frustrated displaced suffering southerner

You aren't exaggerating. It is freezing cold here! This afternoon the winds are going to pick up to over 40 m/p/h and the windchill is going to drop below -30 below zero! At least no snow (yet).

You can have some of our snow!! Some A-hole is outside doing donuts in the middle of the road. My little boy wants to go outside, but I think it's too cold.

My kids want to go outside also, but I don't think so with the temps well below zero!

It is FREEZING!! I keep thinking that it will warm up, but I can't even get the house warm. I have to keep the water dripping in the kitchen so that the pipes don't freeze - the freeze when the temp goes down to about 20 - I have no basement just a crawl space and the fool that built this house put the pipes right up against the brick wall, so I can't wrap them. I have had this problem for 30+ years in the winter. It is the house that jack built - a Korean War pre-fab. none of the windows are shim and when the wind blows so does the curtains! Even with the plastic, and duck tape. You can see your breath in here!

Know how you feel Fins! For the past several weeks, we have had tons of ice and snow. The ice storm had not even melted, and this week was snow. I have been stuck in the house on and off for 10 days, been driving me nuts!!..KAren

As a New Englander, if you dress in layers your boy will be OK outside. Hat is mandatory! We played outside as children in the freezing cold all the time. You get those rosy cheeks, and feel good. As an adult, I walked to work from the subway(about a mile) in below 0 wind chills. If your dress warm enough, believe it or not, your ok. Also once you start shoveling you won't feel the cold so much. Now, I have no idea if its because I have always lived in New England, probably it is, but you can do it!!! Good luck finsfan!

OMG, I didn't know you had to let the water trickle!! I just talked to my husband (he thinks I'm over reacting, by the way) and he told me we'd have to run the water tonight. Thankfully our house is pretty modern, built in the late 70's, and when we moved in 6 years ago the furnace was brand new.

I think I am going to let Andrew go outside for a little bit, I'm tired of hearing "MOM! MOM! MOM!". It's actually up to 16 degrees now! You know, I've never made a snow man in my life?

LOL. Finsfan I am just like you, I am very overprotected. I'm like the mother in "The Christmas Story", my boys are the one's who can NOT move when they go outside because I put too much layers on them. LOL

I'm not overprotected. LOL. I meant I am very overprotective of my boys.

Hey, send that snow my way!! We had our first snow and we only got 3 inches and its gone already. I miss the snows up north.

Gosh, it won't stop...I went outside with a roof rake (?) to clean off the satelite dish, and guess where the snow ended up? Yep, right on my head. The snow is past my dang knees.

But were you able to clean off the satellite dish and get the signals coming in? LOL

I'm right with you in those conditions, fins, just not to the extent that you have it! We have darn near blizzard conditions - just not quite high enough wind speed to be classified as such. Roads are drifting shut, and accidents are all over the place. Windchills at -10 to -20. The boys and I went grocery shopping this morning for ourselves and my parents, so my parents wouldn't have to go out in this mess.

We saw a BAD accident while we were out, though. Some yahoo pulled right out in front of an oncoming truck, causing the driver of the truck to slam on his brakes and swerve, shearing off a heavy wooden mailbox post, then go into a ditch nose-first, which then caused the truck to flip over twice. And the idiot that caused the wreck by pulling out? He looked back, with a shocked expression on his face, then drove off. :evil: :evil: We stopped and I helped the poor guy get out of his truck and contact his wife and the police. Friends of his showed up to help, so I left. And when I called the state police to report that I had witnessed the accident (in case it would help the guy that rolled his truck), they didn't care. Said a report wasn't needed, it was all taken care of. I hate living in a no-fault insurance state. This poor guy's insurance will have to pay for what some other jerk caused to happen. Brand new truck, about $30,000 worth - totalled.

Steelers, I did indeed get the signal in..I'm snug as a bug now; I've downed almost an entire pot of coffee, I'm watching classic sports, my house is spic and span, and my husband is picking up a big fat greasy pizza for dinner. What's better than that?

Hey Fins, did it finally stop snowing where you are? We haven't seen any more for a bit here. Hopefully it's all passing over now. Steelers, did your boys get outside to play? :-)

No, it is more than -30 below zero with the wind gusting to well over 40 miles an hour.

Wow, you've got it much worse than we do here. Wise idea to stay in! Do you have indoors activities for your boys to keep them busy?

They've got plenty they can do indoors. We have the cold but not the snow. There's just a dusting on the ground and the sun is shining.

