How to live graciously when there's a snow day :: Slow + Simple living

Winter is exhausting.

While the days are shorter, they're really just longer, never-ending darker extensions of themselves.
Snow is beautiful.
Snow is exhausting and relentless.

But I will take the snow over the sub-zero temperatures and ugly grey landscape any day. I don't much love winter... I don't much care for it to be honest, but I do find the snow to be beautiful. I am a visual person and so give me something pretty to look at and perhaps photograph and I am happy.

But snow is inconvenient. It creates havoc with our lives, messing with our schedules, trapping us indoors, forcing us to put a halt to meetings and plans that we may have. A couple of years ago I would have complained about this. I did complain about this. But I don't any longer. Maybe it's because my oldest is leaving the nest in 3 short years.

Now of course these are my views as a working parent whose life is greatly impacted by the weather.
There's not much we can do about the weather, is there?

We can do the best we can.

We can reschedule meetings and try to work from home.
We can try to replace meetings with conference calls.
We can take advantage of emails and our laptops.
We can enjoy our children and our time with them.
We can send them out to play.
We can have the older ones help with the shoveling.
We can gather 'round the fire.
We can read in bed and encourage the kids to as well.
We can spend some time together interacting and playing board games.
And we can demand some peace and quiet for work.
We can make it work.
Do we have a choice?
We can slow down.
What's wrong with slowing down?
When did slowing down become a bad thing?
When did living graciously become a bad thing?
Maybe it's time that we all learn how to live simply.
Maybe it's time we all learn how to live graciously...
Like our parents did when we were children.

I can't do anything about the weather but make the most of it and I intend to do just that...

after I toss a log onto the fire!

Cheers to slowing down living simply and graciously!

Jessica

all images via Tumblr

Give the ol' weather the boot!

Many schools here in Southern Connecticut have decided to delay their opening by an hour and a half to two hours. Now, you may think this insignificant... a great excuse to sleep in... a perfect opportunity to let the kids sleep in... make a hearty, warm breakfast, relax a bit and not have to rush out the door. None of this is the case. When school is delayed the phone rings. Early. When school is delayed the children are up. Early. When school is delayed you still don't feel like cooking a full bacon, eggs and toast breakfast. When school is delayed someone still manages to forget something only to remember theveryminute you pull out of the driveway. When school is delayed the children are happy. Read hyper. When school is delayed mothers are in pissy, foul moods. We are easily annoyed. Especially when these 2-hour delays come after a very long (indeed) 4 day weekend. We want to resume our lives. We have work that we want and need to get done. We want our children as far away from us as possible. We even consider dropping them off at the school's front door at the regular start time. We want to enjoy our coffee in peace. We want to go to the gym...

We know a little dusting of snow isn't going to hurt us. We are creating soft children. We are creating lazy children. A little snow, rain and sleet never stopped us as kids. We had to go to school... uphill, without a car... in bare feet! We're tough and our kids are going to be wimps! Offices don't close because there's a dusting of snow on the ground. Can you imagine? Let me tell you some of the conditions in which I had to drive... in my non 4-wheel drive-slip-sliding-cherry-red Red Volkswagen Jetta. Puhleeze! Can you imagine if they did this in Canada?

Seriously, this is insane. I am starting to think that all these school delays and cancellations are the true causes behind the sudden rise in peanut allergies!

I'll quit bitchin'... I'm lucky I do have 4 wheel drive. I feel safe and comfortable in my car... But I'd love to ride in the one below... I'd say it's probably as comfortable as an old pair of boots!

***

And to the kindness of the wonderful and stylish Suze Stephenson of Well To Do You for sharing this picture with me... and to you Suze, cheers to Bubbles in a Boot!

Photo: L.L. Bean, Lincoln Benedict / AP.

Stay warm and dry... and if your kids have a delayed start too, Stay Sane!!!


XOXO

Jessica

Dancing in the rain!

Gosh darn it... it's snowing again! It's coming down now... lightly... but not supposed to stop until tomorrow morning! Where is my Springtime? My sunshine? My warmth? My flowers? Where are my sun dresses and sandals and sun-kissed cheeks? Buried under a white blanket... Eeeeeeeeek!

So today... I will not dance in the rain... Today I will dance in the snow! And make hot cocoa with marshmallows... And snuggle under the covers with the kiddos... And after I have finished my assignments and head off to a meeting and the gym and make my necessary phone calls I will put my pajamas back on. I can hardly wait!

So off I go... hurry-hurry... I do think that 5:00 will come much earlier today... Don't you?

Deck the halls with boughs of holly because Spring is here!

It's the first full day of Spring. We should be opening up the windows and letting the sun shine in! We should be listening to the birds as they sing gracefully, melodically from the branches beyond our window panes... Instead the heat is on. We're bundled from head to toe. Outside it's snowing. And sticking! And the only sound I hear is that of the metal plows scraping along the streets beyond. Crazy!

Images via Tumblr