snow. Snow. SNOW!

One of my favorite Christmas movies is White Christmas, and I think I may have watched it at least 5 times this season. My brother-in-law Chris saw it for the first time Christmas Eve eve and hated it. Can you believe that? My sister and I, both schooled in the classics and musicals by our Huckleberry roots, were completely offended. We refused to listen to him reduce this timeless, and necessary, part of our Christmas memories to one ridiculous observation: "They are soooo gay!" Needless to say, most any conversations, positive or negative, usually lead to quoting the songs and lines. In our family it is "Sister, Sisters," "Pinetree! Coming into Pinetree!" "Boy, girl, boy, girl," and "snow, Snow, SNOW!" Actually, anytime it snows, at any time of the year, the last quote comes up... which, in a very roundabout way, leads to me to what I have been thinking about. (I'm an English teacher, what did you expect?)

School has been out for 5 days now. We all left school last Friday wishing for at least one day off, and we got 5!!! Wow. Monday was about the simple pleasures of sleeping a little later, putting on 4 layers of everything, and heading out to sled and make snowballs. Our children were giddy and rosy-cheeked. I savored watching them squeal as they careened down our slippery, snow-covered driveway into the street. It was nice not to have yell at them to look both ways... no one was out! We walked to our neighborhood park to sled on the monster hill and then walked back up. No one really seemed to notice how steep the hills were, because we were too busy watching everyone else out doing the same things! Simply heaven. So, we finally came inside and made Sante Fe soup (yum, yum, yum) and other things that don't seem to be so delicious on non-snow days. The kids plopped down to watch TV and rest, and so did my husband and I. The kids went back out later around dusk for one more play session. We built a fire and made s'mores. Really, it was a magical day. Tuesday was a little more of the same, but the snow was icy, and the roads were turning slushy. The glow was fading a bit, but the kids still wanted to play outside, so we let them. Once back inside the angelic manners they had the day before (the snow must have temporarily frozen the need for sibling rivalry) began to dull. Quiet bickering about TV shows and which movies to watch were detected, but they seemed to be short-lived. They seemed to sense that being able to watch massive amounts of TV would not last forever and was allowed only because of the magical white stuff outside. I will fast-forward through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday as the decline of utopia was warp-speed and painful. Cabin fever is a nasty virus, isn't it? Suddenly, my PJ's were confining, not comforting and delicious. I grew tired of being satisfied with having time to leisurely do the dishes and the laundry. The children actually got tired of watching TV and playing the Wii. My husband escaped to help set things up for church. I was amazed that it wound up taking ALL DAY, but I didn't blame him! So, here we are at Saturday, and I am actually looking forward to a trip to the grocery store with 2 little ones. What has happened to me? I might actually have the same smirk and eye roll my brother-in-law had when my sister and I gleefully began singing, "snow. Snow. SNOW!" at him Christmas Eve. I think he knew what was coming...

(...but I don't think this Georgia girl will EVER grow tired of watching the snow come down and wishing for a Snow Day... or two... )