Snow Day

My workplace occasionally has a "snow day"- not that it snows in P-land and we all get to stay home. No, this is a premeditated snow day when everyone associated with my workplace and the people we serve, plus family go up to Mt. Hood and have a snow day- where you can ski, snowboard, inner tube in the snow.

Just back from snow day, for which I sprung Allie from school (shh... I wouldn't have done it if she didn't have stellar grades, and she's signed up for accelerated English and Math for next year in Jr. High upon the recommendation of her teacher...whoops, save this for my "Incessant bragging about my daughter" entry) Anyway, Allie and I innertubed down the hill at breakneck speed for about 5 hours today. There is no innertubing rope tow here as there is on Mt. Bachelor, so, walking up the hill gave me my exercise today.

I went to snow day thinking - "this is great- I don't have anything super pressing on my plate, so I can just go and enjoy"- which I did. So, Allie and I came home tired, only with enough energy to flop on the couch and watch "Gilmore Girls."

After that I was mentally preparing myself for my return to work and my supposed somewhat leisurely work schedule. One item floated across my mind- a long and important article for an advertorial magazine my workplace will be featured in- I remember hearing the deadline from my contact and thinking, "Great! I have oodles of time and I can really work it through..." The deadline is March 1. Glancing at the SpongeBob SquarePants calendar in our entryway, I realized, March 1 is FRICKIN' THIS WEDNESDAY....AGGGHH!!!

Have I started the article? Have I the vaguest outline of the theme? NO! of course not, apparently in my feeble brain, February spans out endlessly, except that it is the shortest month of the year!

Part of the Puritanical, uptight, little Miss Perfectpants aspect of my personality (its small and ever dimishing, thank God) thought, I should have skipped Snow Day- its optional, not enforced fun. I should have gone to work and sent Allie to school.

Then it occured to me. How many more days will Allie and I lie in the snow on our backs and laugh hysterically? How many more years will I innertube down a hill screaming with Allie riding on my back? How many more times will we race each other down the hill?

Allie has Jr. High orientation tomorrow night. It occurs to me that pretty soon she will have her own interests, friends, etc. and someday, just like in the "Gilmore Girls" episode we just watched, Allie will graduate from High School! The "Snow Days" are a finite quantity, and we will remember the snow days long after this article has been tossed in the recycling bin.

I probably would have procrastinated on the article anyway- that is my nature. So, I'm not at all sorry about the Snow Day.

Must go now. Have an article to write.