Thursday, December 12, 2013

Saved by the Snow

I came home from work last Thursday with a ridiculous to-do list.There were so many things going on: crepe making supplies to purchase for my French class, Christmas card photos to order, pies to assemble for my friend Peter who had graciously agreed to let me raffle off the privilege of throwing a pie in his face to my sixth graders, my knock-off Elf on the Shelf sewing project (more on that later) to finish, Christmas jammies to begin, an Egypt unit to plan, a loved one in the hospital to visit, the advent calendar to stuff, a zombie party to mentally prepare for, and, oh shit, what was I supposed to bring to the staff Christmas party on Friday? Etc.

Meanwhile:
 
"Mom, can I sew a pillow?"
"What are we having for dinner?"
"Did anyone feed the dog today?"

You get the picture.

Sometimes I can roll with all of this. Some days I am checking items off my list and taking names. Often I am amazed at what I can actually get done in a day.

But on Thursday it was all too much. There was a lot of talk about potential winter weather that night, and so I rolled the dice and banked on a snow day for Friday. In other words, I did NOTHING on Thursday night. Not one single thing. Well, I did have a beer and put my feet up, of course, but I did not touch any of those pressing items on my to-do list.

And on Friday we woke up to this:






We thought we scored with a three day weekend. I finished the elf and planned for Egypt. Brent ordered the Christmas card photos. The parties were canceled. Clementine joined me for yoga meltdown.



As the weekend wore on, I entertained the idea that I might not be going back to work on Monday. Little did I know...


Brent and the boys discovered the perfect sledding hill in our neighborhood. Since the rules don't apply around here when it snows, it was also the perfect off-leash dog park...


By Sunday we realized that the snow wasn't going anywhere. I was feeling itchy to get the Christmas tree up and so Brent and the boys walked down the road and found one at a local lot. They pulled it home on a sled.



School was canceled on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We filled our days with sledding and playdates, movies and popcorn, the Nutcracker and pizza with friends, legos and Christmas books by the fire, and Uno and cookies.




I think I will have to go back to work tomorrow. We finished up all of Jack's homework for the week while decorating sugar cookies tonight, Jubelale in hand, Christmas songs on Pandora. Our washing machine froze during the storm and I've just about made it through the seven loads of laundry that had piled up.

The Egypt unit is totally fucked. The crepes and pie throwing can wait.

My loved one is on the mend in the hospital across town.

Friday, I'm ready! I've totally got this.

4 comments:

  1. Whaaat, you got a whole week because of snow?! Snow days might be the only thing I miss about winter. And maybe snowshoeing as well. Also, that picture of your dog FLYING over the snow is awesome. And I love your tree...so cozy.

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  2. YAY!!!!!!!!! Snow days!!!!!!!!!!!!! We hardly ever get them in Wisconsin. Everyone just says, yep there's a bazillion inches of snow... it's okay if you're a little bit late. Or worse, your boss comes to pick you up. :) I love that you were totally overwhelmed with stuff and just said - it'll wait. And, score you got lots of fun family time. Love the picture of your son and his snowball in the street. So cute! Can't wait to hear about your elf on the shelf. I think I'm the only person on the planet without one.

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  3. Hello Cassadie, I always love your updates! We're on full time snow days here, although nothing stops, people just put on more clothes and the mummies switch from pushing their kids in strollers to the supermarket and pull them in sleds instead! Wishing you happy days!, always, snow or not!

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  4. There's nothing like snow is there for making you stop and just 'chill' quite literally. Gorgeous photos as always - hope you enjoy the white stuff just enough to get things done at home but not too much to stop meet ups with friends and family. Helen

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