Unexpected Snow Day (Just Before Spring Break)

Today brought the fourth most snow ever recorded for March in our little neck of the woods.  It brought an unexpected day off of work too.  I spent it working on tests for the grade level/curriculum I assist in writing.  It was all just so beautiful.  The pictures just don't do it justice.

Standing my street looking at my house

Kitty staying warm. 

The view out my back door from my writing spot.

I took a little break to go enjoy the snow.  

I even made a snow angel.  

The first one in probably 30 years!

Ice and Snow Days

This has been a crazy week full of freezing temperatures, ice, and snow. While I have enjoyed my yard being covered in white, it has raised two points of discussion that have truly irritated me.

1.  Schools are closed, and parents are irritated about being home with them.

2. Schools making decisions about whether or not schools will be closed, and parents getting angry no matter what decision is made.

On Monday and Tuesday, February 23rd & 24th, my school district, along with the majority of those around us, decided to close.  It was great that both decisions were made the night before, and we could actually sleep through the night, not setting alarms.

I don't like having Ice/Snow Days.  We were just off for Christmas and then we get a day off for MLK, Jr Day.  I look forward to the built in Snow Day holidays later in the semester when we need a day off to rejuvenate.  I hate to use a Snow Day when it isn't necessary.  However, I do not want anyone on the road when they are bad.  I know what a hard decision it has to be for school districts to make.

I know there was a wave of excitement moving across the Metroplex Tuesday night and Wednesday morning from all the parents/loved ones who had been locked up with children for two days.  Monday evening and Tuesday brought many Facebook comments from parents about their frustration of being at home with their children.  The number of comments I saw really angered me.  All I wanted to yell (and post in all capital letters) was "They are your children!  You had them! You think it is hard to deal with them for 2 days? Try being their teacher all year.  The teachers spend time with your child and 20+ more every day for more hours than a parent has them.  Try being a teacher on the day it is snowing while still at school.  Come on, people!"  The more comments I saw, the more I bit my tongue.  I tell you, it almost fell off.

We were back in school on Wednesday and Thursday.  Heading to bed Thursday night, meteorologists were forecasting 1-4 inches of snow on Friday, followed by freezing rain.  When we awoke, nothing was falling, and roads were fine. My district and most surrounding districts made the decision to have a normal day of school. Then . . . around 9:00 or so, the snow began.  It kept falling and falling.  What was melting due to traffic on roads was refreezing making layers of ice under the snow.  A few districts started closing at 10:30, 11:00, 12:00, 1:45, etc.  My district chose to stay open and run buses at regular times.  For parents who wanted, they could pick-up their children for excused absences due to weather.  Bridges, road shoulders, and parking lots were icy and slick, but the most driven parts of the highways were fine. Later in the evening, I read the district's Facebook posts about staying open and then I read parents' comments.  Again, complaining, which frustrated me again.

I completely understand the fear parents have about the safety of their children.  I respect that.  However, a district has to do what they think is best for the majority. When schools close, many times, students are going home to empty homes.  Parents struggle to get home due to weather and traffic, and getting home earlier makes for even more difficulty.  If schools are closed, children who depend on schools for meals don't get them.  They go hungry every day schools are closed. Parents always have the right to pick-up their children when they think they are in danger.  However, they do not have to complain or gripe at the district for the decision they are making when it is being made for the whole.

At no point does a district or administrator set-out to make people's lives difficult or put children in danger.  Decisions have to be made for the good of the whole and with the details/information that they have at the moment.  Not everyone will be happy, and I understand that.  I just wish parents stopped to realize what all goes into a district's decision.


Here are few pics:

Unexpected Day Off

With the crazy freezing temps and weather yesterday and overnight, most school districts closed today. It is funny to see pics of homes across town with yards covered in white when we have very little of anything here.  My road is clear, but the highway, which is about a mile away, was horrible this morning and overnight.  It was in the mid to low teens with wind chills from -6 to 2 degrees this morning.

After a 32 minute workout this morning, I got busy reorganizing the back bedroom, recycling a lot of unneeded documents on a bookshelf in the front room/office/library, and clearing out some things in 2 two drawer filing cabinets.  Now, I want to scan some things in the filing cabinets so I can recycle those documents. I cleaned out a lot of Girl Scout documents and forms we don't need any more too.

We are waiting on the plumber.  Last night, disgusting, smelly gunk backed up in the kitchen sink, front bathroom sinks, and washing machine.  We also had a river of water leaving the back of the washing machine and flowing through the laundry room and kitchen.  The plumber called us this morning, but he said no one is working today due to the weather.  However, he said he would see about possibly getting someone out here this afternoon.  Haven't seen or heard from anyone, but we are hoping.

I hate wasting a day off, so I am glad we got things done, but I wish we could do more.  The back room isn't how I want it, but it is better.  I wish we could move some more stuff from Granny's over, but it is so cold, and I don't have anyone to help me except Mom.

We'll see what else I can find to do in just a bit.

How do you spend an unexpected day off when it is very cold?

Crazy Weather Today

Yesterday, it was in the 80s.  Mom and I worked in Granny's garage and then loaded boxes to bring back to our house to store.  We then decided to clean out one of our sheds to make room for 4 cabinets that we will move to our house to store more items from Granny's.  We worked and worked.  The weather was beautiful!

Today is a different story!  A cold front came through last night, and our temperatures dropped into the 40s or 50s.  This morning, the temps were in the 20s.  We have had lightning, thunder, freezing rain, hail, sleet, and snow.  In some areas, it is accumulating, but in others, it is not.  Our roofs and cars are covered in ice, but my yard just has a few patches.

