Snow, Outages & MLK Motivations~*

We finally had some serious snow.  Unfortunately it came out of nowhere & all at once.
It was Thursday, the first day of classes for the Spring semester.  They had been predicting snow, but as the day went on it became clear it was going to be a bit more than a dusting.  By 1:00, the campus announced it would close at 3:00-- which didn't affect my classes, as the last one let about 2:00.  It did throw me off my game-- I kept getting texts on my phone from the schools emergency system during my lecture & was ready for them to suddenly announce a campus closure.
Anyway.
I'm fulltime at one campus, but my husband adjuncts at two campuses, so he wasn't at my college Thursday, & his campus decided to let out at 4:00.  Turns out that was a mistake.  Things 2 & 3's school let out at noon, & the bus brought them home before the storm started, so by the time I made it in they had already reveled & goofed around a bit.

The snow started coming down hard as I pulled in the driveway.  By the time my husband let out, pandemonium had broken out across the city as everyone tried to get home.  He made it as far as Thing 1's apartment {across from campus} & the audi would go no further.  Thing 1, who had been at work, made it to Blondie's parents house {which is closer to the mall than her apartment or our house}.  She gave permission for Jer to break in to her apartment {I had the spare key with me} & wait out the storm-- she had left her window unlocked, which given the ease he had getting in she won't be doing again {right Thing 1??}.  In a fit of bravado, Thing 2 & I tried to go rescue him, but barely got out of the driveway before we had to reverse our way back.  So we set up skype, cooked some spaghetti {Jer raided Thing 1's pantry for some soup} & tried to eat dinner together as a family.
Then the power went out.
Out came the candles {& Thing 3's camera}.  We lit a fire.  We roasted marshmallows.  I talked to Jer until my phone died.

Around 8:00 the snow slowed down & the city salted the roads, so Thing 2 & I ventured out again {Thing 3 stayed home to watch the fire, the pets & the candles, Thing 2 came with to help me push the car should we get stuck}.  This time we made it to the apartment parking lot, Jer jumped in the car & we headed back to wait it out together.
A few marshmallows later, & the kids set up camp in the living room while Jer & I went to bed.  The whole house came alive at 1am when the power came back on & again at 6am when we all received alerts saying that that school/campus would be closed Friday.

The upside is, surprise! Four day weekend~*

I took these pics of our backyard Friday morning.

I know.  Those of you who live in up North will not be impressed.  We're happy though.  There is still snow on the ground as I write this, with more predicted for next weekend.  I'm hoping it will be a bit more romantic and less AAAAHHHHRRRGGGHHHHH~*

Anyway.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday.  I can't imagine a better theme for a motivational Monday~*

Remember the reason for the day~*

See you tomorrow with a different sort of How To-zday post!