There's snow business like snow business

Alas, we are under a winter storm warning and as I bundled up this morning, I was torn between packing up lots of warm stuff in preparation for trudging home in this stuff and just being a brave little driver and winging it.

I fell somewhere in between and my dad would be ever so proud. Pa has all sorts of "survival" rules, but number #1 on the list is to keep your feet and hands warm and dry. He'd be glad to know that in my stash are extra shoes, socks and gloves.

So, now we wait. We wait to see if the predictions are credible. We wait to see if our holiday activities this evening are cancelled. We wait to see if we will be making our way slowly home this afternoon dodging sliding cars. The ice began just as we got here this morning and we are due to have much more, so it's probably all gonna happen.

Now, you folk in Minnesota and Utah can laugh at us Midwesterners all you want about not being prepared for snow, but keep in mind that we folk are not used to this stuff, so we don't have to keep our 4-wheel drives gassed up, our snow shovels on hand, extra cereal in the pantry or boots in our closets. Give us a break. I don't even own boots suitable to walk through this stuff and we have enough food for maybe three hours.

Last year I took the last two weeks of December off. I was thrilled (just as I am this year) to have all that time to relax. I had big plans for road trips, shopping and movie going. My plans were foiled by Jack Frost, as the very first day I was home we got 24 inches of snow.

I had a tiny, tiny little car and no garage, and the snow drifted to cover the entire vehicle. So, that meant I stayed safe, sound and warm in the house, movies playing, gifts wrapping and tree sparkling. It was pure heaven.

My family kept trying to come "rescue" me, but the only thing worse than being snowed in at home is being snowed in at someone else's house, so I stayed put. And I LOVED it. I really did. I pretended I was Laura Ingalls making hot chocolate and wrapping gifts in brown paper. (Except that I don't have a flannel nightgown, a sister, a fireplace or metal cup. Oh and I didn't have to tie a rope to the barn and slide out the second story window to rescue our gifts and the animals, but it was kinda the same, I had to go outside and knock an icicle down. Does that count?)

I had the best of both worlds: all the white beauty I wanted, without having to get out in it. This little storm, however, is a different sort. I am at work, no Little House on the Prairie role playing here, just lots of papers to file, people to talk to and writing to do. However, I do spy a warm scarf on the arm of my chair, and I do have a little tree in my office. I bet I could even scrape up some hot chocolate and pretend I am in a little cabin in the woods.

Yesterday I got a little package from a friend. Inside the tissue paper and bag was a little leaded-glass ornament. The photo above is of the sparkly paper that it was wrapped in.