Highways and bridges are a mess.  People have been sharing pics of the south side of town, and they have gotten far more than us.  People driving home from work or other important places have shared pics too, and the highways are far whiter than my street.

These are pics I have gotten from others from east of town, south of town, or on one of our bridges.

 Highway east of us

 Bridge in the center of town

While this yard has a lot of white, mine has little to no white.

Snow Day!

Yesterday, it began snowing just as the students were arriving at school.  The News folks kept saying that we would get a dusting or half an inch with little accumulation.  Well!  It snowed from 7:00/7:30 until some point between 2:00 & 3:00.  Everything was white.  Beautiful!  However, the snow began becoming compacted on parking lots and road ways, turning to ice, and making it quite slick.

I went less than a mile from work to the post office.  I used a few neighborhood streets to get through, and I slid at two intersections.  Once at the post office, I decided to walk down to a grocery store to get bread.  My walk was fine, even in the snow/ice.  I slid and slid trying to get out of that parking lot though.  Once out, I was good for a while.  I took high traffic side streets before making my way to the highway.  That part of the drive was fine.  At least 2 of the 3 lanes were fine.  Trying to get from the side road to the service road to get on the highway, I slid around.  Scary b/c there was more traffic around me.  Once I got on the highway, the roads were fine, but the traffic was horrible.  It took me 45 minutes to get home once I was on the highway.  My normal commute is around 20 minutes total.

The temperatures have held steady in the low 20s all night. My school district chose to cancel school today b/c of the parking lots.  Most are white with snow and ice. Someone said it took them 45 minutes to get out of their school parking lot yesterday afternoon. Looks like I will relax today!

We will get out around or after lunch time b/c we have to get our Hot Chocolate "stuff" for the 5K tomorrow.  They don't do pick-up the morning of, so we will brave the weather/roads to get it.  So excited about our run/walk tomorrow!

Here are a few snow pics I took yesterday.

 These are from inside my school building, looking out, around 9:30 am on February 6th.

 

These are from inside, looking out, around 2:00.

This one is from around 4:00, when I left.

This is from when I got inside my car to leave for the day around 4:00.

Around 5:30, when I was arriving home.

Crazy Work Week and Difficult Day

Last week was so busy, over scheduled, and had me off campus 3 days.  This week, I was on campus more, but it was a busy, busy week.

I have been far less stressed this year than I have been in the past, which is nice.  But . . . the most stressful thing happens first thing every morning.  Checking with the secretary to see which classes don't have a sub and then creating a plan for those students/classes.  Most teachers/faculty do not realize what we do and what all is involved.  The most difficult days are when we have 3-4 classes not covered.  We use all the subs as much as possible, which I am sure makes them unhappy and exhausted b/c they don't get a conference period. Because our class numbers are much smaller this year, we have been splitting classes across content areas as much as possible.  Putting students in classrooms with certified teachers who know the content is better than pulling random people or putting subs in rooms.  This really upsets teachers at times, but we are trying to do what is best with students in the time we have to decide it.

Today was a difficult day.  After our meeting with Central Office personnel yesterday, I was to create a plan for one of our content areas.  I did that. It was a great schedule using teacher strengths and doing what is best for students.  They were asked to consider it, we would talk more next week, and we would implement it Feb. 18th. Instead of the teachers bringing their concerns to me, they became very upset, went to an administrator, and we had to change the plan.  I hope, at some point, they try my plan.  It would be so great for students.

The kids handled the snowy day really well and were excited at dismissal to get out and play.

Here is a picture of what Carly (aka Kitty) did all day as it snowed.  She sat and watched it through the front door.  She also spied a bird or two. (More about the snow on tomorrow's post.)

Ice Day and Christmas Light Stroll

Today, we received an unexpected Ice Day, so no work or school for much of the northern part of the state.  Normally, I would either lay around, clean, do school work, or read.  I would not get out b/c I would heed the warnings and stay inside.  Not today!  Mom and I braved the ice and cold, defrosted the truck windows, which took nearly 30 minutes, and headed south.  (I'm still not sure why we never put the truck in the carport to protect the windows.  Oh, well!) The roads were slushy, wet, and somewhat icy near home, but once we got about an hour from home, things starting clearing up.  Once we were 2 hours away, things were significantly better.  Now that we have arrived to our destination, the wind is gusty and freezing, but the roads are dry.  Can't wait to have a fun weekend with my niece and nephew!

While the ice is so bad for the trees, they sure were pretty covered in ice.  These are pics I took as we drove.

 

After dinner, my niece, nephew, and I spent a short time walking along the Colorado River lookng at Christmas lights and scenes.

 

Christmas

I got exactly what I wanted for Christmas--my niece and nephew at home to celebrate Christmas morning.  We waited for them to rise and open presents, we enjoyed Christmas lunch, and then they had the opportunity to play in the snow.  Yes!  Snow!  We actually had snow on Christmas Day for the first time since 1975. It didn't really do enough to build a snowman or anything, but they still had fun standing in it and catching snowflakes on their tongues.

They created the most precious Christmas gift for my mom and I--a set of Christmas dishes.
They did such an amazing job on their creations!

The one with the small tree says, "Love lights the tree."  The one with the snowflakes says, "Snowflakes fall when love is near." Well, our tree was shining brightly all day on Christmas, and we got snow, beautiful snow too.  Our house was absolutely filled with love!

 Snow on Christmas Day 2012