Friday, February 21, 2014

"Do Ya Wanna Have A Snowday?" Parents have a Snowday…WITHOUT THE KIDS!



Last night, the Twin Cities had a lovely snowstorm.
It came complete with high winds, ice, sleet, and big puffy snowflakes that fell
like miniature pom poms and were then chased by horizontal swirling blasts of blinding frozenness.

It was lovely.

But lovely wasn't the word on my mind
when I was churning my way home from
my littlest daughter's play in snow furrowed, slippery streets.
(The suburban did the work.
I just gripped the wheel and kept saying "Oh no!  Oh no!")

Nor was "lovely" the word I thought of 
when I drove into my eerily quiet and darkened neighborhood.
The garage door didn't respond when I pushed the button.

I entered the house to find my oldest daughter
studying her math….
by candelabra!

I love that word….candelabra.
Funny that you spell it with the e before the l….but that's what spellcheck says.



Here she is.  It was very dramatic.  I called her Abe Lincoln.  I don't know exactly why.
I'm pretty sure Abe didn't study math by battery "candles" from Costco.
Anyhow….

Lily was not going to be left behind. 
Even though it was 10pm and she was dog tired from performing,
she still had to get in on the action.

Timmy, meanwhile, was in the back yard throwing himself 
off the swingset headfirst into snowbanks
in a swirling blizzard..

I don't have any pictures of that.

I am trying to forget that.

Despite many a hope and dream,
our school did NOT get canceled this morning.

We watched our emails and phones with dismay as…
absolutely
 nothing
 happened.



So here is Lily, resolutely climbing the snowbank…
off to the textile factory
barefoot…
backwards….
with only a warm potato in her pocket for her lunch….
(I read that somewhere as a child….)

Naaah…
the big yellow bus was even a minute or two early.
Minnesota!

As I waved goodbye to the last of the three children,
I turned to my husband,
who was plunking away on his laptop,
and sang in my best Kristen Bell "Frozen" imitation:
"Do you wanna build a snowman?
It doesn't have to be a snowman..."

He said no.

But the idea took hold!

We could have a PARENT'S SNOWDAY!

It was a beautiful idea whose time had come!

First off?
SNOWMOBILING!

We've owned a snowmobile for at least five years, and
the truth be told, I've never sat my backside on it.
Ever.
Not once!

But today was the day!
I can only show you the tame pictures!

Because I sure wasn't able to take
 any as we raced across the lake behind our house,
or rammed ourselves through snow laden branches,
or carried the dog between us
because she couldn't run in the deep snow,
and I was sure she would die.

No, no pictures...I preferred to hang on…
and duck.

I'm all about living, you see…
as in living to see another day kind of living.
That kind.



My husband.
Isn't he handsome?

I was feeling very brave and sassy too…after we got back into the driveway and I peeled my hands off the handles and all….

There I am!
World class…something.

But…on with our day...


NEXT…we drank pomegranate juice
(it's our new health kick)
in the HOT TUB.

And we amused ourselves…
(this was the BEST PART…)

BY TAKING SELFIES OF OURSELVES IN THE HOT TUB AND TEXTING THEM TO ALL OUR KIDS….
AT SCHOOL!
Bahahahhahhha!



Then we went out to eat at a Chinese Buffet….
cause nothing fills in the cracks like a good 
Chinese buffet when you've been a wild snow adventurer
 for the last…hour and a half.

IT WAS A GREAT DAY.

I love SNOW DAYS now.

Love them!