Snow

February has brought lots of snow for my little part of NC and a whole lot of other places.  I have taken some pictures in the quiet hours of the morning of the snow undisturbed.  Of course I need to download the pics and add them here...  Maybe over the weekend.
I thought I would find something other than the snow to speak about for the month of February but it is looking like that is not the case.  Well I could talk about work but that will just stress me out...  And that already happened once today... I realised I had 2 appts yesterday, and I will have one a day every day from tomorrow through next Thursday.  Then I get a break for Friday and I am back in the mix of meetings for the following week.  Enough to make you a wee bit mad.  It's not the meetings that are bad it's that there is no time available for prep work.  So it's fine for the people scheduling.  They get breaks but when it is all filtered through to me I get no breaks.  So that's why I didn't want to think/talk about work.
So the snow.  The snow has kind of played on my memory banks...  Where to begin...
Well Valentines Day weekend always reminds me of my dad.  If you were to round out weeks and days etc, you could say that Valentines Day weekend is the last time I saw him alive.  I was in NYC for business and extended the trip to see him.  It was a Friday morning when I arrived into the city.  A car picked me up at LaGuardia and took me to a meeting in White Plains.  While in the meeting everyone spoke about the approaching storm.  I really didn't beleive that there was a big storm approaching.
At the end of the day another driver took me and our client back into the city.  To this day we talk about that man's crazy driving.  He dropped me off at Penn Station so I could catch the train to Shore Points.  I think that was the last time I was in the city.  I like trips like that.  They are on someone else's dime and they make the city seem so user friendly.  When you know those drivers etc cost and arm and a leg.  From there I lugged myself through the station to wait for my train.  Come to think of it that station holds lots of great memories as well....  LOOKOUT I am about to digress...
I remember taking the train into the city to go to a car show.  I don't think that was the first time but it is my first recollection.  My mom, dad and Terry went on that trip.  And then I fast forward to all the concerts in MSG.  Those were always fun times.  OH I lied - I was last in the city for The Police concert.  I remember calling BDA from the station to say I passed the Series 7.  I remember the time I met Lesley and Milton and Chrissy in the station for a few days in the city.  Some great memories.  This time it was just about getting the train home.
Deb called me while I was on the train.  We had a good chat.  She is always a good listener.  And helped me put things into perspective on going to see my dad.  In retrospect I can't lie that I wasn't nervous to see him.  And I think Stacey picked me up in Red Bank.  I think that was that trip.
The story of the snow was becoming more ominous by that point.  And I wasn't settled in at my parents home for very long before it was decided that I should rearrange my flight or risk being stuck in NJ for a whole lot longer than planned.
So the very next day my mom drove me and my dad up to the airport to drop me off.  And that was that.  I got on the plane having spent less than 24 hours with them and headed back to NC.  I remember every single step and every single thought from that mini-van to inside the building but I reserve them for myself.  So snow in February that's what I think of.
Let's hope March comes in like a lion and quickly turns to a lamb.  I could use some sunshine.

congrats mom

making the ride out of lorton and away from the snow to florida without the auto-train
i knew you could do it
yay warmth!

Observations from the road - second hand

My mom is on her way to Florida.  She made plans to take the auto-train a while back and she is supposed to leave tomorrow.  As we all know there has been a snow storm in the NJ to DC area.  She has been watching it for the better part of the week and had plans to stay just north of Baltimore in an attempt to get a little head start on the storm.  That was up until yesterday morning.  Yesterday the media went really above and beyond with the hype (rightfully so I think).  And Amtrak cancelled some routes.  So she did whatever it was she did and got herself to a hotel near the train station.  She arrived in good time yesterday before most of the storm hit.  And now she is on night 2 at the hotel.
Ever since my dad passed away I have encouraged her to write things down memories, current events, just stuff.  I find it to be a nice release (hence this blog) and I thought she might get something out of the task as well.  So I asked her has she been writing all this down.  She said - not really - just her woes....  So here is my interpretation of the situation...
She had her car packed ahead of time.  This is nothing new.  The packing routine in my mom's world is a project.  And I dont think this is a new routine.  I think it has always been this way as I know I have a few (just a few) of the same tendencies with packing. 
I would say that the alarm was set.  But in reality she was probably awake before the alarm.  She still gets excited for trips like little kids get excited for Christmas.  I am envious of her that she still has this enthusiasm.  I think with all my travel for work I have lost a bit of that.
And she had her hotel provisions - water bottles, snacks, etc.
The drive itself is not a new one so there wasn't much preparation in that.  Just get on the road and make sure you know where you are staying at the other end.  And for that I believe Amtrak connected her to the convenient hotel.  Not the marginally convenient but very comfy bed Hampton Inn I lined up for her last year.  (Last year there was a snow storm on her way home and she got delayed in VA).  And unlike myself - she still has a deal with Sirius radio she was all set for trekking down the road.
And now she is just hanging out at the hotel.  I think this is where I find more humor than the woes.  Imagine all these people stuck in the hotel just waiting for the train to leave.  As of yesterday, her train was still all set for tomorrow.  As I write this that is no longer the case.  She is now on Tuesday's train.
So in the world of the imagination - I suppose the people hunkered down in the snow at the hotel could take a Shining/Agatha Christie spin...  but in reality it seems far more comical than that...  For some reason people always talk to my mom - well let's be honest she does a good job of always talking to them too.
There is some man that seems to be hanging out in the lobby and commenting to people who pass. 
There are the people who think the complimentary buffett at breakfast is more of an all you can eat feeding frenzy.
The woman coordianting people to clean off cars and the parking lot.
I can just iamgine what an exercise in people watching it would be.  If I was there I would so be in the lobby sitting in a corner writing writing writing down all that I observed. 
Instead I am writing just a blip from the comfort of my couch.  Got my hair cut today.  Had a nice lunch with a friend I havent seen in a while.  Did some grocery shopping.  And now am attempting to make a white bean and spinach soup.  I am very curious to hear how the next few days of hanging out at the hotel are.