Ice? ICE, baby!

"... and the rains came down, and covered the lands, and froze. And the district declared an ice day. And there was much rejoicing in the lands, and it was good."

Last night, Freddy and I diligently read the school closings and delays listed across the bottom of channel 8's screen. The two districts where we live had already decided to close for today, but the district where I work, 30 minutes away and notorious for refusing to cave in to silly things like snow days, had not said anything yet. Freddy, who'd been out earlier last night because of an audition, declared I was not going anywhere today, no matter what the district did -- I was going to call them and tell them I was taking the day off anyway because it was not safe to drive. While I agreed with him (I do have several bridges and overpasses on my way to work), I wasn't too keen on the idea of making sub lesson plans over the phone (especially since I'm going to be out Friday already, so I'll need sub lesson plans [read: pointless busywork] two days from now).

We checked the district website, which stated the decision on bad weather would be made by 6:00 am.

This morning, the alarm rang at 5:45 am. In my sleep stupor, I was coherent enough to realize I had not gotten The Call yet, which meant school was NOT closed. Crapfest. Freddy was not going to let me go to work. Who did I need to call? When would someone be at the school for me to call? What crappy lesson plans was I going to give the kids? (Draw the vocab is a popular one. What else are you going to do with a level 1 class?)

Then, at 5:47 am, my cell phone rang -- a call ring, not the alarm ring. It made me happy.

I went back to sleep with a fat cat on my back and a kitten on my side.

Until 6:32 am, when the automated phone system called me to let me know the district's schools were closed.

I forgave the automated phone system, and went back to sleep.

So how to spend this glorious free day?

• Playing with FrontPage and my website
• Polishing disseration
• Reading/editing LIFE CHOICES
• Creating budget for the month and fool-proof ways to stick to it

Tonight, I'm going to see One in Three. I thought it only ran last weekend and I'd missed it, but it actually got extended through next week. Awesome!