Ramblings From Snow Day 11

Icicles and snow hanging from the tree 

I am hating blogger right now, this is the second time of writing this post. Had it complete, added the pictures and bingo! Gone! Ugh!
I am writing this on the eleventh snow day. This means that I've had eleven days off work thanks to snow. Eleven days that will have to be made up before summer break can begin. That's 66 hours (this amount doesn't include lunch and recess times) tacked on somewhere, somehow. But I'm not complaining. I've learned many years ago that it does no good to complain about the snow days. They're going to happen wither you like it, want it or don't, so you might as well embrace them and celebrate them as gifts from God.

Snow glistening in the morning sun

 Snow days in the past meant lunch was going to be hot dogs and marshmallows roasted on the fire. Homemade hot chocolate simmering on the stove as a reward for those who shoveled the driveway and back porch. The afternoon was spent playing a variety of board games or watching a movie on the VCR. Of course a batch of homemade cookies would round out the day. I smile and shake my head at those parents who complain about how they see their child's summer slipping away. These are the same people who will complain come August that it's too hot for their kids to play outside and that school can't start soon enough.  I can't tell you how many students tell me that they spend most of their summer vacation playing video games, inside, in the air conditioning. The days of spending endless time at the pool, park, or anything outside gone.

No playing on this for awhile

I've been using the time off as a chance to get some needed cleaning done around the house. You know those 'someday' jobs that you put off and never do. The organizing of cabinets and pantry. Cleaning out closets. My all time favorite, giving the refrigerator a total clean out.
I remember when I worked with the moderate handicapped students, there was a poster that hung in their kitchen portion of the classroom about household chores and when they should be done. The adults in the room would laugh at the time frames on it because none of us followed those guidelines including the total cleaning of your refrigerator every 3 months. I don't know when was the last time I did a total cleaning of my frig. Oh I would wipe up a spill here and there, but not the go through everything and wash every surface off. I found things that I have no idea where they came from. A mason jar of apple pie moonshine that looks like someone made themselves, a jar of vinegar that I've never heard of or for that matter used.

The flag frozen in place

The worst were the bottles of condiments. One had expired in 2011, a bottle of mayo that I remember using this past summer to make devil eggs. I had a full garbage bag of uneatable food items to go to the trash. I shake my head at the waste, but there is nothing I can do now. I told my youngest son about the expired food items. He confesses that he's been throwing items away here and there when he finds them.
 I feel like I'm a food hoarder and need help. I found out the hard way that a wet sponge and a lit light bulb don't go together.
We won't talk about the amount of dog hair I vacuumed out of the bottom.
The last winter storm consisted of ice and snow. Not a great combination anytime especially when ice means the threat of down power lines can be a real thing. Being one who prepares for everything, I made sure that there were working flashlights and dry firewood in the garage. I asked each son to make sure that their flashlights worked too and that their cell phones were charged.

Birds keeping warm in the top of a tree

The oldest son informed me that he didn't have a flashlight, but he did have a glow stick. Another son informed me that his cell phone had the capability of playing music. We all laughed at the thought that we could have a rave if the power went out. Thankfully we kept our power during and after the storm. Now we just have to wait for the thaw.........

A cat came to visit me

This past winter, I have become very irritated with two of my retired neighbors. They're both women, in their early sixties, that live alone and have a fetish about making sure that they can get their mail everyday even though most of the time it's a collection of junk mail and magazines (or so they have told me that's all they get). Seems like every time they see hubby or one of the sons, they'll come out and tell them how they don't like for them to park their cars on the street (legally) because when the snowplow cleans the street, it doesn't get up to their driveway and mailboxes. Never mind that the snowplows don't get right up to our driveways/mailboxes and unplowed snow is easier to remove than plowed snow. They want to make sure that the snow is removed in front of their mailboxes. Hubby and the sons have politely pointed this out along with the fact that the mailman's jeep has chains and there hasn't been a day that the mailman hasn't delivered the mail to anyone on our street, but it doesn't matter, they want to make sure it doesn't happen, hence they don't want anyone parking on the street during the snow. It's gotten to the point where the one neighbor has even shoveled the snow from the street and piled it in front/ behind the cars on the street. It doesn't prevent the cars from getting out but it does give us a giggle at her childish way and the oxymoron that she complains about shoveling the snow in front of her mailbox and driveway but she does even more of the street to do this.

bird prints in the snow

Yesterday, the other neighbor asked where my car was. I had parked it at the bottom of the street since we live on a hillside. She profusely thanked me for this and how this makes it so much easier for her to get her mail. I just rolled my eyes, and didn't comment that the only reason it wasn't legally parked on the street across from my house, was because the forecast was for ice with that snow, making driving all the more dangerous and I didn't want anyone damaging my car as they come down (or up) the hill. Nor did she tell me to thank the hubby or sons for shoveling out the street in front of her mailbox the last snow storm. Instead, I rolled my eyes at her and went inside, forget about cleaning my own driveway. I shared this story with the family and told them that if I ever get to the point in my life where the only thing I have to look forward to is my daily mail delivery they need to shoot me.................

a male cardinal came to see what I was doing