There's no business like snow business

There is nothing in the world like a Snow Day. Sure, three day weekends are nice, and, of course, summer vacation is the necessary creme filling that allows us teachers to get back to the crunchy cookie that defines our jobs. Spring break marks the beginning of the end and Christmas vacation is a beautiful time of family and fun. Nonetheless, there is no feeling like the unexpected day off, waking up to turn on the TV or the computer to find that your dream of rolling over and going back to sleep has really, miraculously, come true. Or, in my case, waking up to a phone call from the princpal to inform you that the parking lot, street and trecherous hill leading up to school are impassable, so there will be no school today.

Oh, the glories of an entire unplanned, unexpected day. I woke up at 8 (an hour and a half later than usual) and lingered over a mug of hot cocoa as I contemplated the infinite possibilities that the day had in store. I decided that indulgence of my passion for reading would be the order of the day. As a lifelong voracious reader, I have been unable to satiate my desire during the school year, as all of the responsibilities of teaching have consumed me. (For those playing at home, that last sentence included not one but two fifth grade vocab. words. See if you can guess which ones they were.) Plus, Kurt and I have been trying to make a habit of seeing more friends during the week, which has been quite restorative, but has cramped my reading style just a tad. So, I picked up my current read and dove in. I decide that I would alternate reading a chapter with accomplishing one of the many other chores and tasks that have fallen by the wayside in the past weeks: laundry, cleaning the bathroom, finishing Kim's birthday gift, etc. Amazingly, an undesirable chore such as cleaning the bathroom was made light by the fact that up until 6:30 this morning, I expected to be at work at the very moment that I was knee deep in Comet. Wonderful!

In the afternoon, I was graced by a visit from the lovely Danielle Tamashiro, a native Californian who was irked by the fact that her roommate's boyfriend had cleaned off her car, thus depriving her of the pleasure. After a late lunch, we journeyed to a field across the street for a jam-packed snow play session. Getting their proved a challenge as we had to hop a small fence and Danie was wearing so many clothes that she couldn't lift just one leg to get over the fence. Her ingenious solution was to lean over head first and sommersault her way to freedom. I helped by providing the force needed to tip the lever that was Danie. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time, and we received an enthusiastic cheer for our efforts from a woman at the bus stop. Safely in the field, we had a snowball fight, made angels, built a pathetically small snowman and tromped around to our hearts' content. Exiting proved even more difficult than entering, but suffice it to say that Danie will not be wearing those particular jeans ever again. Then it was home for more hot chocolate, reading and general merriment. All that and a four day week ahead! Oh, the glories of a Snow Day.