<p>Summer seems so long ago. :(</p>
<p>I saw so many posts on Facebook about people waiting an hour in line at grocery stores here in SE Michigan that I decided to forego the trip I wanted to make. I just needed some Diet Pepsi and decided to pay more at the gas station for it than wait in those kinds of lines. I’m wondering if it was just a “perfect storm” of Saturday, after the holidays people have run out of a lot of stuff, recent paydays(?) and, with the storm hitting tomorrow, people who normally shop on Sunday went today instead. And maybe SAHM’s who would go on a Monday while the kids were at school decided to go today while hubby could watch the kids or something? I don’t know. I wasn’t going anywhere near the madness myself. </p>
<p>It’s 2:15 am and not a sign of the snow yet either. They originally said it would start around 3 pm. If we end up getting barely any, I’ll just laugh.</p>
<p>I would’ve foregone the trip but all we had in our fridge was leftover Chinese and Middle Eastern food after all the holiday guests cleared out today. I thought people were exaggerating until I went.</p>
<p>Our cashier said it had been like that since she got there at 9 AM. </p>
<p>I’m just sad that all the tomatoes were gone. The potatoes were gone too, but I can live without the mashed potatoes I was going to have with dinner. Tomatoes sounded really good tonight though 
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<p>I think this is the universe’s way of telling me that I need to make a trip to the fruit and veggie market that I’ve been meaning to go to for a while in order to try out new recipes in my juicer :D</p>
<p>Also, just looked outside. We have about an inch of snow but it’s done snowing. One of my roommates works about 45 minutes away. She gets off at 4 AM and is going back into work at 4 PM today (she is a night manager). Seems like she might hit the worst of it. :/</p>
<p>It looks like the part that was supposed to hit us earlier this evening went north and missed us entirely, but it still looks like we’ll get clobbered in a couple of hours. It’ll be interesting to see what we really end up getting, it’s so unpredictable.</p>
<p>My fiance’s family is in Grand Rapids, I just checked their report expecting to see that they’d get a ton of snow but their weather warning says 6-12 so not much more than ours… although I suppose they may actually get that much and we probably won’t. It says wind chills from 20 to 30 below. I’m glad I got FMIL a heated blanket for Christmas.</p>
<p>My parents are in Traverse City… and completely missing the system. AND it’s warmer there -.-</p>
<p>I’m shocked, shocked I tell ya! that part of it already missed us. I’ve decided that a good rule of thumb is to cut the predicted number in half to find a more realistic prediction of what we’ll get.</p>
<p>Was it only SE Michigan that had a run on grocery stores? I can’t figure it out. We get this much snow quite often. Why the panic this time? I stopped at about 2 pm to pick up a couple of items needed for a family dinner today. It was a madhouse. I got the last four bananas. my DIL went to Costco and said the same thing. It didn’t even start snowing until late last night and we have a couple of inches, but nothing that would mean I’m snowed in today.</p>
<p>They say the real stuff is going to hit us at noon. I shoveled part of my driveway clean yesterday and there’s now a good 2 1/2-3" there. I also live north of Detroit, though.</p>
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<p>I have a friend who raises goats, and during the ice storm she brought one home because he was very young and for some reason his mother wouldn’t have anything to do with him. She kept him in a dog crate in her kitchen. She came home during her lunch hour to check on him, and saw that he had gotten out of his crate and had made himself quite comfy on her living room leather sofa! She sent me the photo. It was so cute.</p>
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<p>When I worked at a hospital, there was “no excuse” for calling in for inclement weather. You either had to take a taxi at hospital expense or stay at the hospital overnight, or stay at a hotel, whatever you had to do to get to your shift on time to relieve the night shift crew. Of course, all elective surgeries were cancelled, and ancillary staff wasn’t given the same ultimatums. That’s probably the case for you folks up north so that emergencies can still be handled and patients already in the hospital still get the care they need. </p>
<p>Stay warm, people!</p>
