be the only way to move forward because as we soon found out, there was an actual pileup reducing travel to one lane. 

Once one car starts spinning and sliding, all the nearby cars become part of the pile up. We almost got stuck going up a big hill, two other cars were stuck and we had to move in to oncoming traffic to get around. Then our car started spinning too. I was coaching Joe (probably annoying him) telling him he was doing great and to keep trying, pulsing the tires so we managed to slip through the opening just as the other car slid down the hill through the same opening. Once we got passed that we were able to get back in the right lane and the highway was totally opened up. 

this is someone else's photo and must have been taken after we made it up the hill in the left lane.

As long as we were driving at a steady pace in a straight line on a flat road, we were doing great. We noticed one "walker" jogging and happened to see his face and realize it was one of Joe's coworkers! We picked him up and gave him a ride as far as we could. He was so kind, he wouldn't accept our offers to take him to our house and he even tried to refuse a bottle of water we offered! We called him a few hours later and he was almost home. 

I was so elated when we got on the interstate and found it to be clear (only clear in one direction though)!  The back road to Emmy's daycare was closed just past her school. Meaning, many people had abandoned their cars and headed to the daycare and nearby offices for shelter. Joe and I parked the car and walked the last bit to her daycare. It was about 3:30 and Emmy was happily warm and napping. the daycare has two locked entry ways so they were allowing people to stay in the main entrance for cover and warmth but not with the kids which I was thankful for. We got back on the road and made it over a few more icy bridges, happy to be within walking distance if it came to that. Once we got home, we were thrilled but immediately feeling ridiculously lucky and worried for our friends. 

The whole ordeal was so exhausting. We kept saying, "Why aren't the roads sanded or salted?" "How did the weathermen miss this so drastically?" "What should we do!?" and at the end of the day, I like to think next time I will go home as soon as the snow starts to stick. I know it would have made more sense for me to leave Joe and go get Emmy but I don't know that I would make a different choice the next time. He was my rock, my companion and we got through this together. I was a crying fearful mess without him there! 
I also thought a lot about my priest's sermon last week. He said that Birmingham is ranked #2 as the most biblical city in America. He talked about what it meant to be a Christian and how important it is for Christians to set a good example for ourselves, to disprove the common misconception of Christianity's close-mindedness and judgy doctrine.
 Today, I saw the #2 most biblical city as the most generous, hospitable and helpful city during a time of great stress and danger. People with 4-wheelers were driving up and down the highway picking up walkers and taking them home. Employees at Home Depot walked out in the streets to bring free bottles of water to stranded motorists. Men were walking up and down the street pushing cars that were stuck. Our teachers are staying overnight at the school to take care of children who are stranded. Even Joe went out after we got home to make sure the cars that were stuck on the bridge near my house were abandoned and no one was inside, cold. 

My friends started a group chat to make sure we were all safe and to share the stories of how we all got home. I am so happy knowing everyone made it to shelter. I am also happy that my car was so good to us and that everything is closed tomorrow so people can get their cars and we can enjoy the snow a little without actually driving in it!

Oh, and in case you were wondering... 5 hours in the car without the chance for a potty break? I made it.. Joe did not. There is a part of our marriage that will never be the same after the moment he decided he couldn't hold it and it was too public outside the car.      

toddler iphone/ipad apps

Some of my favorite toddler (age 1-3) iphone/ipad apps. 

I'm really particular about iPhone apps for Emmy. It's still my phone and I only have apps for her so that she is quiet when we are in grown-up situations and all other attempts to entertain her fail. And let's face it, I love to give Emmy attention while browsing the grocery store but if this keeps her seated and not off running down the aisle in the opposite direction - I'm game. 

 My rules for apps: I don't want them to take up much space, run GPS in the background or offer links to purchase other apps. Emmy loves Disney, music and repeatedly tapping the screen impatiently. Did I just describe your toddler too? Pretty basic stuff here and these apps are perfect.

1. The Peekaboo apps are genius. I think I own almost all of them. Emmy has actually learned many words from the app and they recently came out with a Sesame Street version that gets her screaming "Elmo!! Elmo!! Elmo!!" with utter thrill every single time he pops up. I don't know why she loves these so much but the simple concept is great.

2. Elmo Calls. Emmy never watched Sesame Street, her love for Elmo is from this app and his name was one of her first words. This app was her first favorite but she rarely chooses it now. I just don't have the heart to delete him.

