Four glorious days.

We had plenty of warning. For days, our friendly neighborhood meteorologists had been telling us about the extreme cold and freezing rain we could expect at the end of the week. But we'd heard it all before; just a week ago, we'd gotten our hopes up, and all that we got was this:

Yep. That was our "winter weather event."

So this time around, we took the necessary precautions, but we weren't quite buying what the weather guys were selling. Sure, it COULD be a real deep freeze (that would "entomb" the Metroplex, as one prognosticator put it), but it could also be one big ratings ploy.

But Thursday afternoon, the temps started dropping and wet stuff was falling. Surprisingly, our school districts didn't even need to wait until morning to call off school for Friday. Turns out, that was a smart move. Around 3:30 Friday morning, I looked out our front door to see this:

Everything was covered in at least half an inch of ice.

And just like in 2011, it was like we'd pressed PAUSE right in the middle of our busy lives. No school. No alarm clocks. That bowling tournament in Huntsville? Nope. The SAT Ryan was scheduled to take Saturday morning? Postponed. All our plans were put on hold. On Sunday, I even had the day off from the job I do for free. Dangerous driving conditions extended our mini-vacay through today (Monday), too.

So what did we do? Lots of things! We had chili, cinnamon rolls, enchiladas, lots of coffee/hot chocolate, and cozy time spent by the fire:

And we ventured outside a time or two:

One of our neighbors has a sled that he was kind enough to let us use:

And of course, we just enjoyed our icy world:

Inside, we kept our pups warm:

We also paid bills, cleaned house, decorated three out of our four Christmas trees, and watched movies and football. (I also spent plenty of time on a heating pad since my lower back is NOT a fan of the cold.)

Throughout these four days, I've noticed that there are basically two kinds of people: those who relish cocooning in their homes and those who just HAVE to get out. All weekend I was stunned to see my Facebook friends talking about their various excursions into the frozen tundra just for grins: trips to the movies, shopping excursions, dinners out on the town. I was already worried sick about my friends who had to travel for work. I couldn't handle the stress of knowing others were "slip-slidin' away" by choice! But you know, some folks just have to get out of the house. Now if you recall my ever-present wanderlust, you'd think I'd fall in that category. But when the travel is treacherous, I'm the homebodiest homebody you've ever seen! Besides, I have so much respect for the first-responders who have to be on the roads, rescuing the stranded. The best way I can convey that respect is by not being someone in need of rescue.

So tomorrow we will finally push PLAY, and all our busy-ness will resume. But what a great four days we've had! And hey, it's not even winter yet. Maybe we'll have a few more ice days before spring? (Please?!)