I Like Warm Hugs (and Snow Days)

Compared to where I grew up in Minnesota, the winters here in the DC area are pretty mild.   We generally get a handful of small to medium size snowstorms a winter, which usually completely melt within the week.    Because of the infrequency with which we receive snow, the government  doesn't devote a lot of budget or equipment to  take very good care of the roads and even an inch or two of snow can wreak havoc on driving conditions.   That is why we are one of those funny places where school gets cancelled at even a hint of snow.  Last winter, we didn't have a full week of school for two months straight because of the frequent small storms that kept coming through.   

So when I woke up this morning at 5:20am and saw an inch of snow on the ground and snow still coming down hard, I assumed that school would either be cancelled or delayed.    We've lived here 15-years and everything about the storm (the timing, the amount, etc) screamed for at least a school delay.   

But alas there was not.   

Thus began my very long day of trekking kids through treacherous conditions to their various activities, because there was no way I was letting Cami take the car that distance in those kind of conditions.   

While most people in our ward have a 1-2 mile commute to seminary and school, we happen to live in a weird boundary area which means that we have a 14-mile commute.   Yes, that's 14 miles EVERY SINGLE MORNING.   4.5 miles to the church, 9.5 miles to school from the church, and if I'm driving it's another 4.5 miles back home.  I know there are people who drive much further on a daily basis and I'm not complaining.  I am grateful to live in a fabulous ward, a great neighborhood, and in a top notch school district (even if only one of my kids is in school this year). 

 The problem is that today not a single stretch of those 14 miles was plowed.   

Not even the highway.

Cars were sliding everywhere.  There were crashes, buses in ditches, and tractor trailers jackknifing.  It was a stressful two hours of driving and I am up in arms that our school district, one of the largest in the nation, put their 100,000+ students, not to mention teachers and administrators in harm's way by keeping school in session.    Never mind that it was only 4-inches, wimpy by most people's standards--   the roads were awful and we had no business clogging them up with school traffic in the middle of the morning rush hour!    Then, because schools weren't cancelled, nothing else was either.  I spent far too many hours in the car today and it made me grumpy!

On the bright side though, the snow made for a perfect backdrop for the photoshoot that Ellie's been wanting to do.   

A few months ago she wore that turquoise sparkly dress, which is decidedly getting way too small for her, and had a little 2-year-old girl completely convinced that she was Elsa from the movie, Frozen.    Not that Ellie was trying to be Elsa, but the little girl heard "Ellie", saw the sparkly dress and convinced herself.   She followed Ellie around for an entire hour at a ward party….something that did not bother Ellie in the slightest. In fact, Ellie was downright tickled by the girl's innocent conjecture and has since made that dress one of her favorite dress-ups.     

Then Ellie got a little Olaf doll for Christmas and she had everything she needed to be Elsa for the next snowy day.   Emma curled her hair for the occasion and she eagerly went out in short sleeves and bare legs in the 25º temps and did her best Elsa impression.  

She kept a smile on her face for the first minute or so, but it didn't take long before I realized that she was NOT going to be singing, ♫"The cold never bothered me anyway."♫   Approximately 1.5 minutes after I took these pictures, she was back inside the house in her warm cozy clothes again asking for hot chocolate! 

I can't lie though.  That smile pretty much made my day!  :) 

FOLLOW UP 1/7/15:  

School was delayed today and will be delayed again tomorrow.  

I'm not sure if they're guilt induced delays or due to the fact that wind chills are hovering right around 0º.  Either way, I'm not complaining about the two extra days to sleep in! 

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