I Love Winter

I know it is crazy, but I really do like winter.  (Kelli at The Hays Crew blog feels the exact opposite, and I do sympathize with her right now.)  Well, I guess I should say that I like winter as long as when the calendar says it is spring--the weather cooperates! 

Probably, in another life, I was a bear.  (Yes, that might fit me in more ways than one.)  I like to hibernate in winter.  The early darkness suits me.  I get home to my warm house and don't want to go out again.

I love...
  *snow
      *thick socks
         *flannel sheets
             *wood stoves (in our case- a facsimile)
                  *hot soups and thick stews
                       *snow days
                           *boots
                               *cute knit hats and scarves
                                    *hot cider and hot chocolate
                                         *shoveling snow
                                              *warm fleece pajamas
                                                   *over-sized sweaters
                                                        *ski jackets
                                                             *lap blankets
                                                                  *time for a good book
                                                                      *long underwear--especially long underwear tops
                                                                           *and cute snowmen

It helps that we live on the same power grid as the Senior Citizen housing, meaning our electricity is never off for long.  (Hope I didn't just jinx that.)

It would really help if the Mr. would buy me a remote start for my car.  I would love to get into a warm car and not have to scrape windows after school.

Did I mention that I love snow days?  I do.  And I'm having one today.  (Or at least a bitter-cold-minus-zero-wind-chill day.)  And I'm not complaining.

Play Days

The last week has been full of playing.  Yesterday was no exception.

Since Mr. was off, we took a drive to Big City to see Baby E and family.  We shopped a bit on the way up and back to justify a couple of hours of snuggling that little guy.  (Spent a whopping $19.00.)

Little Man was quite happy to see his Nana and Papa. (Well, that's what I think!)  He endured a lot of kissing and some singing. He is starting to do a lot of "talking" and smiling. So sweet.  (He's changing so fast, I hate to miss a week.) 

The drive home was a bit treacherous with blowing snow and cold temperatures.  We seemed to be driving in a snow globe!  Temperatures are to remain frigid with dangerous wind chill. 

As cold as it is, any playing on this last day of break is going to have to be indoor playing. Might be time to dust off the cribbage board and look up the rules again.  Or I could pop in another season of Downton Abbey. The Mr. would be so thrilled. (Though I think it is growing on him!)

Oh, and I might break down and do a few things to get organized for tomorrow.  About 80 sophomores would be so disappointed if I didn't have some work for them to do! 

Snow Days and Snow Dogs

The general consensus is that we might as well enjoy our snow days, even if we are going to have to make them up.  So... I did.

I've been reading some old, old favorites.  (I left my current reads on my desk at school.)  I haven't read Heidi for years.  It was a childhood favorite.  I also started I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.  I was fortunate enough to hear Maya Angelou speak.  It was a long time ago.  Before she became a staple on "Oprah" or read her poem for President Clinton's inauguration. 

Yesterday the sun came out.  It was beautiful.  In fact, as I was scooping snow and later on my walk with Baxter--all I could think about was skiing.  I could have been on slope and ready to ride the lift.  It was the combination of snow, cold, sun, and the smell of the air. 

Baxter and I walked to K's house.  We took the long way around.  And how Baxter loves the snow!

He jumps in--up to his chin.

He puts his nose down under and runs like a snow plow.

When we got to K's house, I scooped part of her driveway.  Khalie came out for a romp with Baxter, which made Bax go completely nuts.  He jumped.  He rolled.  He drove Khalie nuts! (Thankfully, K kept Baxter on his leash.) 

Walking back home, Mr. B pretty much rattled when he walked.  He had so many ice balls attached to his fur that he probably weighed an extra 5 pounds. 

I had no idea how to get the ice off of him.  I tried brushing.  Nope.  I tried drying him with a towel.  No dice.  I knew if I just let him "melt" that I was going to have a gallon or two of water in my house.  I finally filled the tub with lukewarm water and gave him a bath.  I had to keep adding warm water because the ice on Baxter cooled the water rather quickly.  He didn't like it, but it worked. 

