Snowed OUT of New York City

No flights available from Rochester, Buffalo or Syracuse into any NYC airport...
No Amtrak tickets available into Penn Station in NYC...
No bus tickets available into the Port Authority...
No rentals cars available to drive into NYC...
Parents driving you 5 hours east to Poughkeepsie so you can catch the Metro North train into Grand Central in NYC...
PRICELESS


We went on a road trip yesterday on a mission to get Kevin back to his apartment in NYC. He ended up missing a day of work but we got to have him an extra day. The earliest he could get out of Rochester if he was lucky was December 31 but he is scheduled to work that day.
He called to tell us not to believe the reports that all streets have been plowed at least once. Not true. What a mess.

Ho Ho Ho

How was your holiday everyone? Mine was great, spent with family and everyone got along.

On Christmas Eve we gathered at Hubby's brother and wife's house for the start of the celebrations. Santa arrived to the delight of my three grand nephews and niece. Even the big kids got something from the jolly fellow.

The three sister-in-laws.
We've never had a picture taken together in the 28 years we've all known each other.

Cam received these mustaches in his stocking. There's a story behind them. On Thanksgiving day he and his cousin got a hold of a Sharpie marker and proceeded to draw mustaches on the side of their fingers. My sister found these and we decided they were perfect for their stockings.

As you can see they were a big hit and they wore them for a while.

I thought Cam looked like Mario or is it Luigi who has the 'stache?

Kevin asked for a text book from Santa so he could study for his advanced cardiac nursing certificate. Good thing Santa only had to get the book. The test costs over $400. to take.

Poor Kevin, he's a Buffalo Bills fan and here he is in his regalia.

Cody even got a few gifts.

He's good at opening but could have used some opposable thumbs.

We really enjoyed having both of our boys home with us this Christmas season but now we can't get rid of one; not that I want to...


Kevin is snowed out of New York City. His original flight was for Tuesday Dec 28 at 6 AM but it was cancelled. Now he can't get one out of Rochester into any NYC airport until at least the 31st.
Amtrack is also booked. He is scheduled to work tomorrow but called to let them know he's stuck. They're having a problem with staffing as people are trying to get in but can't. I told him to give the airline a sob story about being a nurse and his hospital needs him which is entirely true but he's still here. He's not very happy about it but it could be worse, he could be sleeping in an airport or stuck on a subway train.

Is he or isn't he?

In my elementary school career I've spent five years working with fifth graders and have been asked many different questions. The hardest ones were questions about sex which now that I think about it they were actually easy to answer. I just told them to ask their parents when they got home. While we do cover that topic somewhat at the end of the year in the human growth and development unit, it's basically just about he changes the male and female bodies go through. If they want to know more, ask at home. One question I was never asked about was Santa.

After 11 years of working in my current job the question of Santa never came up until last year. I'm in my fourth year of kindergarten and the first two were smooth sailing when it comes to the jolly fellow. Last year came the first questions about him. A student proceeded to tell his table group that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. What made it interesting is that no one believed him. They asked him how did he know and he replied that his mother told him that. One student replied that his mother was stupid.

I called him over to my desk to talk with him and let him know that first, his mother was not stupid and second it's okay not to believe in Santa but most children do and that's okay too so please don't bring it up again. And he didn't.

This year another student (why is it always boys?) told his friends that there's no such thing as Santa, your parents give you gifts. They didn't believe him either. He comes from a family that is religious, so much so that they kept him home the day of our Halloween party. Strangely enough he believes in the tooth fairy. I called him over to my desk and gave him the same speech and asked him to not tell his fellow classmates that and to please not spoil it for them. I told the teacher I work with so she was in the loop. Five minutes later she heard him telling them the same thing. This time she took him out into the hall and was very stern. Not just for talking about Santa but also because he knew he was specifically told not to. In the long run a call was placed to his parents and they were mortified that he spilled the beans to the other children.

My thoughts are this; some parents believe the whole Santa thing is very commercial or that they're lying to their children because he's not "real". I've never known anyone who was psychologically damaged because they found out Santa wasn't real. I find that sad for the children. Christmas time is a very magical season. Childhood is so fleeting and they will never be this innocent again. You certainly can celebrate the birth of Christ and all that goes with that but what's wrong with celebrating with Santa too? You don't have to go overboard with it. After all it's not like he's evil. Santa has very good attributes; he's kind, loving, caring, joyful, generous, tolerant and unprejudiced. I like to think that everyone has a little bit of Santa in their heart.

1992
My boys with Santa on Christmas Eve

Snowmen

What have I been doing since I'm not doing much blogging? I've just finished all the Christmas shopping and have it wrapped and delivered to the Christmas morning house. Something I've also been doing is building snowmen. Above are all the parts to him.



I thought he looked a little boring so I glued a rhinestone on the end of his hat.
He was still missing something, every snowman has to have buttons so three more rhinestones glued on.
He's looking much sassier now with his face but I'm never happy with something until I've added my own flair to it and the hat and button bling just wasn't cutting it.
So I glued beads on his scarf. Doesn't he look so much better. Maybe the beaded scarf makes him look like a snow lady. Now multiply this one snow person by 70 and that's what I've been doing. Not to mention tying the little silver strings, writing the names of my students on the front and a little message on the back with my name. Hubby asks why do I do this to myself. I sometimes ask that same question. Then I think of all of my little kindergartners and know why. I hope they like them.

Let it Stop, Let it Stop, Let it Stop

Okay, I'm over it. It can stop snowing any time now. Unfortunately that's not going to happen thanks to lake effect snow off of Lake Ontario. By tomorrow morning we will have about two feet of the white stuff on the ground with more in the forecast for Wednesday. And it's not even winter yet! These pictures are from this morning before I went to school. Above is one of our hydrangeas.
My solar powered freaky teakies are wondering why they aren't where they belong; in Hawaii.

Our dogwood buds are waiting for spring under a blanket of cotton.

The bells are wearing hats.

Don't eat yellow snow!!

Despite my complaining I do love this kind of snow. It's so quiet and peaceful and it's light and fluffy; coating everything with a layer of frosting. The only thing better would be some sunshine to make it sparkle.

Come and sit a spell.

I used this sled when I was a kid. Can you believe I had to rescue it from a garage sale my parents had several years ago.

I bought these mitts at Bed Bath & Beyond. They're made of micro fiber towel material that is super absorbent. If you have a dog you'll know what it's like when they come in from the snow. Cody loves to go out in it and comes in covered with snowflakes. I put these on to dry him off and he loves it. He also gets snow balls between his pads on his feet and on the feathers on his legs. I think he goes outside just so he can get rubbed down when he comes in.

He'll go over to them and wait for someone to dry him off. Now if I can only find a way to get the snowballs off. When they start to melt they fall off all over the place leaving wet spots. Then I step on them in my socks...

I hope where ever you are the weather is better. Commutes are awful but I'm very lucky. The school I work at is a 2 minute drive from my house. Four on a day like today. This afternoon it took me longer to brush off my car than to drive home.

Wear your pajamas inside out tonight; I want a snow day tomorrow.

I've been a bad blogger. Lots of stuff in my mind, no time to write about it. For now enjoy the little kitten picture. I'm not a lover of cats, I'm allergic to them but they seem to love me. Or maybe they know they make me sneeze and itch so they want to torment me. Anyway I thought these two were sweet.