snow or something like it

today was a snow day. woo hoo! it was supposed to be my first day back to work at the mother's day out since before christmas. so much for that. i was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, but i suppose the magic of a snow day never gets old.

however, i was disappointed to wake up this morning to absolutely no snow. we finally did get a dusting as the day went on, but certainly not the 2-3" that had been promised.

but all the same, i bundled up alena and we went outside to make footprints in the snow in the driveway. there wasn't even enough on the grass to make snowballs or snow angels or anything. i gathered the snow off the car and let it "snow" on her...since it had stopped snowing by time we went out. we never got any big fat flakes...it just flurried for a few hours. either way, she had fun and noticed the strange white stuff. she even figured out how to "eat" it without me even showing her!

at some point, i came up with the idea that when we had mediocre snow days..canceled school..that we would hop in the car or a plane and visit friends or family in ohio (or some place with more snow) and she could have an incredible snow day. somewhere she could actually sled and throw snow balls and build snowmen. someday...

however, tennessee never lets you off the hook. the problem is, we're in between the northern and southern climates. so what do we get? ice. with the dusting of snow, the streets still manage to freeze. jared was about 20 minutes late getting home and i couldn't get him on his cell (the battery was dead.) i was starting to get worried...as every good wife does. finally i get a call..and sure enough, he needs me to pick him up. however, it was only a mile from our house, if that much.

there's a hill on a curve when you're coming in the backside of our neighborhood. that hilly curve was icy. there's also a bank with an ATM right there, so when cars stop to turn in there, they're right on the curve. this is fine on a clear day, but a little tricky if it's icy and you can't really hit your brakes. several people had hit their brakes and were sliding off the road (no accidents) but once you've stopped, it's hard to get going again, especially uphill. anyway, jared came upon this mess, slides his truck to a stop....and then his truck stalls out. he couldn't get it started again (oh, the day when we can get rid of that truck!!) i didn't get all the story, but he had to let it slide back down the hill...that is, going down the hill the wrong way...just to get it out of the way. he's finally able to get a hold of me to come get him (he was starting the walk home and someone let him use their phone).

so i put dinner on pause, get alena and myself all bundled up, brush the snow off the windshield and take off. of course, to avoid the hill, i have to make a loop to get to him that takes about 3 times as long as it should. i find the streets to be very slick and have to idle my way there. in the meantime, someone has jump started his truck, but he can't call me to tell me he's gotten his truck started...so i get there in time to follow him right back home. did i mention that his truck has NO heat?? poor guy.

we get home and he has about 10-15 minutes to eat dinner, change clothes and leave to deliver pizzas. of course, he takes my car b/c it has heat (though it's also not in perfect condition...it has tics of its own that makes me uncomfortable with its reliability).

so the bottom line is...we got all the mess without the fun. schools are canceled for tomorrow.

on the bright side, my best friend from high school, tricia, and her husband and baby are coming tomorrow to spend the weekend. flights were on sale for $50 round trip, so they grabbed the opportunity. maybe we should've gone to cleveland instead and played in the 2 feet of snow they got....it's certainly not any warmer here.