Nothing Like a Snow Day

It was another cold winter's day, but the snow that was swirling outside our bedroom window when we went to bed had stopped sometime in the night. The snowplow had already circled our cul de sac, and we began our morning routine, both of us downstairs by 5:15 so we could enjoy the peace and quiet together before my husband left for work at 5:55. After breakfast and some conversation on the couch, Chuck headed out into the bitter cold weather for another day at work.

While I was talking to my stepmom on the phone, call waiting alerted me that Chuck was on the other line. I switched over to him, explaining quickly I was talking to Jackie, and that I would call him right back. I could hear the smile in his voice as he said okay, and I went back to chatting happily on the phone. As soon as we hung up, I tried calling my husband. 

"Hel-lo," I heard his cheery voice, but it didn't sound right. His voice wasn't on my phone, it was right there in the house! His phone recorded my squeals of delight on his voice mail as I welcomed him home with hugs and kisses. FINALLY. I was going to get to have a snow day with Chuck! I'd only been wishing for this day ever since he went back to work after the holidays every day this week. 

People have thought me foolish for wishing for winter weather in Illinois, but I have been hoping for a snow day ever since I found out that Chuck can work from home when "the weather outside is frightful." Chicagoland can get some serious winter weather conditions. This week windchill has seen to it that the temps are less than twenty below zero (Fahrenheit).  But if you were a newlywed with a super terrific husband who can work at home when the conditions are right, wouldn't you wish for snow days, too?

My SPECIFIC wish was for Chuck to be able to work from home on a snow day. I hadn't counted on his having to drive through the ice and slush each day anyway, sometimes spending two and a half hours in the car during his commute home because of the road conditions. 

This morning he turned around, and came back home when it looked like another dreadful ride to work on icy roads. I am one ecstatic wife! YAY! He's home! He's home! My wish came true.

Some of my favorite childhood memories started on days the eight of us kids gathered around the breakfast bar, listening to the radio for the much-awaited announcement of school closings whenever it snowed. In Virginia, the slightest skiff in the valleys can mean a heavy snowfall in the mountains. 

Later when I had moved to Utah, Daddy loved telling me stories about my little sister who is a kindergarten teacher back home, and who loves school days even more now that she is a teacher. "God bless the mountain children," Daddy would always say. It makes me smile to recall hearing his voice say that with so much reverence, and a twinkle in his eye. 

In all of my 30 1/2 years as a school teacher in the state of Utah, I only had ONE LOUSY SNOW DAY. School was always in session, whether there were three inches or twelve inches of the white stuff on the ground, except for one day. 

That was the day that the snow was coming down dangerously fast, and our superintendent called for a snow day, that afternoon, for the next day. We drove home that afternoon in white-out conditions, but as I recall, the snow stopped that night.

The next morning, rain began to fall that melted the snow, and by the time anyone could have gotten out to make a snowman or go sledding, the snow was all but gone. It was the most disappointing snow day of my entire life.

So now, once again, I find myself hoping against hope for snow days in Illinois. I watch the winter sky, eagerly hoping for flakes that will turn into a snowfall that will keep my husband home from work. I need to be careful what I wish for though because I don't want him to have to drive in it, I just want him to be able to work from home.

Be careful what you wish for, indeed, but sometimes, like today, wishes come true, and I couldn't be happier. There's just nothing like a snow day.