He spent the late afternoon dozing, and I have to confess to taking a short nap, too.

Today, I am headed back to school.  And I can be really glad that I'm not going back to this:

This is what my old deck looked like yesterday.  Of course, no one scoops or blades by the old trailers.  And every time I walk by them, I am just soooooo thankful to be in the new building!

The sun is supposed to be out all day today.  I wonder if it will melt the snow off of our roof on Easy Street?

I imagine we could have some pretty good icicles.  I'll keep you posted. 

And back to school we go.

Snow Days Again

Yesterday was a snow day.  The snow came down all day.  The wind was whipping it around and with the cold temperatures, added a nice wind chill.  I couldn't get a single picture.  Mainly, they all looked like a white out!

Today is a snow day again.  We have 9 inches or so on the ground.  The difference is that the sun came out.  It is beautiful!!

I've already been out scooping today.  The snowplow has been by.  And somebody on Easy Street loves the snow.  That would be Baxter.  He thinks snow is the greatest:  runs like an idiot, dives into drifts, and puts his nose down and goes like a snowplow. 

Baxter and I are headed out for a long walk this afternoon.  I'll bundle up good and take the camera.

It might be cold, but it is too pretty outside to miss a day like this.

Welcome to February 2011

Snow Day #2 this week: 

Ice.  Snow.  25 mph winds.  More snow on the way.  A good day for a book, a movie, a cup of tea, and maybe I can squeeze a nap in there. 

Oh, and I might muster up the energy to run in the new Tiny Town High tonight.  Seven laps make a mile.  I hate running inside, but I could use the energy boost.

Or not...

Snow Day #2

Some of us are thinking we may never get to have a first day in our new school.  Like one of my colleagues said, "Mother Nature started this whole thing with the tornado destroying the school, and now she's controlling when we get into our new school."  She seems to be having the first and last word.

Our students normally love snow days, but some elementary kids upon hearing the news of a snow day--burst into tears.  And even some high school kids were pretty disappointed.  I imagine I wasn't the only teacher who was a little less than delighted. 

In fact, I just had to go to school for a couple of hours yesterday. I puttered around in my new room. (There really wasn't much to do, but I'm thinking of going back today!)  These were some of the pictures I took on the walk home.

The snow started up again in the early evening, and then the wind picked up.  So... we don't have school again today.  Maybe tomorrow.  In the meantime, Baxter and I are keeping the home fires burning.

January Joys

I know a lot of people don't like January.  I do.  And I really like this January.  Why?

*Snow.  It makes a lot of mud when it melts, but it looks so pretty coming down.  It makes the whole world beautiful. (It covers our messiness.) 

*Sunshine.  When the sun comes out in January, it's more of a treat than during any other month of the year. 

*Sweaters, jeans, and boots.  That could be my wardrobe year round. 

*New Calendars.  Between Christmas and New Years, I love to shop for a new calendar.  The days are all empty and full of possibilities!

*Coffee is great year round, but in January a cup of coffee is a mug of warm comfort.

*New babies.  My young colleague gave birth to a sweet baby girl, and my niece gave birth to a beautiful boy a week later.  Welcome to our world Callie and Campbell!

*Soups.  Homemade soups.  Yum!

*The theaters are full of great movies.  Avitar. Sherlock Holmes. Blind Side. And those are just the ones I haven't seen yet!

*Wii Fitness Plus.  The Mr. hasn't been crazy about me skiing again, so I haven't been since the stroke.  This week, I've been slalom skiing and ski jumping on the Wii.  It isn't even close to as much fun as the real thing, but it is a taste of it!

Now, I have a confession to make.  My balance was bad on Wii when I started.  Really bad.  However, it might have helped if I hadn't put the Wii board backward.  Leaning the opposite direction required added a level of challenge that I didn't really need.  Now that the board is facing the right direction, the games are a whole lot easier.  Dur! 

