Unfair advantage?

I was sent home from work at 11:45 a.m. Thursday. Sent home. Told to go home and bundle up and stay safe. OK! I sat by the window and read while watching the snow pile up outside.

School was canceled, church was canceled, rehearsal was canceled. I literally had nothing to do for 4+ days, and it was amazing. I had a fabulous impromptu vacation and loved every minute of it. I read, worked out, napped, rested. I had a fire almost constantly. I sipped tea. I lived in my party pants and slippers.

But I realized that I had a bit of an unfair advantage over others who struggled with being snowbound.

I had just gone grocery shopping, and the kitchen was fully stocked. I was also sent home from work with leftover pizza that supplemented several meals. Wednesday, I had made a big pot of lentil soup that was supposed to feed Sarah and Joel Friday night (canceled because of snow). We ate on that for days.

I also had lots of entertainment, including a stockpile of books, a Netflix account reactivated in anticipation of the stormy weekend and a stack of firewood just outside my sliding door. Plus, and this is a big one, I had no one to care for/entertain besides myself!

 

One thing that made a huge difference was my treadmill. While many of my exercise-craving friends were stuck inside and going nuts, it was full-steam ahead for my training. I have a race this coming weekend, and I had to do one more long run. Friday, I fired up the Netflix, opened the garage doors and got it done:

12 miles on the 'mill - boom!

It snowed the entire time. Gorgeous!

View from my front window:

Saturday night, I decided I should probably venture outside. We bundled up and trudged the ~mile to Bridgeport Village for dinner at Native Foods.

Shared Native Nachos and a Twister Wrap - yum!

The frozen fountain was beautiful:

When we got home (through the light freezing rain), we decided we couldn't let the storm pass without some sledding in our hilly neighborhood.

Sunday called for some speed work: 10 x 400s.

Can't beat that view:

I love baking and tried really hard to resist going nuts in the kitchen. But I finally gave in and baked these amazing pumpkin cinnamon rolls. (Do you know this blog? SO good!)

I made the dough in my bread maker, and it turned out wonderfully. I threw them together and then did my workout while the rolls rose one more time in the pan. Brad baked them while I was in the shower, and I celebrated my speed work with this:

Oh, my! Make these! (I made one change: I didn't have cream cheese so I made a regular icing with powdered sugar and maple syrup.)

Fire roared in the fireplace almost constantly throughout the storm, and now my wood stack needs a refill!

Wanting to mix it up a bit Monday (I figured 21 miles was enough for one storm!), I positioned our exercise bike in front of the TV and went to work:

Olympics on the TV, Netflix movie on the tablet. Picture-in-picture:

I feel - and felt throughout the entire weekend - so very thankful to have a warm, cozy place to ride out the storm. I feel so thankful to have this forced time of rest. Thankful for my life :)