I think sometimes that's worse than the snow - it looks fairly nice outside, sun shining and all, but its deceiving until you get out there! I hope you all stay warm!

This will warm you UP!
Spicy Hot Potato Soup

Ingredients -
2 slices Bacon
1 cup chopped Carrots
1 cup chopped Poblano Chilies
1 cup chopped Onion
2 tablespoons seeded and minced Jalapeno Pepper
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
5 cups diced peeled Baking Potatoes
2 (14 1/2 ounces) cans Fat-Free Chicken Broth
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Flour
2 1/2 cups Skim Milk
5 ounces grated Jalapeno Cheddar
2 ounces Light Cheddar
2/3 cup chopped Green Onion


Preparation:
In large pot, cook bacon until crisp. Transfer to paper towel and set aside. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot.

Add carrots, poblanos, onion, jalapenos, garlic and cumin; saut???? until golden brown. Add potatoes, chicken broth and salt. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to maintain gentle simmer, cover pot and cook for 25 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

In bowl, gradually whisk milk into flour until mixture is smooth. Slowly whisk milk mixture into soup. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soup is thickened, about 12 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Add cheeses, stirring until melted.

Crumble reserved bacon. Ladle soup into bowls and top with bacon and green onion.

That sounds good, fedup! :D

I have to give it to you, as much as I miss my old life up North, not having to deal with snow in Florida is a relief! Though it does get bitter cold down here.

I know, the cold in Florida at times is worse than the cold in the dead of winter here..At least it's dry here.

OMG, That soup sounds doggone good..I just wrote the recipe down. One of my favorite things to eat is corn chowder..I could go for a big bowl right now.

I too copied that recipe to my own recipe list.

I am so pissed right now. Why are people in positions of customer service in this town so f*cking rude? Why does my husband have to heap all these stupid errands of his on my shoulders, then he complains that I don't do them right. I declare, one of these days I'm going to take a whole week of me time with no cell phone, no computer, no other humans, just shut the entire world out because it never fails to make me f'cking postal!

The cold has me in a bad mood too, Fins! We don't have much snow yet, but the cold is enough to make me angry...lol

Fedup - between you and fins - not only am I freezing, I am starving, too! I wrote down your recipesound like a winner, but tonight I only have ingredients for clam chowder and my homemade pizza.( My super bowl party food). So that is what I am making right now. The wind is howling here so badly! My daughter just came in and told me that some of the slats on the awning on the front window have blown off! She caught one of them as she drove around the corner - it hit her car! (I live on a corner of a busy street). So tomorrow I go hunting for slats. That sound like a b murder movie!

OK, that's it. Party at my house! It's warm, just might rain a tad...

whatcha cookin' ks??

:D

Jessi - you need to go on strike! :twisted:

Anyone doing a Super Bowl party tomorrow? I'm doing a small one for myself, my two boys, and one of my older son's friends. I was invited to one by someone at work, but it would be all guys...I'd feel kinda like the turd in the punch bowl there! :lol:

LOL, Irish..That sounds like a very bad movie.

ok, I know I'm really short, but the snow has drifted up to my shoulder behind the house. There is a path leading around from the back of the house, and the poor dog has to poop there. This just sucks.

Ari, customer service just sucks. I am going to stomp a mudhole on the a$$ of a Sprint customer service rep.

LOL Fins - that really stinks about the snow being so deep! And I have a dog that hates the snow, so she goes out and pees ON THE DARN DECK because she doesn't want to go down the slippery steps!

LOL,Fin and Suebee! My little shitzus have to go so badly and they see the snow and here the wind and back step away from the back door, so we have to pick them up and take them out. The only problem is they follow us back up on the porch and make their deposit right there! Nothing like stepping in frozen poop!

LMAO!! Irish, count your blessings..You could be stepping in fresh poop instead!

y'all got cattle ranches? frozen poop?


*chuckle*

I'm thinkin' chili, nachos, Anchor Steams, and anything else you can think of for a Pre Super Bowl party!

Are you guys still whining about the weather? I saw kids in bathing suits swimming in the pool today! High 70's---

OK - I know you just want us all to be jealous! We are frezing our toots off and your lounging in the sun! Kids swimming ha! My kids are making hot coco and poormans' dounuts. SOME FUN!!

We're doing good stuff for the Super Bowl Party...

