In Case You Don’t Hear from Me for a While

In an effort to evade the freezing rain in Atlanta, my parents came to town on Monday evening—two days before the day we all planned for them to arrive. Two days before the day the house would have been clean. Two days before the day the furniture would have been dusted. Two days before the day I would have had meals planned, prepared and frozen.

I know. Even I didn’t believe that last one.  

Despite the short notice and hurried preparation, Brian and I managed to get the house somewhat presentable. My parents had clean sheets and towels. I had already completed the warning sign for our washing machine so we didn’t have to clean chocolate out of the dryer…again.

I even had their usual gift basket of goodies—meant to deter my dad from asking me every 15 minutes if we have something sweet in the house. But, just so you know, my dad is very proud of the fact that he “doesn’t like” sweets. He reminds us regularly.

With peanut M&Ms on his breath. 

Though it was already well after midnight, Brian and I sat in the guest room and chatted while they unpacked their bags. None of us were surprised when mom began her usual Mary Poppins routine and produced all the projects she had made for us: hair bows, a monogrammed pillow sham for JJ’s bed, a monogrammed bath towel for Averi, a monogrammed Valentine’s outfit for Averi, and a monogrammed pillow shams for our master bed.

Seriously, if you sit still at my mom’s house for too long, you’ll walk out of there like a walking advertisement for yourself.

While they settled into their cozy (cramped) accommodations, I was mindlessly cleaning up after them. I noticed a package of that silica gel stuff (the kind you find in shoe boxes) that was dangerously close to the snack basket.

I’m a mother of two toddlers, so my instinct was to toss it in the trash. My mom called out to me from across the room, “Wait! Don’t throw that away!”

“What?”

“Don’t throw that away. I need that.”

“This pack of silica gel? Why do you need it?”

“I don’t remember.”

“You need this pack of silica gel, but you can’t remember why?”

“Right. I saw somewhere that someone did something with it. But I can’t remember.”

“Okaaaaaaaaay. You didn’t see this on Snapped, did you?”

And that, my friends, explains what happened to us all if you don’t hear from me for a while.

But, seriously, I’m so thankful my parents were able to get out before the ice storm hit. How many of you are hunkered down for another round of Snowpocalypse? Stay safe and warm, my Southern friends and family!

And if you’re extra bored and still have internet service, you can check my favorite post about my first snowstorm experience.