Friday, January 8, 2010

Will They or Won't They?

One of the things that is frustrating about living here and very hard for Daughter is the way the schools and workshop handle weather issues. They are very cautious, which I appreciate. We have about 5 inches of blowing snow right now, and many open country roads. Last night they had all announced that there would be a delay this morning. That is good. It gives the crews more time to clear the roads, allows more traffic to run on them, and makes sure that buses and student drivers aren't out on the roads until it is daylight.
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The problem is that I could have told them last night that they would not be able to run the buses today. This morning when I got up and looked at the roads and saw the snow start back up, I knew that they would end up canceling. I'm sure that deep down they knew that, too. But they waited until it was almost time for the bus to come to cancel. Daughter was up, dressed, pills, breakfast and insulin taken, lunch packed and ready to walk out the door when they gave up and canceled. This has been an ongoing pattern since the first day we arrived here in Tiny Village.
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When Daughter was in 3rd or 4th grade schools were closed for the first two weeks of January because of weather. We kept getting freezing rain followed by snow, so we'd have mounds of snow with ice underneath. The county was shut down, and they were asking everyone to stay off the roads. It was a long two weeks. The worst day was the day the weather broke enough that they decided to have school, though on a 2 hour delay. Daughter was bundled up for the cold and on her way out the door when they canceled. I remember her tears of frustration that day. She has never handled unstructured time well, and she had 4 straight weeks of it that year. We couldn't even go to town for a break because the roads were so bad. If someone did have to go, they'd call around to see what people needed from the store. I had a neighbor bring us in milk and bread. I think that was the year I discovered what the 3 staples were when facing a snow emergency: milk, bread, and toilet paper.
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Daughter has gone back upstairs, and from the silence I would guess she has gone back to bed. I'm going to have to go get her moving. I have so much to do today. Her hospitalization threw me behind on everything. The visits won't get made this week, but I still have to have a sermon and do various other things in preparation for Sunday morning. I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep her busy and motivated today so that she doesn't sink into depression. It looks like it's going to be a fun day....

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