Welcome to Hoth

It's day three of inclement weather at-home-ness for the girls. I say inclement weather because these aren't "snow days" per se. The first one, Wednesday, was - drifts, blowing snow, very low visibility, etc. But Thursday and today have both been diamond-bright - clear, blue skies, plenty of sun, etc. So why are they home, you may ask. Well, it's because even though the sun is out, it is utterly ineffectual. We might as well have a GE Soft White 60 watt bulb hanging in the sky for all the warmth it offers.

This morning it was 8 below zero with a wind-chill of 35 below. Tonight it's supposed to be 14 below with a wind-chill of 45 freaking degrees below freaking zero. You hear me? 45 freaking degrees below freaking zero.

So, because some of the kids in Maryn and Avery's school either walk or have to stand outside to wait for the bus, they've canceled classes for the last three days. My school, on the other hand, because all the buildings are connected and no one has to walk outside except to and from the parking lot, doesn't cancel for much of anything.

I think Suzanne is starting to crack a little bit. Three straight days of being more or less trapped in the house with a six year old and an eight year old who can bicker about anything is a little taxing. (And I mean anything. Avery takes great delight in contradicting Maryn on any subject, even if she knows she's downright wrong. Example: Maryn "This is my favorite stuffed animal." Avery "No, it's not.") It's good that the weekend is approaching. That way I can be around to run interference so Suzy doesn't have to bear the full brunt of "No, it's not!" "Yes, it is!!" "It is not!!" "It is tooooo!"

On another subject, I've now taught the first session of all of my classes and my students seem like a good bunch for the most part. They're definitely interesting. There's certainly variety and diversity in some ways but there's also a lot of similarities. Everyone owns a couple of dogs. Most everyone likes to hunt and fish. We're in the country, you know? It's not bad - it's just funny to be teaching this bunch after teaching kids who had never even seen a cow, much less helped birth one, raise one, or win a blue ribbon with one. The places life takes you, you know?