This week has been an “up/down” week for us. The events for this week really started on Friday of last week. Last Friday we had a teacher in-service day. About 3:00, or so, I (Tim) started to get sick. I was sick all through the weekend and through part of this week. I took Monday off, and then went back to school again on Tuesday. However, this sickness wasn’t finished causing havoc on my week, as I had to take Wednesday off also. For some reason, I just couldn’t shake this one. It got me, and I hate that. I hate succumbing to sickness. When I grow up I want to create a pill that stops sickness! Except, that I don’t really want to work that hard, so I guess I’m stuck with being sick every now and then. :)
Wednesday evening a storm blew in. We were very thankful for it, for more than one reason. I would assume that most would not typically be thankful for a big storm; however, it’s been so cold here over that past month (range: -10°F to -30°F) that we were grateful for the warm air. You see a storm usually brings in warmer weather with it. Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t really snow at 0°F or colder? It usually snows around 25°F to 35°F. In addition, it brought a bunch of snow and wind. This snow and wind caused huge drifts to be blown over the road. It was bad enough that our administrators considered canceling school. We waited until about 7:15 am until our assistant principal called and said he was only going to delay the start of school so the snowplows could come out and clean off the road. So, the other teachers in our building convoyed with us on our way down to the school. The road wasn’t too bad, however, we did get stuck a couple times. Luckily 4-wheelers are relatively easy to get unstuck. After arriving at school our principal heard back from the city snowplows that it was still too windy to plow the roads, at that time school was officially canceled. Now, for the average teacher and student, this is a great. Snow days are awesome. However, our school district doesn’t actually get snow days, which means that we have to make it up. Most school districts plan a few extra days of school in their official schedule in case they need a snow day; our school district does not. We have to make it up and instead of adding it to the end of the school they added it on Saturday. Fortunately, another storm was forecasted for Saturday, so it’s been rescheduled for the next Saturday (at least some time to plan ahead).
Wednesday evening a storm blew in. We were very thankful for it, for more than one reason. I would assume that most would not typically be thankful for a big storm; however, it’s been so cold here over that past month (range: -10°F to -30°F) that we were grateful for the warm air. You see a storm usually brings in warmer weather with it. Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t really snow at 0°F or colder? It usually snows around 25°F to 35°F. In addition, it brought a bunch of snow and wind. This snow and wind caused huge drifts to be blown over the road. It was bad enough that our administrators considered canceling school. We waited until about 7:15 am until our assistant principal called and said he was only going to delay the start of school so the snowplows could come out and clean off the road. So, the other teachers in our building convoyed with us on our way down to the school. The road wasn’t too bad, however, we did get stuck a couple times. Luckily 4-wheelers are relatively easy to get unstuck. After arriving at school our principal heard back from the city snowplows that it was still too windy to plow the roads, at that time school was officially canceled. Now, for the average teacher and student, this is a great. Snow days are awesome. However, our school district doesn’t actually get snow days, which means that we have to make it up. Most school districts plan a few extra days of school in their official schedule in case they need a snow day; our school district does not. We have to make it up and instead of adding it to the end of the school they added it on Saturday. Fortunately, another storm was forecasted for Saturday, so it’s been rescheduled for the next Saturday (at least some time to plan ahead).
Friday was Kaitlyn’s 26th birthday! Kaitlyn had a great day at school. Our friend, Heather Jeffers, helped me plan a surprise party for Kaitlyn. This isn’t an easy thing to pull off, because Kait’s smart. She picks up on things like this pretty quickly. After school I went home and started making a special birthday dinner (Chicken Tikka Masala and homemade dark chocolate pudding). It was all a ruse, though. We planned on taking Kaitlyn over to Heather’s house at 7:00. So, in an attempt of misdirection, I began making the meals. I made the pudding (which is to die for, I must say) and began thawing the chicken for the Tikka Masala. At 6:30, Heather texted Kaitlyn and said that she had planned on bringing a gift over for her, but couldn’t get her 4-wheeler started and if Kaitlyn would come over to her house. At the same time we were trying to video chatting with Warren Powell and our Internet just wasn’t cooperating. So, under the disguise of video chatting and fake present giving we traveled toward the school (Heather lives in the building in the school parking lot). We video chatted with Warren and Rachel Powell for a few minutes then prepared to go to Heather’s house. At that moment, Kaitlyn’s mother, Myrna Hart, called on my cell phone for Kaitlyn. I was a little bit worried because Heather and I had been texting each other about the surprise party and if Kaitlyn happened to answer one of those texts then the whole thing would be ruined. Luckily, she didn’t, but as Kaitlyn was talking to her mother, there were about 15 people stuffed in a tiny apartment awaiting her arrival and were getting restless. Thankfully, Kaitlyn’s call with her mother was short and we went to Heather’s apartment. The surprise was a success. Kaitlyn was surprised. Pheww! We had a big potluck at the apartment waiting for us. We spent most of that night enjoying everyone’s company. (People in attendance: Heather Jeffers; Gala Coopchiack; Dale Richesin; Lee Family: Mike, Lori, Tristen, & Charlie; Greg and Corey Cejka; Billy Cessolini; Mike Tozzo; Leslie Fazio; Kim Whipple; Margie and Buzz Frost; Brian Mason; and Heather Jeffers and I.)
Early Saturday morning, that big storm that canceled Saturday school arrived. This storm arrived with some vengeance. It brought snow and winds from 35-45 mph with gusts over 65 mph. It blew all day; actually, it hasn’t really stopped. Saturdays we go to the school to plan for the next week. We tried to go out, unfortunately, we didn’t get too far. The road was completely drifted over. The snow was blowing around enough that we couldn’t really walk to the school either, because we couldn’t really see the road. The closest thing I can compare it to is a sand storm. |
The snow gets picked up and moves just like sand dunes do. We were officially stuck. Luckily, the Internet at our house was still working so we could at least do some work. We ended our day by having a surf and turf party with the other teachers in our building. Our friends Mike Tozzo and Billy Cessolini brought over some steaks and coconut shrimp; Evelin Kleinke brought some apple bread; Kaitlyn made mashed potatoes and green beans, and I (Tim) made some French bread. It was a fun night. Who can turn down steak? :)
