Yesterday, Abby’s afternoon kindergarten was canceled. I remarked to Nana how it was always a special treat to be off school due to snow when I was a kid, since the powers that be were quite draconian over missing days over a little weather. Of course, that was back in the days of no seatbelts when the safety of riding around in the bed of a truck was an afterthought.
Nana was similarly discomforted by the ease with which the school tends to release the children these days. A hint of foul weather and the teachers run for the hills. I remember reading something about schools not getting in enough teaching time due to missed days on account of weather, which I’ll have to dredge up to prove my point. It seems like educators aren’t really interested in the educating these days.
Today’s weather has been another question, of course, and I was surprised that last night at 8:30pm that they were still only on a 2-hour delay. Sometimes, giving the parents a little more warning will be helpful, you know?
Today, Berta had already scheduled a half day off to visit with Abby’s class and see how she did at school. Those plans were kind of ruined by the snow day. With her notebook at home, she spent the first half of the day working from the kitchen, with the kids running around screaming in the livingroom while she took a call from a satellite office. I’m so glad I have an office to work from, or I would get the same cacophony every day. I wish I had known that the kids were making a continuous ruckus while she was on the phone, or I would have stifled them.
Just after lunch at the start of Riley’s nap, Berta took Abby out sledding on the hill behind the house, while I tried to clear the driveway. Our driveway is big, and the Powershovel my mom gave us is just not up to the task.
It does an ok job, but it has some serious flaws. First, if there’s ice in the mix, forget it. Second, if the snow is taller than a certain height, forget it. Third, it blows the snow directly into the shoveling path, so you’re continually shoveling the same snow. It worked great on the porch, where the snow was light and drifty, but the driveway required a regular shovel just to make any headway.
To my own credit, I got half of my driveway shoveled before a neighbor took pity on my and offered to bring over his blower. Gotta get me one of those puppies. Oh, yeah.
Berta made a great valentine’s dinner. Some London Broil, mashed potatoes, and salad.
Last night’s valentine’s cake experiment did not work out, unfortunately. I was planning on writing a whole thing about the caketastrophe, but suffice to say that the cake didn’t separate from the pan properly, perhaps due to insufficient cooling, or perhaps due to the chocolate clumping at the bottom of the pan. I should have been more patient with it, either way. Still, I did get some good ideas for next time, so it’s not a complete loss.
So instead of eating my failed cake, Berta baked some heart-shaped sugar cookies, to which we applied my cake icing. We put in a movie - perhaps the only real Valentine’s-worthy film in our DVD collection - and sat with the kids, cookies, and coffee.
Being snowed-in for me doesn’t mean too much, since my job runs out of the house, but because of the snow, I never got a chance to go out for a card or anything. I’m not a big card person - as it turns out, and I’ve just recently discovered this about myself, I don’t like getting cards - but I know Berta would appreciate it, and I feel bad that it seems like I’ve not made an effort.
The other day, Abby asked Berta what she was going to get her for Valentine’s day. Berta replied by asking her what she wanted. Abby said, “A Jeep”. Berta had to somehow explain the whole “not really a gift-giving holiday” thing to Abby, in addition to the, “You’re not getting a Jeep.” I wonder who started this whole gift-giving thing on Valentine’s Day anyway. Let’s stone them.
And on that note, I leave you with pleasant wishes for this year’s fertility-inducing pagan festival.
