Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! What an interesting holiday season it's been!

Most of the excitement has been thanks to the largest snowfall in Vancouver in a long long time. It snowed last Wed, and I had the great pleasure (...) of shovelling the snow. Those who have been to my house in the winter know that it's almost as cold inside as it is outside, so coming in from the cold didn't offer much comfort. :(

Anyway, some days of the past week, I was stuck at home, because our car doesn't have winter tires. If that weren't bad enough I'd have to shovel the walkways and driveway a few times a day so the snow didn't build up.

Yesterday I went out. The driveway wasn't a problem, but less than 5m from my house, my car got stuck. Luckily I had the foresight to put a shovel in my car (although I could've just as easily run back to my house), and spent some 20 mins digging out my car before being able to reverse back into the driveway again. I tried the other way down the alley, and then got stuck again at the end of the block! After more digging and more forward-reverse cycles, a kind neighbour from the next block came and helped me get my car going again.

I went to several places and they were completely sold out of road/de-icing salt! Argh!

After running my errands, I came back home, and then 1.5 houses away, I got reeeally stuck. I had to call my dad to come help me out. We dug and revved and dug and revved.... My next-door neighbour came out with his shovel, too, and after more digging and revving and pushing and 40 mins, we finally got the car back into our garage. A day of snow driving training, heehee! :)

I had no plans to go out today, because of the snowy forecast: 10~20cm of wet snow. Well, I woke up this morning, and there was already a good 15cm of snow on the ground. And there was no sign of it stopping. In fact, while I grudgingly shovelled away, it started coming down even harder. 15cm of snow on a wide two-car driveway, plus all the walkways.... That's a loooot of snow. It was rather disheartening to be only 1/3 done the driveway, and to look back and find that the area I'd cleared was already covered. It took me 2.5 hours to clear everything (and quickly run through it again a second time). I was running out of places to pack the snow!

After coming in to thaw out a bit, I headed out to walk down the hill to Superstore to get a roast chicken and pie for our Christmas Eve dinner. A mini feast for my dad and me. :) When I got back (~17:20), I put the bags down and set out to shovel another round. The snow had stopped falling, so it was only 5cm or so, and without the frustration of watching more snow cover your work (and knowing you'll have to come out and shovel again later), it was quite peaceful and beautiful.

So! We had vegetable soup, green beans, roast chicken for dinner. (We were so full we didn't even make it to dessert!) Then an electrician's truck (with cherry picker) got stuck right in front of our house! Its back end had slid into the minivan parked across the street. :( After I finished the dishes, they were still out there standing around, so I went out and asked if they wanted some eggnog, figuring they could use a warm beverage. I refilled their water jug, and got them some shovels so they could dig out the snow, offered to help shovel. The tow truck that was supposed to bail them out got stuck itself at the end of the block. And then it gave up on them and abandonned them!! Poor guys. Getting stuck on Christmas Eve, no dinner break yet, and they still had 3 sites to visit for repairs!! They spent three hours digging out that massive truck, digging and placing dirt in front of the tires, but finally succeeded in driving off without a hitch! And I got a warm fuzzy for helping them out. :)

Tomorrow, we're off to my uncle's (by Skytrain! the Accord stays warm and cozy in our garage) for Christmas Day dinner, then we're staying over, just like in the old days. :)

Merry Christmas!