Well, I’ve been snowed/iced in for about a week now. Keep in mind that “snowed in” has a slightly different meaning here in Arkansas than in other states that get a lot of winter weather. We only got about three to four inches total, in all likelihood. For whatever reason, road crews just don’t seem as prepared here. Even if the main roads are clear, we will always usually miss several more days of school because so many kids live on crappy back roads, and something about the idea of a bunch of school buses slipping and sliding everywhere just doesn’t sit well with school administration. Everything just ices over. My driveway is a lovely, solid, downhill sheet of slippery goodness.
Of course, last weekend, I just went along with my normal routine, with the intent of waiting until Sunday after the church rush ended to head into town and resupply. Well, the weather kicked up unexpectedly before then, and so I had to abort that journey. It’s been interesting…I ran out of canned goods days ago. I attempted to make a rice dish that utilized raisins and maple syrup. That turned out poorly. On a positive note, I’ve been using up all sorts of stuff that was just sitting around. I can’t express how absurdly happy I was when I found a bag of microwavable popcorn, a bag of instant garlic mashed potatoes, and a couple of Pop Tarts today.
Prior to this, we had missed a total of eight days of school due to inclement weather. So, the school had to make a decision: Either give up spring break and have those days forgiven or just tack those days onto the end of the year. Giving up spring break is the obvious choice because spring break consists of fewer days than the number we actually missed (and now we’ve added five more to that total). On top of that, I have to prepare my students for end of course state testing, and that testing date does not change no matter how many days we miss. So, essentially, I’ve lost two and a half weeks of preparation for that, and it doesn’t help that for whatever reason, Geometry testing takes place a couple of weeks before Algebra EOC testing. Why they get more time to prepare is beyond me. Despite the obvious choice of giving up spring break, it was actually decided to tack on those snow days to the end of the year. Hope nobody had any awesome summer plans.
I kinda wish I had been more productive with my snow day time. I’ve just been too comfy to care. When it’s cold and you’re bundled up near a space heater with a warm mug of coffee, it’s very difficult to push yourself to be productive. That’s not to say that I haven’t gotten anything done at all. I got a little bit of planning done for the next project at least. Oh well, I’m going to continue being a comfy guy until we go back. Cheers.