-chilled shrimp & sauce
-bbq chicken chunks
-ham & onion cheeseball
-crackers
-cubed cheese & beef summer sausage
-hawaiian mini smokies
-velveeta chili cheese dip & chips
-chocolate chip cookies & ice cream

Sounds like everyone has their mind off the weather and into superbowl recipes. Hot Wings, Nachos, and a big screen tv with friends around. Choose your beverage. Myself, had a house full last year when the steelers went, glad that won't be happening this year. It seems to be a womans job to clean up the mess afterwards. Hate the smell of beer, seems the boys just can't help themselves in their frenzy not to spill at least one can. Just toooooooooo messy for me. Have fun everyone

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OK - the weatherman here in Cleveland just said that the temp is 2 degrees! Wind chill is -21!! Now what I don't understand is if it feels like -21 why don't they just say it -21? forget the 2 degrees - I don't think that should count!
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I agree with you Irish. I think they're just trying to make it sound warmer outside than it is. Becuase 2 degrees sure sounds warmer than -2.

And you know it's bad when you say things like "It's going to get all the way up to 36 degrees.." And that sounds WARM!

I'm sooooo ready for Summer. :)

I think that all weathermen think that they are comedians! This one just said that it is going to warm up by the end of the week - to 20! Warm up my pitutti! I am not normally a freeze baby, but warming up is 90 degrees!

That's it, I've had it.

We woke up at 8am this morning to NO POWER!! It was freezing, the dog was shivering. My husband made a fire and we all put on sweaters and hats. It was a nightmare..And the roads are so bad it's dumb to drive anywhere.

So we sat..All morning..I was soooo jonesing for coffee, and I must admit I complained all day. I insisted that we take the animals and go to a hotel, there was NO WAY I would miss the super bowl. My husband said there are some things more important than the super bowl, and I said "not a whole lot is more important to me than football." So of course we had a rip roaring fight, I threw a dog toy at him..Anyway, the power came back on at 11:50, I got coffee, it's warm, the tv works, everything is ok.

LOL Fins.

I was here all day yesterday waiting for the satellite people to come out....I was out of any sort of caffeine....I'm a total addict, I'll admit it. If I don't get caffeine in time, I get headaches like you wouldn't believe and I get mean. So my uncle went to the store and stopped through Starbucks to shut me up. LOL

The weather will be done soon. :( It does suck though. You can come down here if you want...It's cold, but no snow. :)

LOL, I'll take the cold over all this snow any day.

Can you see me getting there, though? I'd have to drive through Michigan..You know me and how uptight I am, I'd be a wreck by the time I got there, if I didn't get lost and make you come and find me!! :lol:

LOL I'll mail you my cell phone and you can use the GPS on it...lol

I'm still waiting for my job to give me my new schedule for after training.....I told them I want to go back to day shift, but who knows if they'll listen. I hate driving in the bad weather.

One thing is good, though..Well, actually 2 things..

Last week we had 2 days where our satellite reception was terrible, and there was no major snow. I called Directv and told them I was sick of it and was switching to Dish. They gave us 3 months of Starz for free and a free DVR to stay. That was nice..

Then..I broke my cell last week, and I had to get a new one. (no, I didn't break it on purpose) The one they gave me is JUNK, it doesn't get a signal anywhere, it's really really bad. My old phone was awesome with reception, and this one isn't even worth having. So I went in there and told them I was switching to Verizon..And guess what I got? The cute little red Katana I wanted! For free!

Isn't it amazing what they will do when you threaten to switch to the competition?

Did they make you sign a new contract?

Sprint? Yeah, they did.But I wasn't going to switch anyway, we get a 25% discount through my work, so it's cheaper than anything else anyway, and their coverage is really the best around here. I did add the text message plan, though..I was going over on my texts a little bit and my husband kept telling me to add the plan.

Wow, sounds like everyone's having a tough time with the weather. We had such bad inversion from the cold that the sun look three times larger and was bright orange. I thought I was on another planet. Finally, the other day I actually saw blue sky for a while. Temps are warming here a little. Yesterday it was in the 40's and to me that is like summertime. One of our dogs actually got put outside for the whole day.

Downside of it was that I realized my worst fears. I got a really bad cold and I think it's going into bronchitis. My boss was sympathetic but wouldn't let me go home. In fact, he made me work overtime to compensate for his lack of planning again. The next day he told me I was a "trooper". God, he should have just patted me on the head and told me "What a sweet little thing I was" 'cause it's just as patronizing. Anyone got a good recipe for breaking up congestion once it's in your lungs?