In Texas, some people had to resort to unconventional tools to get the job done. CNN iReporter Julie Swift of Plainview, Texas -- where 2 or 3 inches fell -- said she used a plastic school chair.

"The guy was shoveling next door for an older lady. I thought he had a real shovel," she said. "But he had a lid to a big plastic tub. That was funny."

Outside Bradley's Toronto house, the din of shovel hitting concrete broke the early morning quiet.

"I have not made tremendous progress," said Bradley, an elementary school hall monitor. "I'm almost to my car."