Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Snow Day, take 2

Lauren and I are at home today, luxuriating in the unusual extravagance of two snow days in a row.  I can't remember if we've ever had a snow day since Lauren started school, until this year...  And to be quite precise, it isn't exactly a "snow" day, it's more of a "cold" day.  The current temperature, at noon, is 9 degrees, with a wind chill of -7.  This morning, the wind chill was around -20.  And it is supposed to be 22 degrees tomorrow, but with a wind chill during the day of around -17 degrees.  We're out of school because of the prevalence of children who have to wait outside for buses - I can't imagine how horrible it would be to wait in -20 degree winds.  We ventured out a couple of times for errands yesterday, all bundled up in snowboots and thick gloves and hats and scarves over our mouths & noses - all I could see of Lauren was her eyeballs.  It was COLD, but I didn't want to cancel my haircut appointment!  :)
We spent most of yesterday cuddled up near the heat vent - one of the pros of living in an old house.  It's rather shockingly drafty, but we do have this ancient forced-air heater, with just one vent, located in the middle of the middle room in the house.  The poor man's version of a fireplace...
When I was tucking Lauren into bed last night, she said, "This is the best day I've had in a long time!" It was so nice to take things at a slow pace - we read books and baked cookies and made chili and watched "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" and did part of a dance video together.  I got all caught up on my grading and started the book "Alice I Have Been".  (However, I'm trying not to read it during the day, because I know I'll get sucked into it, and I won't enjoy the time hanging out with Lauren).
We had a lazy morning this morning; the only thing we've really accomplished it that we went to Nana's so I could run.  I figure that running 2.7 miles is enough of an accomplishment for a snow day morning, right?
My goal is to clean off the dining room table today, roast a chicken for dinner, and do a little sewing.  I really SHOULD be making some flipcharts for class, but I'm just not sure that's going to happen.  Tonight is American Idol night, and I think that vegging on the couch might be in order for that hour.
I just finished re-reading two really good books by the same author: Nefertiti and then The Heretic Queen, both by Michelle Moran.  I am finding out that I love historical fiction, and these were a great blend of that genre and my fascination with ancient cultures.  I saw a review for Alice I Have Been, about the girl who inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice In Wonderland.  I'm only about 30 pages in, but it's already got me in its grips...yesterday, I had to tell myself "When you finish grading these spelling papers, you can read 10 pages."   I also have the Kingdom Keepers book, which a friend recommended to me about a year ago, and I'd let slip through my filter.  It's about a boy and girl who are in charge of guarding the Disney Parks, which sounds a little iffy, but I trust this friend's judgement, so I'm going to give it a try.

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