Blizzard!

Like the rest of Southern New Jersey, I awoke to discover my porch buried under more than a foot of snow...and it was still coming down at quarter after 7. I debated calling out, but I really live too close to work. It wasn't even the money this time. I figured they'd need the help, so I walked.

Once again, walking wasn't really a problem. The roads had been cleared, even Manor. I had a harder time getting to the road that walking down it. My porch and steps were still covered at 8:30, so I slid down my steps. That was fun! Better than sledding down the West Cape May Bridge. Of course, a foot of snow provides a rather soft landing, too.

Work was busier than I thought it would be. I figured we wouldn't have any customers all day, especially after Governor Christie declared a state of emergency sometime in the early afternoon. That's not to say we had a LOT of customers. I still spent at least five hours of my six-hour shift doing returns. I was surprised we had customers at all. Actually, after the last few days, I'm not complaining. In fact, I relished the relative quiet.

Not everyone was as happy with the peace. Though the store and most of the shops in the Audubon Crossings Mall behind us were open (one customer mentioned she was going to open Fashion Bug but close early if they weren't busy), our pharmacy and the bank in the store were closed. One fellow threw a fit when I tried to explain to him that a non-essential bank wouldn't open during a blizzard!

Actually, I got lucky weather-wise. It was snowing pretty hard at 8:30, but by the time I headed home at 3, the snow was down to the barest flakes...and when I arrived home at quarter of four, the snow had stopped entirely. There were a lot of people out, shoveling the two feet of snow on their driveways and sidewalks. A trio of teenage girls slid down Kendall Boulevard on a sled and took pictures of themselves on a cell phone as they giggled. Parents dragged their children past on metal and plastic saucer sleds. Men ran snow blowers, and kids had snowball fights.

I debated going back out to the bank, but my new boots were getting soaked. I opted to stay at home instead. I called Mom right after I got in. I was worried about her. The Jersey Shore got even more snow than we did. Someone at work mentioned that all of Wildwood had lost power! Mom and Dad were fine. Dad was out shoveling another foot of snow off their driveway. Mom was holing up inside. Unlike me, the Michael's where she works in Rio Grande had closed, and she was enjoying her day off. Keefe was with my sister Anny and her boys in the Villas. She said their power had flickered briefly early in the morning, but they didn't have any problems after that. I don't think we even had that.

Spent the rest of the evening cleaning the bathroom. It wasn't too bad, but I wanted to get it done, especially the bathtub. I baked gingerbread people after that with the last of the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix. They didn't come out too bad, considering I forgot the egg.

Watched snow-related cartoons this morning and during dinner. Probably the most famous of Disney's occasional forays into winter-themed shorts would be "Donald's Snow Fight" from 1942. Donald, Huey, Dewey, and Louie have the ultimate snow ball fight when Donald knocks down the nephews' snowman with his sled...and of course you know, that literally means war!

My favorite of the two Looney Tunes snow shorts on the first Golden Collection was "Putty Tat Trouble." One of the better Tweety/Sylvester outings mixes things up a bit with a city setting and by throwing a second cat into the mix. Tweety finds himself the possible meal for not one, but two hungry felines, and uses the snow and ice to his advantage to dodge them.