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Our unexpected snow storm has me smiling. I love walking in the snow, I love making fresh snow cones, flavored with maple syrup. I love making snow angels and snow forts with my grandkids.

But mostly (today) I love that I am snowed in all alone, and everything else I had scheduled has been canceled. That means I have a writing day with no interruptions, no hurry, just time to try this and that--to brainstorm that devotional I just thought of, to finish up the Clubhouse Jr. story and send it off, to work on my new Highlights story, "Sophie and the Dragon." I can put all those handwritten scenes into the computer for my new novel, THE BOOK OF BREE.

All things are possible on a Snow Day. I'm signing off now, to have the best kind of Snow Play ever--playing with my writing.

For our East Coast teacher readers enjoying (and I use this term somewhat loosely) an extended break from school -- I hope you were finally able to get outside this weekend.  As for me, I was tempted to kiss the ground when I finally made it to Costco.  (For the record, my daughter finds snow "too cold" for play and my son is too short to venture outdoors at the moment, lest he should disappear into a drift.  Thus I literally did not leave the house for at least 5 days.)

As a teacher-spouse, I am always happy to do the snow dance with my husband in the event of a flake or two in the forecast. However, after ten days trapped indoors with two little kids, our feelings toward snow days have begun to evolve.   My husband is worried about his students' ability to pass their upcoming state tests, and I've all but given up on the first two essays I've assigned to my class.

So, teachers among us, do we have a contingency plan in the event of interrupted instruction?  I have asked (and reminded) my students to check school email and Blackboard regularly.  Since the first class cancellation (three snowfalls ago) I have been emailing them like a crazy woman.  Their papers were due last week.  I have heard from about 5 students since we last met. In short, I wish I had been clearer regarding my expectations in the event of a missed class.  Of course, given the conditions, some may have been without Internet access, computers, or even electricity for a time.  But over the course of two weeks, if I could make it to Costco and throw a dinner party attended by out-of-state guests  -- am I really expecting too much?

I just made a list of the material I need to review in class today.  I'm hoping to cover 4 chapters in 75 minutes.  I don't even know where to begin -- MLA, revising, grammar?  Aagh!

By contrast, I remember my childhood snow days with such fondness. The year we moved here from Hawaii was the year we experienced the blizzard of '79.  Well, I do recall being in big trouble for climbing on my father's car (I couldn't see it!), but otherwise it was a week of building forts and playing rummy and re-reading THE BOBBSEY TWINS' OWN LITTLE PLAYHOUSE.  I have thought often of that book this week.  That, and (of course) THE LONG WINTER.  The details I remember are an odd assortment -- tea and hearts from the former; from the latter, brown bread, twisted rope used for fuel, chapped hands.  Give me LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS any day.  Actually, give me Hawaii any day! 

What are the chances we're getting a snow day tomorrow?

The hills are alive with the sound of hail pelting on my window.

Ut-oh.

I meant to put up the review of The Thing About Georgie yesterday, but I just couldn’t do it. I need to feel inspired to write, and instead I felt inspired to take long naps and bitch at my kids. It’s been a long week.

You see, it snowed here on Tuesday. Actually, it was more sleet than snow. The kids were dismissed early and we spent the rest of Tuesday afternoon together, enjoying the free time. My library even closed for the evening, so I didn’t have to go to work. Yeah! Snow day for everyone!

I wasn’t surprised that school was closed on Wednesday, because the side roads were covered with a thick, heavy snow/sleet combo. I also stayed home from work with the kids and shoveled our driveway. The thing is, the snow/sleet combo was very heavy, and I am not so much in shape. I was able to clear out much of the driveway down to the street, but didn’t manage our sidewalk. The plow came through our street once, leaving one lane clear, but not two. By the time my husband got home from work, this snow/sleet combo was frozen tundra.

I give you all these details, because it is relevant to what happened on a wider scale all over the county. The plows hit the main street hard, but only cleared a single lane down all the side streets. I’m sure the plan was to come back later. But by the time they did, it wasn’t snow anymore, but a two inch thick layer of ice firmly attached to the roads. Normally, the ground here is warmer and helps melt the ice, but not after this cold snap. Also, most of the menfolk — and many of the womenfolk — went to work on Wednesday instead of clearing the sidewalks, driveways, and roads. By the time the DC work day was over, it was too late to shovel.

The upshot is that the schools were closed on Thursday and Friday as well, because the buses couldn’t get through the unpaved side streets and the sidewalks were too icy for walking to school. I mean, someone might sue if they fell. The schools may even be closed tomorrow, because nothing has changed over the long weekend. It hasn’t warmed up at all, and it’s impossible to clear off this snow. I know, because I watched my neighbor go at it with a metal shovel and a sledgehammer.

In the middle of this mess, my cat got very sick. After vet bills that could pay for plane tickets to London, it’s still pretty dicey. I want this cat to live because I love her, but also because now it’s an investment. I didn’t pay this much money for the cat to die in the end. No way. Not gonna happen. Even if I have to squirt watered down baby food down her throat and give her subcutaneous fluids with a needle and an IV bag, which we’ve been doing all weekend.

So the kids have been home almost as long as their Christmas vacation. It could have been restful, except for the whole cat thing. Oh, and did I mention when I went to work on Saturday the computers were all down? It is exhausting to answer questions for people all day when you can’t look anything up. Questions that would be easy peasy with a computer are a huge pain without one. Books on homing pigeons. The hierarchy of human needs. The author of a new book called You’ve Never Heard This Title.

I spent all Sunday in my PJs — which I never do  — put together the Carnival post and stared off into space. I didn’t even read a book. I didn’t even read.

Today the sun is shining. Whether it can help the roads remains to be seen, but it’s helping my mood. The cat ate a little on her own today, which is very good. I think the whole family is going bowling to get out of the house. The Carnival post is mostly done, and will be up tomorrow.

This post turned out longer than I thought it would. Sorry about that. It’s no longer a good introduction to the book, so I’ll give it a separate post. But, hey, it was nice to vent for a while.

Is there room for one more member?

I haven't read a book this good...this SATISFYING for I don't know how long! Thank you, Wendy Mass for Jeremy and Lizzy and for reminding me of all those things I already knew (especially the story about the two wolves), and thank you, Franki, for being so rabid about this book. It wouldn't have made it to the top of my to-read pile so fast if it weren't for your enthusiasm. What WERE the Newbery Committee members THINKing when they passed THIS one BY?!?!

One more thank you -- to the universe, for this snow day in which I have done nothing but lay about in my pj's and read. Quite a contrast to the person I was yesterday, all full of my important lesson plans and all the work we need to accomplish before the end of the trimester. Just goes to show...well, I'm not sure what it goes to show, but in case any of my students (or more likely, their parents) are reading this, I promise that I'll do some school work after we take dog and XC skis and snowshoes over to the OSU golf course Griggs Reservoir for a snowy romp. (A POX on OSU for closing the golf course to sledders and skiers! How unsporting of them! Afraid we'd mess up the precious greens? Grrrrr...) And in the extremely unlikely event that my back surgeon is reading this, no, I am not going to ski before I've even been cleared for PT. I'm going to WALK. You didn't tell me I couldn't walk with snowshoes on my feet.

I found a gorgeously illustrated book, depicting colored ink renderings of fashions throughout history and nations. It is called A pictorial history of costume or Illustrierte Kostumgeschichte.
It snowed here again in VA, giving us a total of a whopping 1-2", which gave the kids a school day, and a 2 hr. delay the next day.
As a "northerner" I still get a chuckle out of school closings for 1" of snow, even though it's understandable due to the roads being icy and slick.