Sort of Snow Day

 Any sort of struggles with my new job aside, can I just say, I am EXCITED to finally have a snow day?!?!

When I worked at the hospital, snow days just filled me with dread as I would have to make it to work somehow regardless of conditions. I absolutely hate driving in the snow and I've always lived just far enough away that it was an extremely long and nerve wracking drive. 

I'm still an adult though and after the plow guy comes, I'll be shoveling out that walkway so M can come in safely (poor guy is at work- no snow day for him! New Englanders take a perverse pride in going to work in shitty weather which I find outrageous as a former long time resident of NC). Also, from 8:30 to 12:30 I had to chill on a 4th grade class's Zoom to "provide support" if needed.

...I was not really needed. But I sat there, listening to them learn how to code (which made me feel ancient somehow), watching them forget they were on camera and pick their nose (which made me feel nauseous) while sewing just under the screen (note the elevated laptop for ease of craft hiding). And hey, I still got to sleep in, drink outrageous amounts of coffee, and lounge around in my comfy pants, all snow day staples.

So far, we've got about 9 inches and it still coming down pretty steadily. 12-16 inches is our projected accumulation and we have a quite brisk high of 21 degrees (F) to look forward to on top of that. When M opened the door to try and make it to his car, we were greeted by this lovely sight. 

When you start your shoveling from inside, you know it's bad out there. Look how thrilled M looks! At least our large supply of various face masks are really coming in handy.

My original plan for today after class was over was to do all my wrapping but last night I decided to wrap M's gifts before he got home (I wasn't sure if he was going into work today or not), got carried away and ended up wrapping all of them- even M's gifts to other people! Man, that guy is lucky. The wrapped presents under the tree really ups the Christmas atmosphere though so I'm glad I did it.

Aside from getting my keyboard covered in Jelly Baby dust while typing this, my new plan is to do whatever I want. Perfect, right? I thought so. Usually I think of all these big, grand plans that I don't end up accomplishing which makes me grumpy so I think I'm going to aim for lowkey and anything above that is gravy. Work smarter, not harder, amiright?

If you were wondering what exactly "do whatever I want" will proabably look for me over the next few hours before I face the music and finally go out to shovel, I've graciously included the following list of Ashley's Snow Day Essentials for you.

~Tea. If you know me at all you might have expected that first word to be coffee. There comes a point in a snow day however, when you realize if you have another cup of coffee you'll start to vibrate (and not in a good way...) but since it's cold, you need to ingest warm things. That and it's a time of day when you think twice about that bourbon and apple cider or eggnog and amaretto (pin that for later though we're just pacing ourselves here). This is where tea comes in. I like tea but it is definitely something I drink when I want coffee but know better. Yogi brand tea is usually a good option and this particular variety is extra good. Spicy, just a little sweet, and good with a splash of almond milk. Bonus points for large novelty mug.

~Sweatpants. Obviously. I'm not going to subject you to a picture of my sweatpants but I prefer a thick French terry, 100% cotton. Pretty warm, still breathable, minimal static. If you like sweaty crevasses feel free to wear some fleece though, it is your warmest option, I'll give you that.

~Books. I got into a reading slump and the very best way to get out of that is to read something from someone like Terry Pratchett. Hilarious, well written, light but smart. I just created a wizard character on Diablo III and named her after the character in this book so this is the one I decided to jump into. Soooo good, you can absolutely not go wrong with Discworld.

~Crafts. The possibilities are endless of course but preferably something you can do from the couch (save your mural painting/demon summoning/canoe building/whatever for another day).

~Sweet jams, preferably Christmas. Because the tree is up and it's snowing out, I mean c'mon. Don't worry, you can still get pretty weird with it. I mean...

(I really encourage you to listen to that but I will warn you that I want you to listen not because it's good but because it's hilarious and shouldn't exist and is exactly as terribly as you'd think it would be)

~TV. Now's a good time to watch a movie. Nothing to exhilarating, maybe a Christmas movie? Also acceptable are mysteries from the 70s because I'm kind of thinking about watching Columbo.

That about sums it up. Guess I better get to it!