Snow Days for real.

Y'all know how the weather's getting kind of hinky, right?  Well, last week we had a bit of an episode.  For some background, a few years ago we had snow in GA.  They closed the schools, not just for the snowing day, but for the subsequent days also.  I couldn't exactly tell why we weren't going to school since all roads were clear in my life.  Apparently, there were some patchy spots on the bus route.  Well, then the school district was in trouble because we were not going to meet the "days in school" requirement, so they just took them off of our winter break.  The response to this decision was, shall we say, negative.  Voices were heard throughout the county because this was really interfering with the vacations that had been planned and booked for months.  (Don't forget we live in Delta land and people seriously go places on their days off.)  Well, the next years' school schedules were adjusted slightly with shortened winter break and built-in snow days that weren't even used.  Then this winter Mother Nature provided some freezing days (remember the pipes?) that cancelled school.  This was fine, but we were getting a little close to our snow day limit.   The administrators need to choose wisely because of the potential rage in our community.   Last week the meteorologists predicted 2-3 inches of snow in our area.  Now the decision, do we cancel school and risk wasting a school day (weathermen have been known to be wrong) or wait to see if this snow is for real?  Well the snow came a little earlier than expected and a little more dangerously than ever imagined and the rest is history.  I bring this up because of course there are some angry voices condemning the decisions, and I'm of the opinion that we need to remember how hard it is to predict the future.  I hope the people calling "foul" had ice scrapers and trail mix and blankets in their car full of gas, and snow shovels and lots of salt and sand in their garage, and  food and water stored in their house to be the example in preparedness.  This was a good lesson in planning for an emergency for all of us.

Our family got lucky.  I was already home.  Rebecca got a ride home from school early with a friend.  Gabe rode the bus and was mad that I didn't come to get him.  Once again, I had to decide between adding to the traffic problem and driving to the school or letting my child ride the bus that was already coming this way.  I might have chosen poorly, but hindsight...right?  Gabe got home and we just sat in our toasty house with our biggest problem being cabin fever so we went to choosing a movie.  When the news started coming in of all the people stranded throughout the Atlanta area, I was given an immediate dose of perspective.  I felt immensely grateful for our good luck and even more grateful for the heroes that were sacrificing for those in the storm.  One friend of ours was stuck on the road with a 4 week old baby and her 2 other young children.  Her husband was stuck in another car 2 miles away.  He left his car and walked in the storm to push her car and their family up the icy inclines to their home.  This courageous and loyal act still makes me cry a little when I think of it.

The next day we listened to the news to hear that some people were still stranded.  More heroic stories of compassion and sacrifice surfaced.  In the meantime, back at the ranch (suburbia) we felt safe, but a little isolated.  That morning we got a phone call from our Home Teacher.  He's a friend from church who's assigned to our family to help us with our physical and spiritual needs and be a liaison for the Bishop.  He was just calling to see if we were okay.  A little while later the Sister Missionaries called to see if we had any needs and shared a scripture with us.  All that love coming in on those phone calls reminded me that I'm not the only person on the earth. I was motivated to call my neighbors to see how they were faring.

Then it was time to reschedule our day.  An idle child is a contentious child so I took it upon myself to provide opportunities for improvement to my sweet son who had visions of video games dancing in his head.  He made some dandy looking pancakes for breakfast which tasted great.

Since we had watched the never disappointing "High School Musical 3" the previous night we were all motivated to step up our dancing skills.  Did you know that you can learn to waltz on Youtube?

The next day it was warm enough to go outside.  Gabe and Rebecca tried to sled on frisbees but were unsuccessful.  We ditched our sleds upon moving south so we were ill prepared to have fun.  Gabe forged ahead and made his GA snowman, (It really would be a shame to waste an opportunity) and jumped on a snowy trampoline which is about 4 times more fun than jumping on a plain old summer trampoline.

 That was the day the dove brought the olive branch in the form of the mailman and I vowed to venture out on the roads the next day.

My trip into out of the neighborhood confirmed that there had indeed been snow and ice to contend with.

 The road to the church had some dangerous frozen patches, and it was very strange indeed to see little icy snow piles in the Publix parking lot, but it felt good to go into the mercantile again.  We were out of bananas. Our final snowday-fun project was making and delivering cookies to the neighbors.  We had missed out on some Christmas cookie cheer with our marryings and loved-ones visitings and west coastings in December.

Saturday was business as usual where we had some good news and some bad news.  The good news is that Rebecca got her drivers license.  It went great. We had all our forms (a small miracle) and she received a passing score on her driver's test.  I was amazed at the number of mothers who stand on the curb and watch their child parallel park and back into the parking space.  You know where I was.  Inside the building calming my crazy brain with a crossword puzzle.  When I heard her honk her horn I started my mom thing, "Oh no, did we teach her where the horn is?  What if she forgets the glove compartment is broken and it falls off and everything spills?  Will she be able to back into the parking?  I can't even back into parking!  We're all gonna die!" The DMV is a fertile soil for anxiety.

The bad news is that I assigned the kids to make dinner.  Gabe was enthusiastically stirring the macaroni and cheese when some boiling water sloshed onto his wrist.  Poor little guy has a big blister and redness to remind him of his cooking experience.  He processed it as a definite sign that he shouldn't have to cook anymore.  He can break for now, but we'll have to revisit this skill at a later date.  I hate it when my kids starve because they can't make their own food.

And now it's back to the grind: lunch making, lesson preparing, instrument practicing, stem memorizing, bus catching, you know, all the good stuff.