This Is A Test ... Mother Nature's Test

I live in Minnesota. That's in the north-central part of the United States near the watery blue things called the Great Lakes. It's cold in the winter up here, and we usually get a lot of snow. But we've been spoiled this winter. Until now.

The green is Canada. The red star is Minneapolis/St Paul, which is where
I live. As you can tell, I'm in the northern part of the USA. Yes - we get
lots of snow and some very cold temperatures over the winter. 

Today is my first test of getting to the gym on time when we've had a more serious snow. We're expected to get anywhere from 5"-12" of snow before the storm leaves us tomorrow, and it's got a good start.

If I don't shovel, tire tracks like these can ice up and be in my
driveway until March or April. We need to keep the driveway
as clear as possible to avoid that. 

Because my driveway faces north, any tracks or compressed snow turns into ice and doesn't leave until late spring. So ... that means I get my early exercise with an added on benefit of shoveling my side of the driveway before I leave for the gym. All good and fine, but my time schedule is usually really, really tight. So today is a good test. Can I manage to do this with success and still get to the gym when they unlock the doors at 5:00 am?

Because I was thinking about my tight schedule, I tossed and turned
all night. NOT a very relaxed sleep at all. I almost gave up after
four hours, but decided to tough it out. I really need my six hours or I'm cranky. 

I'm willing to take on the challenge, but I know there will be days much less accommodating than today. I was able to clear most of my early morning work out of the way last night, and it's the end of the year, so posts are light and gossip is slight. It won't always be so easy in the future, but I think I have it nailed today.

Here's hoping your Tuesday starts a bit easier than mine, although another 100 calories lost isn't a bad thing. I'm losing my Christmas food weight :-)