I didn't really realize we were in for this monster snow until Friday afternoon. I knew about the unusually cold temps that were expected but not about the snow. Thankfully Facebook kept me informed ;o) Friday afternoon I decided that maybe, just maybe, we should venture out and buy some bottled water. Our kitchen pipes have a tendency to freeze (more on this later). That was about the extent of our storm shopping. County Market was a madhouse. We kept on going and went to Walgreens instead. On Saturday Matt decided that we "needed" to go to Walmart. That place is crazy on a good day and Saturday was the absolute craziest I've ever seen. Even though the majority of check-out lanes were open (surprise!) the lines still stretched far over into the aisle. People were scared. Heck, all we went in there for was some sidewalk salt! Fortunately we got into one of the "express" lanes and it wasn't too bad. We were supposed to go to a graduation party Saturday night in Pana, but decided to not risk it. Reports were mixed on when the "stuff" was going to start, and if I'm going to be snowed in someplace, I'd prefer it to be at my own house. The Kindle was charged, I had a few other books, I was set.
We knew it was bad when churches, especially St. Pat's in Pana, started cancelling services for Sunday on Saturday night. At bedtime it still wasn't snowing here, so we went to bed. And woke up in a winter wonderland. We spent the day watching TV/movies, playing (ok, that was the kid), and just staying warm and cozy. Since Logan was still on Christmas break, we didn't even need to pay attention to school closings. Pretty much everything, including numerous roads, shut down. Even Matt got a couple of snow days!
Monday we dealt with the cold, cold temps. I can't remember exact numbers but I know with the wind chill we was well below zero. We dressed and layers and you know it's cold when Matt bumps the heat up to...wait for it...70. We were lucky: we still had power, heat, and running water!
Tuesday cabin fever set in...at least for Matt. I was pretty content at home. Logan was still out of school for another day and so was Matt. We ventured out at lunch time. The roads were still sloppy. I think the road crews did as best they could with what they had and what they had to deal with. But we made it to and from Don Sol fine. It was around noon when I discovered the kitchen pipe had frozen. Again. So we opened up the cabinet doors, cranked up the heat, and waited. We haven't had to deal with freezing pipes in a few years, but it's not something we are unfamiliar with. I know several people were dealing with the same thing around town.
Wednesday Matt went back to work and Logan had another day home. We played inside and outside and got things ready for going back to school. I was surprised that the pipe was still frozen. It had never taken that long to thaw before. So Matt went down into the basement, blow dryer in hand, to check it out. I'm not sure what happened but the next thing we know....busted pipe. Matt shut off the water to the whole house and started calling plumbers. We got on a waiting list for one but didn't know exactly when he'd get to us. We brought in buckets of snow to melt for toilet flushing. I went to the Y and did a quick workout to justify using the shower there. I don't think any of us slept well at all last night. Logan could not settle down because he was stressed out about going back to school. Matt and I were stressed about the situation in the basement. I prayed that we could find someone to fix it sooner rather than later and that it wouldn't be a huge bill. We was very worried about the cost.
I put out a call on Facebook to my local friends for a plumber. A friend sent me a number. I called first thing this morning. He was able to come within an hour after my phone call and had us fixed up in no time flat! He was super nice and we will definitely call him again if a problem arises. And the bill...way, way better than we expected! Thank you God!
All in all Snowmagedon turned out pretty well. Honestly, it was nice to just be home for a few days. And a busted pipe is minor compared to some things people had to endure.
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