So. Much. Snow!!!

So I woke up this morning, like always hitting the snooze on my cell phone alarm from 9am to about 10. All while listening to Virgin Radio Montreal and pretending to sleep. Since it's Wednesday, I know full well that I have to go into class for Environmental Geography. I was even excited when I heard that the Groundhog announced Spring is almost here! =D

So as I was getting ready to head upstairs to go onto Facebook before taking the bus and I get a phone call from my sister who had just left the house. Manda informs me that the snow is crazy high outside and that if I do not have to go to class that I should just stay home and shovel. Of course, any excuse not to go into Geography is an excuse I'll take. So I stay home and veg on the couch, watching some Doctor Who on Space =D and playing DC Universe Online (Such a good game btw!) 12pm I decide that I'm really hungry and so I put the oven onto 400 and grab some burritos from the freezer to have some lunch.

An hour later I am fed and not so eager to get dressed and head outside to shovel. But I figure that I have to at some point so might as well be now. And Oh. My. God. there was just So Much Snow!!! Don't get me wrong, I have lived on the South Shore of Montreal  all of my life and have seen more snow that what fell today. But I have an eight car driveway with no car port, or garage or anything PLUS I have to shovel the entire thing. Well not really, only enough for 6 cars but that is a lot of work for one person, believe me.

Standing on my stairs looking out towards the street.

After 45 minutes of shoveling, cursing, and tearing (I had my contacts on so I tear up a lot) I have about half of the drive way done. Just enough so that if my car was in the driveway, I could walk all around it and still have room behind it.

Standing halfway down my driveway looking back towards the house

My bedroom window & front of my house

 I also had to be very careful when shoveling on where I threw the snow because I sleep in the basement and my only source of natural light for my bedroom comes in from one window. The past couple of years, when Amanda shovels, my window has been covered with snow from the driveway. I had to move most the the snow from the driveway further from the house, so that it wouldn't pile against my window. Sadly it didn't really work out too well :s

So as I said, after 45 minutes of shoveling, I was completely frozen and looking forward to heading inside and vegging on the couch a bit and warming up. I technically could have stayed out longer and finished the driveway, But I couldn't feel my face. SO I went inside and enjoyed a bottle of water (mixed with Lemon-Lime Crystal Light) and did a few more quests with my Villian on DC Universe (She is awesome!  I made her look like a Erinyes from Greek Mythology)

3:30 rolls around and I figure that I might as well head back outside, especially since Dad will be home from work around 5:20. Which gives me plenty of time to finish the driveway. So I headed back outside, and to my dread, there is a layer of snow covering what I already shoveled. D=

So I quickly get ride of all that, and then get to work on the heavy stuff.  And of course, I take a few breaks along the way to shake my fist at the plow that barrels down three times each side of the street, and thus pushing more snow into my driveway! D= (Curse you Plow Guy!!!)

But then I get back to work.

My tree in the front yard. Covered in snow!

 I am proud to say that I was able to get down to the cement in several areas of my driveway. Removing huge thick slabs of ice from the drive.

D= THEY WERE SO HEAVY!!!!! D=

(I wish I had a picture of how huge these slabs were! It was crazy!)

I realize now, however, that the time I took scraping the ice off the driveway was a complete waste of my time and energy!

This pic didn't turn out too well :s  I'm standing at the street

 So after another hour and a half, and three passes of the plow. I am done shoveling. But I was concerned that my car (a Mazda 3) would not fit!

It did though! Thank Gawd! =D

At this point, I head back inside to warm up and play some more with my DC Universe, Villian! (Oh her name, because Erinyes was taken 0.o , is Epiphaneia)

Dad walks through the door at 5:20 and I give him the choice of Meatloaf and Onion Rings or Meatballs and Rice for supper. He, of course, chooses Meatloaf and Onion Rings. So I finish my quest (Epiphaneia had to help Trigon break Raven's mind and control her so that he can take over the world! hehe I had to defeat Donna Troy, Starfire, Cyborg, Nightwing and eventually Raven herself. I actually was a bit conflicted because I did the same quest line the other day, with my hero, and I had to free the Titans and get rid of Trigon :s Either way, this game is AWESOME!!!! =D I play on the computer, but you can also play on the PS3 ( I don't own one :s ) And you should try it, or buy it or whatever. IT IS AWESOME!!!! ) and start my meatloaf.

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What do I put in my Meatloaf, you ask?.... hehe well I'll tell you!

In a large bowl, I mix about a pound of mince meat with 4 extra hot pork sausages (out of the casing, of course) To this fab Meat mixture I had a package of onion soup mix, bread crumbs, Red pepper flakes, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce and sometimes (not this time though) Montreal Steak Spice and Frank's Red Hot. Mix it all together and place it on aluminum foil in a pan and shape it into a loaf.

In another bowl, you'll want to make the sauce for on top of the loaf. I usually just take out my Ketchup, Mustard and Brown Sugar and go crazy mixing them together until I have enough of the mixture to cover my loaf all around. You'll want to have more Ketchup than mustard though, and about a tablespoon of Brown Sugar. Take the mixture and cover the loaf all around.

Place the pan into the oven at 375 for about 25-30 minutes. Have it rest for about 2-3 minutes once you take it out, and then slice and serve  =D

Now you might be wondering why I didn't put in any measurements. And that is because I never measure how much stuff I put in. I just go by what looks good and add more if I want. I usually end up adding more breadcrumbs though because I added too much BBQ sauce. Oh and if you'd prefer, instead of BBQ sauce, use HP Sauce. I don't like the taste, but Dad does. And thankfully I keep forgetting to buy more when I go grocery shopping so there is none in the house =) And for the Ketchup sauce for on top, just go with what looks and tastes right. If you don't want it, then by all means don't add it. But trust me, even those who dislike Ketchup (namely me) will adore this sauce when paired with the Meatloaf!

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So unfortunately, around 8:30pm I believe that I hear a plow passing. I promptly curse and inform my sister that I AM NOT going outside to shovel again by myself. So she pouts, explains that she was just on her way to grab a shower, gets a glare from my father and then stalks off to her room to retrieve her coat and scarf. Once we get outside, however, we realize that what I thought had been a street plow, was merely the neighbor with his snow blower and the driveway plow that several of the households on our street pay for. Not Dad though. o.O "Why bother paying someone to clear my driveway when I have two daughters living with me" D=    Grrrrrr..........  Anyway so we do a fast clear around the car and down the side of the hedge where the snow has piled up bad, and come inside.

Shivering, hungry and thirsty. I decide to grab another Lemon-Lime Crystal Light and some of my favourite store bought cookies! =D And write this post. All in all it was an OK day. Lots of Gaming was done! (Epiphaneia gained 6 levels today! ;)    )  I got in
a lot of exercise and I avoided a boring lecture in the blow freezing basement of FG. (How I hate thee FG C-070!)

I'm off to dream of hott men and beaches! Night All! And remember to dress in layers! It's cold outside and layers works better than dressing in a heavy coat.