Things to Do When You Get Snowed In

Living in a rural area, I have had the opportunity to experience periods of time when we were snowed in. The only form of travel would be walking. If you lived miles from any place, you just stayed home.

Some people who experience this occurrence, refer to it as boredom. All they can do is sit in their home and watch television. They keep looking out the window waiting for the snow plow to go through and open their lanes and roads. However, in some cases, they could be waiting for several days.

The great thing about being snowed in is that it cuts you off from the civilized world for a brief period of time. You have a good excuse not to go in to work or school. Nobody is going to question your loyalty when the snow is deep. It provides you a very important commodity, time. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do while you are snowed in.

Home improvement

1. Shampoo the carpets. Do one room at a time and get started. No visitors when the snow is deep.

2. Paint the rooms.. Just make sure that you have enough paint to finish your project.

3. Early Spring cleaning. Make a list of major items to clean. Things like curtains and drapes and upholstery can be done.

4. Rearrange the furniture in your home for a new look.

5. If your garage is warm, clean it out and straighten it up.

6. Clean and detail your vehicle. Again, just be sure the garage is warm.

7. Clean and organize your attic. Get rid of the things you no longer want to keep.

Home finances

1. Organize your bills and receipts. This often provides an excellent time to get ready for the IRS.

2. Review your yearly balances on your bills. Double check your accounts. Update your yearly budget.

3. Straighten up your home office. Place things in an organized manner. Throw away things that get your way.

4. Clean out your computer. Get rid of programs to speed up and improve your computers performance.

Hobbies & Crafts

This is an excellent chance to bring your hobbies and crafts up to date. Be sure you have your supplies available.

If you have never done scrap booking, this is a great time to start. You do a relationship between you and your spouse, a child, grandparent, or family pet.

Entertainment

1. Do a 500 piece or larger puzzle. 2. Play an extended game of Domino's. 3. Play a lot of family games together. 4. Have a family movie day. 5. Switch from television to Talk Radio. 6. Pick out one subject of interest and have the whole family research that subject through newspapers, magazines, Internet and then discuss your findings. 7. Plan your next summer vacation. 8. Dress warm and go outside and build a snowman or snow fort for a family snowball fight. 9. Build an outdoor fire. You will need some dry wood but, you can do hot dogs, smores, and other items outside as well. 10. Sledding, Find a good hill that is safe and take the entire family outside. note; If you have a frozen pond with at least 4 inches of thickness, try some family hockey. Dress up with extra clothing. You don't necessarily need skates. Some plastic hockey sticks and a few plastic pucks work just great. 11. Extreme camp-out. This will take some planning. However, if you have the equipment, this can be a lot of fun. If it gets too bad, just go back inside.

Being snowed in can offer many opportunities to do family things. Take advantage of the time and make it quality time.