Snow Day!

When all of my Southern friends were bemoaning their week-long snow day vacation a few weeks ago all I could think was, I wish I had a snow day of my own!  Well, well, well, the gods have spoken and Blizzard 2011 has taken over.  We were told to leave early from work yesterday and that the offices would be closed on Wednesday.

Suweet!!  That is until it took me two hours to get home (it normally takes me twenty minutes).  Sure, a two-hour commute is no fun, but it's especially no fun when one hour of it is spent outside waiting for a bus.  I decided to be proactive and walk south on Michigan Ave because every bus that went by was packed on the north end where I work.  I managed to cross the river and get to Lake Street before I found an empty bus; all while walking nine tenths of a mile in 50 mph winds and snow.  Yeah, no fun.

The craziest part was getting off the bus near the lake where I live.  I have NEVER, I repeat, NEVER dealt with wind like that.  I've lived in Chicago for almost ten years and this was absurd.  I could barely cross the street and started to run because it was the only thing I could do to stay upright.  I had a hard time opening the glass door to my apartment lobby because of the wind and snow -- I felt like Dorothy trying to evade the twister.  THEN when I got into the lobby I seriously thought an alarm was going off because there was this high-pitched, constant whistling.  Only to find out it was the sound of the wind whipping through the courtyard.  Uh, that's a first.

All of this is to say that Blizzard 2011 is no joke and I plan to stay put with Buster and tv and, yeah, maybe some champagne. 

Oh, and, my favorite quote so far has been via Facebook.  A coworker said this: "Just saw a 4 pack of toilet paper fly through the air past my 2nd floor window."

Awesome. 

photos via Chicago Tribune, Brian Cassella.  Lake Shore Drive after it was shut down and people attempted to walk home.