How Long Until Spring?

Well, I took an unplanned little break from this blog. We were impacted by the winter storm that dumped snow & ice and left so many without power this week. We had a little snow Monday, more snow by Tuesday a.m., sleet all day Tuesday, freezing rain Tuesday night and more snow Wednesday a.m. I awoke Wednesday a.m. to the sound of limbs breaking and crashing to the ground. I looked at the clock to check the time only to realize we had no power. The roads were covered in snow and ice and there was no way I was going to attempt to try to get up the hill we live on. The Man had spent the night in a hotel near work Tuesday night because he knew what was coming and was afraid he wouldn't be able to get to work otherwise. So the girls and I put on an extra layer of clothing and made the most of our day without power. I did some cleaning in the a.m. while the girls played. We went outside for awhile even though it was still sleeting. I cleared the worst of the driveway off. Then it was back inside for the rest of the day. I had enough hot water to make some hot chocolate to warm the girls up. We ate dinner by candlelight and went to bed early hoping the power would be restored during the night. We awoke Thursday a.m. to a very chilly house, 49 degrees inside. Brr! The Man had made it home late that night and was back at work by the time we got up. The roads had been plowed the night before and even though they still looked like a solid sheet of ice I decided I was going to get us out of the house for the day. We had a nice warm lunch with The Man before heading to an indoor playplace. I had found a hotel with availability(which was hard to come by) about 30 minutes away, so we headed home around 4 p.m. to pack up and head to the hotel for the night. When we got home our power was back on. Yay! We were only without power for 32 hours and I am incredibly grateful for that. There are still many people without and it may be sometime in February before they get power restored. Not good when it's so cold. The girls did have a great time playing outside in all the snow. And all the ice was absolutely gorgeous when the sun finally decided to make an appearance on Friday. Still, I think I've had all the winter weather I care to have. And yet, we may get more early this coming week. How long until Spring?