Snow days: fun 4 kids, hell 4 moms

I always set myself up for failure! To quote a friend, he and many others believe that our society has programmed us to live in the future (or wallow in the past). We're programmed to believe that someday we'll have all we need to be happy and that's where we'll discover our peace and joy. Some day out there, in the future. But what about NOW? For me, that's where prayer comes in, and since I've been such a lazy toad about my spiritual life, it's no surprise that I'm an absolute nut job right now.

Want the specifics on how I set myself up for today's failure? Well, now that the holidays are a distant memory and I've packed away a few of the decorations, and, most importantly, I had no appointments scheduled, today was my first day of true R&R since last fall. Mr. Mart would be at work, Mo and Mac, at school, and me not due at work until 4:30 p.m. The day would be MINE! (And the universe exhaled a joyful sigh...)

Then the phone rang at 6 a.m.

That's when our school's automated notification system informed us that due to the weather (temps here in eastern Iowa reaching a sweaty high of -7) school was cancelled. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gone were my self-centered plans to indulge in some meditation with my new Magdalene Rosary, or maybe get my Zen on with a little yoga, heck, even start painting the upstairs hallway. No. None of these activities are doable, let alone enjoyable, with earthlings age 8 and 5. (Yes, the daycare was open, but I was too big of a wuss to dig my car out of its cozy snow drift.) Turbo's just a real Grumpy Pants, the root of which is the dog. I won't go into it now because I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, but it turns out Sidney Freeman is actually The Black Widow. But I digress...

Today? We survived! I remembered to feed the kids both breakfast and lunch! We got some cool Lego stuff built! I caught a little nap while the kids continued to Lego! Naughty Sid Vicious ate some underwear and Styrofoam! Our newest family member, Maudry, shadowed us without a growl or bite! We even did some beads while watching Narnia! AND I didn't once call Mr. Mart, screaming about the kids! But this was no great day, to be sure. In fact, it sucked, so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow! Yeah, that's when I'll find that peace and joy and happiness, tomorrow!

What's that? The phone? It's the school? Classes are cancelled for tomorrow?!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!