This January weekend is all about sunshine, coffee, soup, Wii time, movies, and we time.  The calendar square is empty.  I like that about this January!

A Wii Bit of Everything

Yesterday, the weather channel said we would be in the upper 30's for the day.  Yeah, right!  At noon yesterday, the actual temperature was 21, but felt like 12.  And boy did it!  I've got to quit listening to the forecasts when I get ready in the morning.

*We've had a little weather related fun at Trailer High this week.  On Monday, three trailers (6 classrooms) had frozen pipes.  Mine was one of them.  That meant no water and no bathrooms.  It was inconvenient.  We had to run to another trailer, the office, or the tech building to use the bathrooms until last hour when  they finished the repairs.  Then yesterday, the tech building (housing 4 classrooms) had no heat.  Forget inconvenient.  I'm sure that was just miserable. Let's hope today brings no more "fun!"

*Tonight, we are headed off to U town to have an early celebration for L's birthday.  She thinks she needs to head off to Philly for the actual day.  She has a four day weekend that includes her birthday. All she needed was the boy and a plane ticket to make her day complete.

So tonight, we're going out to dinner with L and friends.  She wanted a dressy coat for her gift.  We went on a little shopping trip on Sunday, as I wasn't about to choose one without her input.  She found one she liked, so Mom and Dad's shopping was pretty much done.  I did find a couple of other things to surprise her, but I'm not telling what those are.  She might be reading this.  She is a nosy little thing and awfully hard to surprise!

*I've been playing on the Wii Fitness Plus. What have I discovered? My balance isn't good. (You think? My stroke didn't help what little balance I had!) My posture is good. (All right!) The really sad part: I may be the most uncoordinated person I know.

Wii has an activity where you cycle around "Wuhu Island." My "cycle" was crashing into walls and pedestrians. I ran over the distance markers and off a ledge. I was so bad, I scared myself!

In spite of how bad I am, I can't wait to get back on and try some new activity. Next up? Hula Hooping! (By the way, I can't do that in real life. Michelle Obama, I'm not!) I hear they throw extra hoops at you as you progress, and eventually they are lobbing things at your head. Fun stuff.

And that is just a wee bit of my week, and it's only Wednesday!

Return to Chaos

Well, the first day back was...abominable interesting!  Here's the run down:

*Freezing cold.  Frozen students. 

*Every hour, some student felt the need to hold the trailer door open.  A long time.  They were checking how to spell my name (it's on the door), continuing a conversation with someone in another class, or being polite and waiting on the next 15 people to arrive and enter.  Brrrr...  "Please close the darn door!"  (I said please!)

*My school laptop is just about to get pitched out the window!  It flips on and off the network so often that it doesn't have time to synchronize my files, which it has to do every time it returns to the network.  I couldn't access any of my files for longer than about two seconds.  I didn't cry, but I did warn my principal that I was on the brink.  He's finding me another laptop.  I don't think he wants to see a middle aged woman cry.

*Class schedule changes are a nightmare.  Combinations of students are bad.  I'm working on seating charts!  (Of course, I have to do those at home because my school computer doesn't work!! argh!)   *sigh* 

*This week is the game against the big rivals.  That means a pep rally.  Oh please.  Our students are excited already.  I don't care how frozen they are, these kids are hyped!  Let's not add to it.  (OK.  I guess I can let this slide, but it better be a GOOD pep rally!) 

*The weather forecast for the rest of the week is C.O.L.D. and snow.  They predict high winds too, so make that blowing snow.  It just gets better and better.

This has all the makings of a really long week.  What am I talking about?!  If the first day back is any indication, this could be a really long semester.  I'm beginning to understand teachers with drinking problems!  (I'm kidding.  I think.) 

Winter Break- Almost Over

It's been snowing.  Of course it has!  This is the last day of vacation.  Trailer High students will get to walk their sidewalk hallways in snow or slush.  It is also freezing cold.  I'm predicting cranky, frozen kids tomorrow.   

