"Snowmageddon"

In case you haven't heard - which I'm sure you have, as the news media considers DC to be the center of the universe - the entire metro region is currently under assault by snowflakes.  Obama, no stranger to lake-effect snow, has cleverly coined it "snowmageddon".  The flakes are still falling down (actually, sideways at this point), burying cars and roads and our balcony and generally wrecking havoc on an area very unprepared for snowfall.  Anika was born during what everyone called "the snowstorm of the century," and at that point we were holed up in the hospital unable to go anywhere and secretly happy that the roads were so jammed that no one was coming in or out of the hospital.  If you're going to be stuck somewhere, it might as well be snuggling with your new baby and within arm's reach of expert medical care.

Today, during the second "snowfall of the century," we're wishing we had more moving boxes and bubble wrap on hand.  Because this would be the ideal day to spend packing.  Alas, that would require us to be prepared.  And I was so unprepared that I spent much of yesterday afternoon, along with everyone else in the neighborhood, at the grocery store, where most people appeared to be stockpiling for the onslaught of a nuclear attack.  People whirled through the store chaotically, throwing bread and milk and anything within reach into their cart, and we all gave wild, wide-eyed looks to each other as the snow whirled outside the doors.  There were at least three traffic jams in the frozen food aisle during the time I was there, and people were slipping on snow puddles left from boot treads and pant bottoms.  The store was cleared of its supplies of things like toilet paper, diapers, and batteries, quite predictably, and, quite less predictably, out of deli meat and cheese and liters of cola.  Apparently we crave ham and cheese sandwiches and sugar-filled carbonated beverages during snowstorms.  Luckily, no one shared my craving for spicy chicken sausage and asparagus risotto.

So here we are, eating risotto leftovers and gazing at the snow, grateful that our power is back on after periodic outages last night, and generally just enjoying le bebe.  She's started to make tentative moves towards laughing outright, which is really fun to see.  I think it's time to buy a videocamera.  Once the snow clears, of course.