With the great snow apocalypse of 2016 now firmly in our rear window and our groundhog confirming an early spring, I feel comfortable in reflecting back and making a couple of observations on the recent weather event.

1. I definitely need to get prepared for any future weather-related scenarios.

An ice scraper? For gosh sake, I have nine reusable bags for groceries, two tire gauges, four umbrellas, a screwdriver, some twine, three yoga mats and a flashlight in my trunk but could not find an ice scraper to safe my life.

Winter footwear? I do not have adequate footwear for ice and snow.  Not sure anyone does. I managed to keep up daily walks with the dog through the neighborhood, where I encountered a couple of other brave souls. One who was wearing golf cleats.  Good idea I thought, as I slipped in my boots clearly meant for rainy days.

Candles in the event of power outage?  Yikes. I have 35 votive-size candles, and that was about it. 

But, I was lucky and had food and roof and warmth and enjoyed the days at home with family.

2. When the internet goes, your life can fall apart … or?

Things at our office did not go as smoothly: electricity went out; there was a significant leak in our kitchen; and we all went 57 hours without internet/phone access.  We were like real-life Survivors.  I mean, it started to get ugly. Without our server connection to the internet, we could not receive or make phone calls, send or read email.  Even our regional staff, some in locations without any snow or ice, lost their email connections as well.

What I appreciate most is the dedication of staff: troubleshooting how to handle scheduled conference calls and webinars (that we were hosting); all folks pitching in to clean up and brainstorm ideas and our team members who spent the weekend and into the night Monday getting everything back on line.

What I enjoyed most was a whole day without the distraction of emails to read, cleaning off my desk, and deleting email (which I could do).  Just embracing the concept that we did not have email was the key to my mood — that and those three yoga mats!