Iceapalooza in Texas

We were iced in four days this past week when a horrible winter storm hit North Texas.  A few were williing to brave the roads and get out, but this mommy was not willing to brave her driveway!  While the street in front of the house was mostly dry on day three, our driveway remained covered in over an inch of ice.  To back the van out of the garage, I have to make a pretty drastic turn and hope I don't run off the edge of the driveway and into the ditch, or perhaps even my neighbors' house.  I decided it wasn't worth it.  After all, my neighbors like us and I wanted to keep it that way!  So, the ice began at about 4:00am Tuesday morning, and we did not leave our neighborhood until around lunch time on Saturday.  How did we survive, you ask? 

It was what I call "Neighborfest."  That's right folks.  "Neighborfest."  We played at eachother's houses, we crafted together, we let the kids entertain eachother while we played Scrabble Slam or just talked.  We shopped at the grocery store for eachother, cooked for eachother, and tried to pass the time when it was too cold to play outside, and too icky to go anywhere fun.  Thank goodness for neighbors!  I imagine that early settlers in the new frontier did this same sort of thing.  It's hard going it alone, but when you go it together, as a team, it really lightens the load for everyone.

I'm not going to get all philisophical on you, but I will tell you that you need good neighbors.  If you don't know yours, get to know them.  Whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and walk them over and introduce yourselves.  You'll be glad you did!