Today is all about football and getting ready to go back to school.  That means the Mr. is watching football, and I'm working at school. 

I've got lesson plans to finalize and seating charts to make for the new semester.  I have the same kids; they'll just be in different hours.  My lesson plans have undergone a change over vacation.  Seems our video time capsule is going to be a journalism project this semester, so I probably should get the students started on that fairly soon after returning. 

Tomorrow when the alarm goes off, I will have a hard time waking up.  I've enjoyed sleeping until 7:30 all break.  On school days, I am usually at school by 7:20.  *sigh*  I'm going to miss my warm bed and lazy mornings.

I complain, but I really love going back to school after Christmas.  My guess is that a lot of our students at trailer high received warm, CrAzY hats for gifts--and there will probably be a lot of new coats, scarves, mittens, and boots, too.  I have a hunch they are going to need them. 

And so our new year will begin the same as the old one ended:  snowy and cold, with cranky teachers students.  :)

Holidays at Home

The snow certainly created a little havoc with our Christmas trip plans. We had a white Christmas, but the wind and drifting meant no Christmas trip this year. When the kids managed to arrive at noon, Santa had tucked some of the trip money into K and L's stockings.
Rum slush, poinsettias, appetizers (made by the girls), games, naps, and movies made for a relaxing Christmas Day. The Mr. and L are still feeling a little under the weather, so I'm thinking neither would have enjoyed a trip too much anyway. Right now, I just want them to get well!

K and I went for an afternoon walk and worked at avoiding the drifts. A walk made a little more challenging because we were being walked by the dog.

It was still snowing when we walked. In fact, it is still snowing this morning. Good decision to celebrate Christmas at home.

K and CT enjoying the movie--not!

Khallie (the black lab) only had to poke CT once in awhile when he was snoring. (She might have had help!)

CG giving the evil eye to Ms. Smarty Britches.

Wondering who Ms. Smarty Britches is? Actually, L was sick enough that she was pretty laid back. Hope she gets to feeling better soon, and that her medicine kicks in. I kind of miss the sass!

-

Today, the guys are off to breakfast at the local cafe. L is still fast asleep, and K and I are headed out to take Khallie for a walk. (Or the other way around!) We're hoping to catch a movie in J town this afternoon and that CG's sister and niece might be able to join us.

-

Not quite the Christmas trip we had imagined, but it is just nice to have everyone together. Not having to worry about travel in this mess is just an added bonus!

Snowed In

We woke up to this:

We are snowed in for Christmas. We didn't get a ton of snow, but the 50 mph winds have created whiteouts and some good sized drifts. It was scary coming home from Christmas with the Mr.'s family last night.

We're operating on the better safe than sorry theory. This year's Christmas trip is going to be to Tiny Town, USA. That is, it will be if K and L can make it here! And we're discouraging their travel until it is safe.

Tiny Town doesn't really have any exciting shows or activities to take in, unless you count games of pitch or seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel in J town's only theater. Yep, pretty exciting stuff! Actually at this point, we will be lucky just to get everyone here.

So Merry Christmas from a White Winter Wonderland! It is beautiful out there!

The Snows of Childhood

For Monday Memories at Planet M

The snow last week reminded me of the snows we had when I was a kid. I remember it snowing a lot. I'm not sure if it really did, or if that is just my memory playing tricks on me.

I remember wearing a long stocking hat pretty much like Schwartz's in A Christmas Story. I also remember the rubber boots--red or white--that slipped over your shoes. They were hard to get on and nearly impossible to get off. When you finally got them off, your shoes were usually still wedged inside and had to be pried out.

We used to play Fox and Geese on snowy days. Mom taught us to stamp a big circle in the snow and then stamp the wedges like a pie. The rest of the game was like tag. One person was the fox or "it," and the rest were geese. You had to stay on the paths while you were chased; if you stepped off, you were out. In the very center was the home base where you had to stand after being caught. Other geese could free you, if they could touch you without being caught. The four of us could make a pretty good game out of it, though my sister and I tried to play it without the brothers sometimes. Definitely not a fun game for just two.

