Five for Friday: Winter Break?

I almost feel like this wasn't a work week because I only went to school for a half day this week.

ALL of the weather forecasts in the area were calling for about 3-6 inches of snow Tuesday. I was a little bummed because my school was one of the few that didn't close, but they did plan for us to have an early dismissal. Since some forecasts were calling for it to start around noon, I was a little nervous about getting home safely. However, the first part of the storm turned out to be exactly what they thought - not much.

I don't actually know who this kid is, but someone posted it to FB, and I cracked up! All the haters were coming out saying how stupid the meteorologists were and how we should have all gone to school. You know...

Well, the earlier snow had done its job of washing away any pre-treatment that VDOT had put on the roads the night before. And at 4:00, like clockwork for when the meteorologists actually said it would get back, it started coming down. Keagan and I both got really excited and started watching it cover the ground! After a few hours, we decided to be bad parents and took Keagan outside to play. Last year, he was too young to be interested, but that's not the case anymore. He was SO excited and kept saying "Snowing, snowing!"

Naturally, school was closed the next morning. And the next. AND the next. Why, you ask? Well, snow in Virginia creates a HUGE mess! It usually comes down as an icy mix that compacts and turns the roads into huge blocks of ice. Plows came through to clear the roads, but it really didn't do much of anything.

The only roads that were truly clear were the main ones that are traveled constantly. The county I work for is VERY rural, so that means almost no bus route would have been safe enough to run.  You're welcome for that little science lesson!

Instead, we had fun as a family. Granted, we only stayed outside four about 20 minutes because it was FRIGID!! One of our sweet neighbors let us borrow a sled, and we had a great time going down a very small hill across the street. Every time Keagan got to the bottom, he would say, "Fun!" I actually had to drag him back into the house kicking and screaming when it was time to go. Hopefully it will snow again later and not be quite so cold afterwards for us to really have fun playing in it!

Today my county made a very wise decision to have teachers either work from home OR come to school. We were supposed to have exams Thursday and Friday (for middle/high school) and then teacher workdays on Monday and Tuesday. Today gets to count as a workday, so we shouldn't have to make it up. Steven and I decided to stay home (especially since we had worked on some school stuff earlier in the week) and send Keagan to the sitter. I was able to finish my lesson plans and get some cleaning done around the house. Double perks!