new desktop

It was time to choose a new desktop for the computer monitor.  For the past few months I've had a picture I took last February:

Instead, I found a picture to give me something to dream about.  Again, from my own files, I've put this up:

I will have my hands in the dirt.  I will uncover new sprouts from under piles of leaf mulch.  I will notice a tender bud on the Lenten Roses.  I will plant a new dogwood tree.  I will feel warm sun on my face. 

The day will come. And if I've learned anything from living in Atlanta, it will come sooner than I can believe.

stuck

Atlanta is a mess.  I can now say that with certainty.

You see, yesterday was my birthday.   (Thank you.)  Having been cooped up in our house all week, I assumed we were postponing my celebration for better weather.  The kids and CD had not "finished with" my present/s-- I knew that since Bug isn't the best yet at keeping secrets (although I don't know what the gift/s is/are which is really the important part) and while my mom had invited us for dinner and cake, getting to their house seemed impractical.  Next week was fine.  (Somehow after a few decades the actual date becomes unimportant.  Pook, on the other hand, wants us to celebrate CD's half birthday on the 16th.)

CD had gone into work Thursday afternoon.  Some roads were in the sun and drying.  My father reported the worst road by his house to have been cleared.  We decided to change our postponement, and head over for dinner.  Now, call me a pessimist, but under the circumstances I say pragmatist.  I packed pj's, clean underwear and toothbrushes for each of us. I grabbed Teddy and Pookie Bear.  Just before walking out the door, I turned off all lights, including the fishtank.  It wasn't that I wanted to spend the night there, but just in case.  Plus, if we had to walk a long way, maybe the extra layers would keep us warm.  I don't know exactly why I did it, it probably has something to do with being told to keep a blanket and a granola bar in the car when I was a teen driving in the winter.

My parents live about 2 1/2 miles from us, the direct route.  The roads we chose to take were a bit further, but bigger roads and hopefully more clear.  We left at 5:20 and started with the worst hill.  Slow.  Like rush-hour-on-ice-slow (a new descriptor I hope to never use again).  We took half an hour to go the first mile.  If you are moving a reasonable 15-20 mph and you see an icy patch, you simply coast through it until you feel traction again.  If you are moving one car length at a time, and crawling along stopped more than moving, and then you find yourself on an icy patch.... your wheels spin.  And the car in front of you, and the car in front of that car all have wheels spinning and someone skids sideways and....  It is not a pretty experience.

We discussed turning back.  In fact, just at the point where we might have successfully turned back, we discussed turning back.  And we didn't.  A mere few car lengths later we realized it was too late.  Heading home the way we'd come was now no longer a steep wet road, it was a steep road covered in black ice.  Night was coming quickly and all the wet pavement was freezing.

We arrived at their home after an hour of agonizing driving.  We were greeted with wine/beer and after a while we actually relaxed.  (And ate scallops, risotto, green beans and salad, plus angel food birthday cake with peaches, vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.)  But CD and I knew at that can-no-longer-turn-back moment, that it was also a cannot-go-home-tonight moment.  We were stuck overnight.

(Clearly there are worse places to be stuck overnight.  We had warm beds and hot oatmeal for breakfast.  We even had clean underwear in the morning!)

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Now we are home and I have sent the boys outside to slip and slide on the ice.  The ice is so thick they can walk on top of the 5" of snow without breaking through.  I gave them opened Lego boxes to use for sleds.  They are throwing hunks of ice at each other.  We'll see how this ends. At least now I have milk for hot chocolate.

*****     *****     *****
As my friend Harriet says, " I have it on good authority (i.e., random blogs by people I don’t know) that today is national delurking day, an annual event in which blog authors like myself encourage readers to introduce themselves, all friendly-like. I myself am a veteran lurker and completely understand the impulse to read and not get involved. But at the same time, I love to know who’s reading. So if you are so inclined, say hello and let me know how you got here."

the charm has worn off

Schools were just canceled for Thursday.  That means that since the holidays we've had four days in session and four days called off.  If they don't go in on Friday this will roll into the MLK holiday.  I am greatly concerned for the sanity of all the parents education of the children in this city.

So, you ask, why does Atlanta shut down when it gets a few inches of snow?  Well, the answer is that we don't.  Meaning, we don't shut down for snow.  We shut down for ice.  Because of our latitude, we often get sleet, freezing rain or wet snow in the first place.  But if the circumstances are just right and we do get snow, the snow doesn't get plowed (because our 271 sq.mi. county owns only two plows). The temps go up slightly during the day, the snow turns to slush, then it freezes again overnight, making the second day worse than the first.  In this case, we actually had sleet during the day on Monday after the Sunday night snow.  (My boys measured it at 5 1/2".)  The forecast indicates a thaw on Saturday.  The charm has worn off.

