La Nina

Sara VS. La Nina. I'm keeping score, and right now we're tied at 2-2. It is going to be a good game this winter. I scored a point yesterday for using my new giant parka in the snow. Today, La Nina scored 2 points for my 3.75 hour commute (FML) and nearly committing me to an icy death in Lake Washington. I answered back with an epic game of Snow Diamond for a point.

Snow in the Pac NW is a chaotic event. Truly--there is nothing that causes more craziness. Especially when it happens on a Monday. A monday morning. Everyone tackled the drive to work, which was slow, but totally safe. It continues to snow throughout the day, but doesn't really stick. We're all riding high from our relatively successful morning commute, so we're not too worried...WRONG. Be worried! It is always better to over-react about the snow. Stay home as soon as you see a flake! There's no glory in manning up and coming to work. You will always regret it. Always.

I was smart enough to leave work at 3 (along with the rest of the city). I was not smart enough to consider the fact that 75% of my 10 mile commute was going to be on BRIDGES. Bridges that have significant inclines. Bridges that have been freezing over all day. Bridges that cannot be accessed by road crews because the entire STATE is gridlocked.

I've never been in a more terrifying driving experience in my life. "Driving" on a freeway covered in an inch of ice is a ridiculous task. It is comical on TV, but not in real life. Especially when you have to literally dodge fishtailing cars and city buses and people putting chains on in the center lane. It's not like you can stop halfway up on an icy hill either. You'll never make it. Oh, and on either side of the freeway is a 350 foot deep LAKE. So, if the fishtailing bus slams into my flimsy Mazda3--over the edge I go.

Three hours, 10 miles, and a splitting headache later, I made it safely to my home. At my home, everyone was excited about the snow, but they hadn't been in their car for the last 3 hours. After a Rainier and some thai food, I started to get excited about the snow too.

My roommate rallied a bunch of people to go play in the snow at the park, and we invented the BEST SNOW GAME EVER. We called it Snow Diamond, which basically combines a snowball fight and all games you ever played in PE as a child. Here's how you play:
-Draw a large diamond in the snow, bisected by a line, so you have two adjacent triangles. (yeah geometry terms)
-Divide into teams, and pre-pack an arsenal of snowballs.
-Everyone takes one snowball and puts it on the center line. (make sure to yell "put your balls on the line."
-Play dodgeball with snowballs!
-If you get hit, you're frozen (cuz it is SNOW).
-Your teammates can unfreeze you by diving underneath your legs (like in tunnel tag).
-The first team to freeze all members of the other team is the winner!

Other imporant rules:
-You can leave the diamond to pack more snowballs, but you can only throw from within the diamond.
-You can't throw snowballs if you are frozen.
-Double fisting is allowed.
-If you are diving under someone to unfreeze them, you can still get hit.
-If you catch an intact snowball, your team wins the entire round.

Snowmageddon continues tomorrow. I'm not getting back into my car for at least a week, but I'll play Snow Diamond anytime. Oh, and I'm going to join EVERYONE by posting something about the snow on facebook.