The Story of the "Winter Widow"

The calendar can tell you all it wants that winter starts on Dec. 21. But if you are the wife of a plow truck driver you know that winter begins when that first fateful call of duty is received during the first bout of inclement weather. That day came for me last Sunday.

I can never consider myself a "damsel in distress" during the months of winter. Yes we have a nice guy who plows our driveway, but when it comes to other snow management such as cleaning off the steps, cleaning and de-icing the vehicles and maintaining the house during a power outage that responsibility rests on my shoulders alone because Chris is in his plow truck clearing the roads for the crazy people who don't know any better to go home in the snow... oh, and I suppose for the other citizens as well, haha.

So from here until spring I will be a regular checker of the weather report because then I can plan for times when I will be alone at home with the kids during snow.

This winter it is my goal to be more prepared. Power outages always seem to sneak up on me in the sense that I never seem to have enough non-perishable foods or water available to me. It never bothered me until last year when Cece came down with a stomach bug in the middle of a blizzard and I didn't even have crackers to give her sick tummy.

Here are a (few) of the things I will do to prepare:
*Store some water downstairs for drinking/rinsing if needed
**Water for flushing in case the power is out for a long time
***Candles that I don't have to "dig" for
**A lighter that I don't have to "dig" for
*A charged laptop for watching a movie
**Milk that can be stored out of the fridge
***Crackers, and other edibles that are somewhat healthy and don't need refrigeration
**Sick tummy items so that if they are needed I don't need to haul a sick kid (or two) to the store in a storm

Welcome to winter everyone!