<p>During some really severe storms in the past, hospital workers were sometimes picked up by other workers who had 4 wheel drive vehicles or snow mobiles. Some who were stuck at the hospital slept there and then did additional shifts. Almost always, the roads are cleared enough to get to work within 24-48 hours. They work it out, and usually give some additional compensation for those who worked through it. </p>
<p>We have a couple inches of snow now. They are talking 3-5 inches today with the heaviest coming down later this afternoon and another 3-5 inches over night. So, if you got the maximum of each of these three waves of snow, you would be around 8-12 inches total.</p>
<p>Yes, same here in NW Ohio - didn’t start snowing till 8am and now is in a lull with maybe 2 on the ground. Still went out and shoveled our deck (runs the entire length of the back of the house and is our way out to the yard and garage) to try and keep up with things - much e asker to move an inch or two than several - plus it’s actually “warm” - about 30 - so the snow may be heavier.</p>
<p>Sounds like overnight is going to be hellish.</p>
<p>My house is COLD this morning but so far a manageable amount of snow. I thought maybe we could have done our groceries today after all, but I suppose now there are probably no groceries left so I guess it all worked out.</p>
<p>This amount of snow isn’t necessarily unusual for us either… it’s been a while and this much snow at once is certainly noteworthy, but the panic is odd. I remember hearing that this winter was going to be a bad one with very cold temperatures and a lot of snow, it was notable since the last two years were downright balmy, but I was expecting more of a more “normal” Michigan winter… This still really isn’t normal. We just keep having episodes of really nasty weather followed by unseasonable warm ups followed by another nasty episode. This will be a really cold week but it looks like it will work it’s way back up to the high 30s by next weekend, which is fairly warm for this time of year. Right now they are predicting rain. It’s just strange. It seems like the “normal” I remember doesn’t exist anymore. </p>
<p>I hope in the spring we don’t have another one of those freeze thaw freeze thaw freeze thaw situations that were so bad for the crops. I don’t know if I could take another year of bad produce.</p>
<p>The 6"-8" prediction turned out to be 2". The snow is really heavy, so even if we get strong winds, I don’t think it’s going anywhere.</p>
<p>I really feel bad for everyone getting the bad weather up north. It’s nice in Florida today and I’d send you some warmer, better weather if I could.</p>
<p>[Cedar</a> Cove Resort & Cottages Ann](<a href=“http://www.cedarcoveresort.com/webcam/live.html]Cedar”>http://www.cedarcoveresort.com/webcam/live.html)</p>
<p>I am bookmarking that link, lizard. I am determined to go there someday. When we go to Florida we stay in Englewood and it is not nearly so pretty.</p>
<p>I just got back fromTarget here in CT. Our temps are supposed to rise into the forties for a day or two. Then the subzero temps come during the week. </p>
<p>We have eggs, milk, and bread. Guess we won’t starve!</p>
<p>Most schools in central Iowa are closed for tomorrow, I think Des Moines proper public schools are the only ones that haven’t closed as yet. And, we haven’t even had any snow for days. It is entirely because of the cold and not wanting kids outside walking or waiting for the busses.</p>
<p>I still have to go to work tomorrow, but I work in our apartment complexes office, so I don’t have far to go. Since I don’t have to drive S to school, I won’t have to drive anywhere all day, just walk a few feet to the office.</p>
<p>lizard, I giggled when you linked the live webcam. Man, I can’t wait until it warms up hear to go to the beach. By warm I mean 84 degrees and up. A nice, sunny beach day!</p>
<p>Reading a few pages back, it’s crazy to think that’s what the north is going through. To be honest, I didn’t even know anywhere in the US got to be -50!</p>
<p>Here in SE MI, Oakland University and U of M - Flint are officially closed for tomorrow. Grand Valley State over in Grand Rapids is as well.
I don’t think it’s too bad here, but apparently tonight it’ll slam down.
I don’t have class until Wednesday now, so I’m staying put.</p>
<p>Is U of M Flint in session starting tomorrow? Ann Arbor doesn’t start until Wednesday.</p>
<p>Most of SW Michigan is closed down, too. </p>
<p>My fiance’s work called their employees and told anyone that has to drive more than x miles to stay home today and tomorrow morning.</p>