Snow Day!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

On Tuesday, the dogs and I had a snow day.  It wasn’t as monumental as when my kids were young and we would wait by the TV or radio to see if school was closed, but it was still a snow day.  When John left for work, or escaped, as I like to call it, he said there was no snow coming down.  By the time I got up, a couple hours later, there was plenty of snow on the ground.  My dogs love snow and when I let them out for the first potty of the day, they went wild in all the snow and carried on like a couple of kids I know used to do when I told them there was no school for the day. 

YAY for Snow Days!!

Round and round they went, up the yard, down the yard, hide and seek around my van, more romping directly under me, and when they turned to finally come in the house, both were covered in huge snowballs.  I looked at the clock. It was 9:00 am.  I started praying for the clock hands to move at triple time, so it would be bedtime soon again. 

Hey Mom, How do I get these things off??

You see, for me, a snow day always starts out with high hopes and much anticipation.  Sometime around the first “Mom, we are bored,” is when things usually started to go downhill.  I used to suggest naps or Hide and Go Seek, knowing full well I would never seek.  Once, when we had been hit with huge amounts of snow and I had been cooped up one too many days with my family, I decided I was making it up to the video store if I had to strap on cookie baking sheets and carry two umbrellas and pretend I was snowshoeing.  As luck would have it, most of the roads had been plowed by then and I only had to make it across the street, which seemed doable.  I proudly drove out of our parking light and made it as far as the major intersection I had to cross to reach my goal and came upon a large snow mound.  At that point, I had two choices, go back to my family with no videos or move forward.  I chose to move forward and I had the bright idea that if I gunned John’s car (yes, I had taken John’s car), I could clear that mound with no problem.  I made it as far as the top of the mound before I realized my plan had some definite flaws and when I walked back home and John asked where his car was, I had to point to a little, blue car balancing on top of a pile of snow and watch as he and a team of neighbors retrieved his car after digging for quite awhile.  Luckily, my stupidity always amuses John and it kept him laughing most of the day.

 

I am just not good at feeling trapped. I am fine with snow as long as I can drive in the snow.  The sad thing about Pennsylvania is the weathercasters usually work everyone in the state into a state of frenzy about approaching snow, until every store in the area is cleaned out of milk and toilet paper.  This goes on for weeks, but yet, whenever we have a colossal storm, our salt trucks and snow removal people seem surprised, as if this is the first they have heard about any big storm.  Tuesday, I was trapped with Fudge and Vern, with no way out, and that always makes me a little crazy.  We were in and out all day. I spent most of my day brushing out the snowballs that kept accumulating in their hair. I tried everything, including blow-drying and towel drying them off, and still those snowballs all but laughed in my face and stayed put.  Later in the day, I became less diligent about toweling them off when they came back in, and I figured if I slipped on their “drippings” and knocked myself out, the plus side would be I wouldn’t be able to see Vern standing at the door.  At some point in the day, even Fudge decided she would rather stay inside than go outside with her crazy brother, who seemed to think white snow meant Fudge wanted to be tackled and chased and swung around by her collar.  He also seemed to feel if he could do all that directly in front of me, all the better.

All day, this went on all day!

I walked them up our field at least three times and still Vern stood at the window gazing longingly out at the snow or barking at nothing until I found myself screaming, “Vern, mommy is looking for Aunt Karen’s number to get you enrolled in a program called the DRC, if you do not shut up.”  Once, I decided, come hell or high water, we were driving somewhere and made it as far as the gate where I slid to a stop, at the moment right before I was sure my car was going to open the gate with my fender, and decided not to risk it.  I prayed for a dog whisperer to come looking for safety, or at the very least someone with a better hair dryer, and no one showed up.  It wasn’t Fudge. It was all Vern and I wondered if anyone would come out on a day like this if I posted a For Sale ad for him on Facebook.  Urgent!  Dog needs home TODAY before his crazy, cooped up, owner bops him over the head with a phonebook!

 

I knew better than to call John and tell him there was an emergency at home.  I tried it before when the kids were younger and it never worked, so I figured it wouldn’t work with two dogs.  For some reason, he doesn’t think the fact that I want his car with four-wheel drive to escape to Target is an emergency.  Once when it had been the whole month of January with school delays and snow days, even when there was very little snow, I drove the girls up to their school to drop them off only to see a sign that said, “School closed today!” It surprised none of my passengers when I started screaming, “WHAT? It is a dusting of snow! Get out of the car! We are going to pound on those school doors until someone lets us in and teaches you two something.”  I am sure it was Megan who said, “Mom, why don’t you just homeschool us today?”   I can still see her little smirk as she said it, until I said, “maybe I will and our first lesson is going to be in Home Economics and called How to Clean Your Bedroom Properly.”  I don’t recall that they excelled at that lesson.

 

No one takes me very seriously when I start going a little goofy from being holed up in our house too long, not my kids or my dogs.  Vern shadowed me all day with his tail wagging and a smile on his face.  It is hard to stay mad at a dog that makes you smile.  Fudge was worn out from all the playing and I guess being drug around by her collar all day made her tired.  She opted not to go on the last walk of the day when John took Vern up the field for the last time. Both dogs fell asleep early and slept all night and I had to get them up at 9:30 am the next morning.  We got out on Wednesday.  The sun was shining.  Maybe a snow day is just what we needed, but next time, Lord, just make the roads drivable.

 

[Leslie and Halas]

Halas gets wound up when it snows, too!  I love it!  We're supposed to get some this weekend, so I'm sure we'll be out in the field running around.  I'm glad you were only stuck at home for one day.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

The snow always "excites" Murph to the point where he too wants to swing his little brother around by the collar.....the problem is that Guinness is 20 lbs and that could result in a broken neck.  So sadly they have to play outside in the snow one at a time.  Guinness is at the point where he's pretty terrified of being anywhere outside the house when they're both off-leash because there's no place for him to hide.  Inside there's under the beds or the living room chairs, so he feels a sense of safety....but outside he's totally vulnerable.  So I take them one at a time, and Guinness loves it for about 10 minutes and then he's done for the day.  Murph has really no clue what he's supposed to do in the snow if his brother isn't there.  He stands there and stares at me.  After about 10 minutes I start throwing snowballs, but he only chases green tennis balls, so this is pretty useless.  Then I start running around to see if he will play.  He runs with me for a little bit, but is staring the whole time wondering what the heck I'm doing.  Then I give up and we go inside and that's the extent of our snow day.  You and your guys have way more fun, Laurie! 

[Brittney & Cally]

You blogs are just perfect. They are always so entertaining. I totally feel you when slipping on their "drippings" is something you are hoping for! Great photos by the way, may I ask what kind of camera you have? I am looking for a new camera to give to myself for Christmas LOL!

[Miss Ellie]

Love the snow blog Laurie...well quite the opposite in our neck of the woods...we are anxiously awaiting a snowstorm here that is suppose to start around midnight.  Finally my snow dance must have paid off and Ellie will according to the weatherman be able to enjoy her very 1st snowfall...I have the camera & video camera all ready to go...it will be so fun to see how she reacts...and hopefully it will stay cold and we will have a White Christmas...fingers, toes and paws crossed!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Ha, another great blog complete with awesome photos! Darwin is anxious to go play out in the snow but we haven't had a chance yet. I can only imagine that the fun doubles with two, as they can play with each other! The only way I've ever been able to get snowballs off of Darwin is by dipping him in warm water.