winter in bklyn

On December 21st, the first official day of winter, we were at the playground enjoying 70 degree weather. It was awesome.

But we rang in the new year with the aptly(?) named winter storm Hercules. (Why again are we naming winter storms now? Am I the only one who thinks this is weird?) The boys went back to school on January 2nd, but by the early hours of January 3rd, the announcement was made that, in light of the 6-10 inches of snow received during the night, New York City public schools were cancelled.

Garrett and Caleb, of course, wanted to go out and play in our new white wonderland.

Matthew, like his mother, was not especially keen on the idea.

But because the bigger boys begged and begged, we gave in, bundled up, and headed out doors. They lasted precisely 4 minutes before 2/3 of them begged and begged to go back in. So that little outing was "fun."

Back inside (after a climb up the stairs that included hysterical crying/screaming from an apparently VERY cold Caleb), I put them all in a warm bath to thaw out. They entertained themselves with bubble swords received the night before at a ninja-themed birthday party.

After the water turned cold and their bodies turned into skinny, white raisins, they worked on a giant coloring page.

And then it was about 10:30 and panic struck as I realized they'd already blown through my snow day arsenal. The rest of the day was spent watching movies, littering the floor with every single toy we own, and attempting to soothe cabin fever-induced headaches.

It was a long day.

And while it's over (thank goodness), the rest of the winter unfortunately is not. The realities of this time of year can be a challenge anywhere, but in Brooklyn -- at least for me -- they are overwhelming and truly miserable.

Case in point: The rest of the weekend.

During the night after our snow day, our street-parked car was hit. By a snowplow or just another car trying to maneuver the icy roads, we don't know. But now the driver's side door won't open all the way, and while the issue is mostly a cosmetic one, it needs to be resolved. And so begins the hassle of filing and dealing with an insurance claim.

Then came the question of Sunday. Blake needed to be at church a few hours ahead of us for meetings. I wasn't particularly keen on the idea of driving on slippery, snowy roads, not to mention trying to street park in that mess afterwards. But I felt like we needed to be at church (thanks in part to this Ensign article I read at breakfast). So after much deliberation, we decided that Blake would take the car, and I would haul everyone else to church on the bus. Which wouldn't have been so bad had the sidewalks not been one giant sheet of black ice that we had to maneuver in a drizzle of freezing rain. We made it, and by some miracle in one piece, but I quickly vowed to not do that again. So me and my tired, hungry children waited for 2 hours after church for Blake to finish up his responsibilities so he could drive us all home in the car.

I think it has a lot to do with the the hazards and difficulty of street parking in snow (usually very far away from your final destination), along with lives that are lived more outside on foot rather than in a heated car, that makes winter in Brooklyn so hard for me. Even the simplest of tasks can quickly become insurmountably challenging. Factor in the small children and the pregnancy, and I'd much rather spend these months hibernating.

Most of the snow has now melted, thanks to a spike in the thermometer and a lot of rain. If I can make it through tomorrow, when we're expecting more sub-freezing temperatures (and a forecasted windchill of -25!), which will undoubtedly turn all of our now-melted wet into a skating rink, I think the gloom that weather like this brings down on me will start to lift. I'm even taking precautions by altering our typical Tuesday schedule as much as I can so we don't have to be outside so much, which already is making me feel a little better. And -- AND! -- I have a trip to Provo in February to look forward to!

So one baby step at a time, we will get through this winter. And, if I'm feeling brave enough to handle life an entire week at a time, a new round of PBS Sunday night programming will definitely keep me going.