We also used to have Youth Fellowship skating parties at the pond. These were always an impromptu affair, dependent on the weather. Once Dad was sure the pond was frozen solid, the calls would go out. He would build a bonfire at the pond's edge for the grown ups and for warming up, and all the kids would gather for a night of skating. Some would run down the pond's dam and jump on sleds to slide as far as they could. Others skated. We played crack the whip. I spent most of my time "sliding" in my boots. (Weak ankles and ice skates are not a great combination.) Frozen, we would finish the evening back at the house to warm up and drink hot chocolate.

There must have been more snow back then. I remember a couple of Christmas mornings when someone got ice skates from Santa. There was also the year that Santa left an orange aluminum disc toboggan. I can remember at least one winter that Dad kept the sled and toboggan tied on the back of the feed truck. Any time he went out to feed the cows, my sister and I got to go sledding behind him.

We used to play outside a lot when it snowed. I'm guessing that was because, no matter how cold it was, we had a wood stove where we could warm ourselves when we came in from the cold. You could stand close to get warm quickly. Now, we can only warm up gradually. I miss wood heat. It is hard to curl up to a floor register!

Snow Day Again Tomorrow

This is what the hill to our house looked like at 2:00 today. The snow was still piling up. Rumor has it that we have eight inches of snow on the ground. The district calling tree went into effect, canceling school for tomorrow. With the wind predicted, it is better to be safe than sorry. (We have a huge bus route; some students ride 40 miles to school.) The picture below was taken from easy street toward the house. All the spots are huge flakes falling. My camera does interesting things to falling snow.

I shoveled snow several times. You can see some results below. Within an hour, the steps were covered over again. I have given up the fight for today and will start in again tomorrow.

Yes, it is beginning to look like Christmas around here. And two snow days certainly do a lot for my Christmas spirit!

-

PS. At 6:30, it only took about 20 tries for the Mr. to get his truck up our hill. (No four-wheel drive!) And while he kept trying, I shoveled again. The wind was picking up, and it was still snowing!

Frozen Fashions Round 2

When the temperatures only get to 15 degrees with 10-15 mile per hour wind gusts, covering up is more important than fashion. So, this is what the girls are wearing this year. At least, I think there is a student under there!

I got a kick out of this look. Carhartts over a "cute" coat, which is over a pink hooded sweatshirt. Yep, it was that cold!

Hats with ear flaps have now become fashionable to the well-dressed student.

Boots for rain and snow. This is a necessary fashion accessory.

Yep, you saw it here first: pink carhartts! Adorable. (But I am wondering where her gloves are!)

And the furry hoods they use to hide from the elements. Again, I think that is one of mine!

Fashion Week

The miserable temperatures gripping the nation this week had a definite affect on the fashion look in our schools. Travel from modular to modular meant bundling up against wind chills at -10 degrees. Just to give you a glimpse of the fashionistas:

Pink hands and noses meant creative ways to keep warm and make it to class. Worst move of the week: forgetting your gloves for Construction Tech classes who were working outside. My favorite look of the week: Carhartts over a shirt and tie for game day.

Winter Doldrums

Shortly after the family has left, the holiday merriment is over, and the last of the decorations have been packed away, the winter blahs tend to set in. Over the years I've learned a few survival tricks that work for me:

• White lights on the artificial ficus tree in our family room. (Kind of like a Christmas Tree, but no decorations. Oh yeah, and I've tried the real kind, but I can't keep them alive.)
• Candles. Lots of candles. It helps if you light them!
• My snowman collection. They replace the Santa collection that just got packed away.
• A wireless router so that I can work on my laptop anywhere in the house while the Mr. watches football. A lot of football.
• Exercising outside every day regardless of the temperature, so I don't get cabin fever too bad.
• Planning a weekend away: coffee, bookstores, birthday shopping for L, and a movie.
• And it never hurts if I have a little rum slush left!