3. Monster 1 (The Monster at the End of the Book). This app is definitely geared to 2+ with specific locations for the child to tap to turn the page but Emmy giggles to the sound of Grover's voice yelling for her not to do something. She has such a naughty side. 

4. Disney Junior. This app is clutch. You log in with your cable provider and the kid takes over choosing what shows to watch. Emmy loves this and we hand over the iPad some mornings so we can watch the news (I feel like this is making us out to be the laziest parents!). Sofia the First app is a little advanced for Emmy but she likes to click on it just to see Sofia. There is part of this app that allows her to record her voice and many conversations between her parents (nice). 

5. Endless ABC. Basically, your kid drags letters around while the letters make their "sounds" to make words. It's not teaching your kid to spell but more likely to match shapes and recognize letters. Still somewhat educational and the graphics are great.

6. Little Fox/Music Box. These apps are so adorable. They are just beautiful and all your kid has to do is touch it repeatedly to make the characters move, sing, dance, etc. The music is great and I could even be entertained a little. 

7. Phone 4 kids. A basic (slightly cheesy) app that allows your kid to type in phone numbers, text messages, draw pictures and play music to their hearts desire. The phone part scared Joe a few times because it sounds so realistic. There is an ad in this one but it only comes up on the first screen.

8. Ginger Cat the talking cat. I'm not going to lie - I've almost deleted these two apps many times. I've paid for them so that they don't have ads but ads keep popping up after updates and I'm scared the links back to itunes will eventually cost me! But, Emmy loves to slap this kitty and then sing to it so that it repeats her song. One time she left the phone running this app in our bed and after she went to sleep I asked Joe a question and it repeated it back from under my pillow. Freakiest moment ever.

I'm probably missing some great apps out there but I've found this is more than enough to keep Emmy entertained for 30(ish) minutes - just enough to get a few things done. 

2014

2014 has started out as a really busy year.
One of our best friends planned to propose to his girlfriend on New Year's Eve so my mom agreed to keep Emmy overnight so we could join them and celebrate. My sister is pregnant so she offered to be our DD.  SO.... No kid. No driving. NO RULES!
Without going in to too many embarrassing details, we took too many shots (I apparently have no tolerance for alcohol anymore) and then proceeded to sing, dance and slide across hardwood floors, participated in a speed-typing contest (which I lost and got pissed and continued to play by myself), attempted to hook up a Wii so I could play Just Dance and finally tried to convince my husband that it was not too late (2AM) and that it was definitely a good idea to spend the night with our friends. 

This pretty much sums up my new year's eve shenanigans.
The next day was the WORST.DAY.OF.MY.LIFE. 
I can't remember ever being so hungover and I hated myself so much. It took the better part of a week to start feeling better.

 What made it all worse is that Emmy learned how to climb out of her crib so we decided to convert her crib to a toddler bed so she wouldn't hurt herself. We were nervous she wasn't ready but were also excited to let her read books in her bed and wake up on her own. I moved the bookcase in her room to her closet so that it was a little safer for her to get her books and started getting excited about turning her room into a little girl room rather than a nursery. I was the only one excited, Emmy was terrified. 
 After a week of long nights, late mornings, terrible naps and general irritability for all individuals in our home - we put the wall back up on the crib. What do you know? She's back to sleeping 12 hours a night and no crying. Sometimes, the kid just isn't ready and that's okay. 

In the middle of all of this, Rufus's eye started acting up. At first it was just squinty and red but it quickly turned cloudy and he started acting very lathargic. We took him to the vet immediately. $150 later, he was on antibiotics and pain meds for an infection. 3 days later we didn't see much improvement so I took him to a veterinary ophthalmologist. We found out he has secondary glaucoma, a reaction to the injury and he had lost most of his vision in that eye. I'm writing this as if I were calm, and I mostly was but guys, Rufus is my little man! He is the sweetest, best pup and he's only 4 years old, I had to choke back tears the whole time the vet was with us. He was so much braver than me, letting the vet poke and prod him and never crying or growling.  There is still a chance his vision will come back, the medication he's on now is much stronger and the cloudy stuff in his eyes is almost all cleared up. 
The lesson I learned from this is that if your pet has a problem with something like it's eye, take it straight to a specialist. Always. Our vet is great but those 3 days may have caused permanent blindness and the pain our pup was experiencing makes me feel terrible. The specialist was $210 but we wouldn't have had to have a referral to make that appointment. 
I am so looking forward to a calm weekend. I tend to think that how the new year starts is a sign of how it will go but I really hope that's not this case this year or it's going to be a crazy year!