I am woman, hear me roar. Because I shoveled snow.

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day! And it's a great one because my Valentine got home today after being gone for 12 days. :)

Yesterday morning I was sitting on the couch reading, enjoying our third snow day this week, and had the random thought, "I should really go out and try and clear some of the snow off of the ice so if and when the sun decides to shine today, it would have a better chance of actually melting some of that ice." And since my brain seems to think that "no school because of snow" also means "no exercising because of snow," even though I have all the exercise stuff I need in the basement, I also figured shoveling snow would be an awesome workout.

Keep in mind that I have not shoveled snow for years. Many years. Kailen thought it would be fun to shovel snow after our storm two weeks ago, and since I would never want to take away any of her fun, I graciously let her do it.

So I first shoveled the back steps so the girls could go out to go potty that way instead of us having to take them down through the basement. Those little stinkers still try and sneak up the icy stairs to go back into the house when they're done, even though Kailen or I stand in front of the steps, and I was worried one of them would slip and break a leg or something.

Anyway.  

The back steps went pretty well, so I moved to the front steps, sidewalk, and driveway. Was still feeling pretty good after the steps and sidewalk, and was sure I could get that whole driveway done. 

About twenty minutes or so later I decided it would be just fine to only do half the driveway because...ummm...shoveling snow is really hard work! And since we weren't going to be driving Penelope, no need to shovel more of the driveway than necessary right?

This little drift in front of our garage was actually not quite so little. It was almost 30 inches deep! Not too shabby for Georgia. :) But I did get rid of it (well, the part that was in the way of actually getting the car out of the garage), and that was quite the workout in itself.

I stopped for a minute to strategize on what needed to be done next and looked up. This is what I saw, although this picture doesn't do it justice. Beautiful blue sky among the trees.

And do you see it? The sun is trying to come out! Hallelujah!

As I was shoveling,  I remembered all the snow my dad shoveled--all winter long--when I lived in Idaho. That's some major snow. He did it for many years without a snow blower, too. Impressive. I now have a new level of appreciation for all his shoveling, which he did day after day and year after year to keep us safe and make life easier for us. It might seem like a small thing, but it's really not. That's just my dad. He always quietly worked really hard to take care of us.

Before I went back in the house, I checked where I'd shoveled, and the ice was already starting to melt.

Mission accomplished. A lot of the snow and ice was gone, and I got an awesome workout.

And boy, can I feel it today. ;)