Day One:   I saw that our county had canceled Monday's school before I went to bed Sunday.  I whispered to Pook, who had stirred a bit as I'd kissed him goodnight on my own way to bed.  He sat up, opened his eyes wide and gave an "Oh Wow!".  After I'd climbed into bed I heard him trying (unsuccessfully) to wake his brother to tell the news.

They were outside before breakfast making snow angels.  Seeing that we were almost out of eggs, we had a hearty oatmeal breakfast before I took them sledding with neighbors.  CD hid in the dining room with a laptop and worked from home.  I saw that we were low on milk and couldn't really spare enough for hot cocoa. I dealt with wet and muddy clothes.  They played a second time, this time with Daddy.  I dealt with wet and muddy clothes again.  Made lasagna.  Saw that we were out of lettuce.  Physical Therapy got canceled. We had a combination of a fun snow day and a productive get-four-loads-of-laundry done day (even though I think they made two of those loads that day.)

Day Two:  Learned with surprise that school on Tuesday was canceled. The boy's haircuts were canceled.  I began to wonder if I'd made a mistake not laying in supplies.  I decided I'd go to the grocery Tuesday afternoon.  But by Tuesday afternoon I had dealt with more wet and muddy laundry and discovered that the roads were worse than they'd been Monday.  By 3pm school for Wednesday was canceled.  Clearly we were in for the long haul.  I began to feel stressed and checked in on Faceb00k a dozen times.

Day Three:  Bug's piano lesson was canceled. My Christmas gift massage was canceled. Based solely on the state of my mind and the state of the refrigerator, and not at all based on the state of the roads, I ventured out, with both boys, to the grocery this morning.  (Did I mention that CD has worked from home each day? He's accessible, but I'm trying to give him peace and quietishness.)  The roads were slippery but we got there ok.  There were very few shoppers and even fewer employees.  There was hardly any produce and we took one of the last twenty gallons of milk.  Clearly they haven't gotten in normal shipments of food. Nor had they done any work to clear the parking lot. 

Driving home was worse than driving there, but we made it without incident, only to have the wheels spin hopelessly in the driveway.  The walk up the driveway was equally treacherous, but no eggs were lost!  By afternoon, school had been canceled for Thursday.

Here we are.  We have wine and chocolate.  (The peppermint ice cream was awesome but gone after two nights.)  We have milk, eggs and lettuce.  We've baked cookies.  We've seen The Best of Looney Toons. Almost every Bionicle in the playroom has had pieces excavated so it can be rebuilt.  But we also have bored kids and if Bug doesn't get some exercise tomorrow we will all pay. (Our first "I"m bored" came at 9:30 this morning.)  I'm not yet bored but I am craving alone time.  I never did sit down with my book today and I wouldn't mind a day of pj's and books, but I don't see it in the cards.

snowman poop

The fourth grade holiday party in December served hot cocoa and sent some home as a favor.  The kids were asked to choose from one of two bags- one marked Naughty and one marked Nice.  Interesting to see who decided to see what was in the Naughty bag.  In the end they got both.  In the Nice bag were packs of cocoa mix with the accompanying poem:

Snowman Soup
I'm told you've been quite good this year.
I'm always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near
You'll need to warm the spirit.

So here's a cup of Snowman Soup
Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.
It's sure to do the trick!

In the Naughty bag was this poem...

Snowman Poop
I've heard that you've been naughty!
Now listen, here's the scoop.
I'm running short on coal this year,
So you get Snowman Poop!

...and a baggie of marshmallows.

Today, in Atlanta's "Snowpocalypse" we've already needed hot cocoa, but we had no marshmallows.  I suppose I should have joined the bread and milk lines at the grocery yesterday to buy them.  We were home making candy cane ice cream instead. (The best possible use for a candy cane.)  Plus, as a friend pointed out, if you have wine and chocolate, what need do you have for bread and milk anyway?

As you can see in the photo, at least the birds are well fed!

*photo taken before breakfast

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all about me (Bug)

Bug was chosen for (his turn to be) the star student of the week.  He wrote on and colored a large poster all about himself, which due to the holidays, never got posted outside his classroom door as expected.  Instead I am posting it to the world.  Here, world.  Here is Bug:

Fascinating facts about me:

I am 6 years old

My birthday is Febuary 3rd

I live in Georgia.

I am in the 1st grade.

I get to school by  walking.


When I grow up I would like to be an adult.

These are a few of my favorite things!
color: terquoys
animal: bear (he meant teddy bear)
food:  desert
book: Ordinary Boy
sport: baseball, swimming and biking
thing to do in school: P.E. and fresh air (the school's word for recess)
thing to do at home: play legos

I am a star because.... Because I am good at school.

Three super-cool facts about me:
My birthday is on 2-3-4
I have super powers but they are secret
I've lost eight teeth.

I show others I care by being friendly.