Friday night!!!

Lets see.. its been quite a day. I am not one for "journaling" my day.. but there are a few "mentionables".. if that's a word.

15 cms of snow... heavy snow fall warnings.... that's what we were told yesterday. We in the schoolin' business hear these weather reports and get all quivery inside... trying really hard not to get excited so that we are sadly disappointed in the morning when school isn't cancelled.

I know that last night, I couldn't talk about it or blog about it so that I didn't jinx it. I made two plans in my head for the morning, one set of plans for what would happen in the morning if we had a storm, and the other set was plans like what to make for lunches, and what to wear and all the normal work day plans.

This morning, when all we had was rain, my hopes were dashed... but then.. at 6:03am.. the weather announces.. heavy snow fall warnings... 15 cm... DURING THE DAY!!!!!. My heart went from hopeful to terror. Those were the words I didn't want to hear... a storm.. hitting in the day... the first storm of the year.... early November. This type of thing seems to create panic and havoc in our little community. The minute a snowflake hits the windshield of a car, the phones at our elementary school start ringing off the wall.. ARE YOU CANCELING SCHOOL!!!! We patiently explain that we are not allowed to make that decision, the board decides. We go through the rhyme of "listen to the radio, they generally hear that schools are canceled before we do"... we listen to all the reasons why we must/ mustn't cancel school... but if we do ... what we should do with their child ...

If they were to cancel school during the day.... that would mean that 467 children would be sent home, unexpectedly. Our plan at the school is that each teacher create a phone tree with all their students on it, their parents home, work and cell numbers on it, plus second and third contacts.. If, for any reason we need send kids home unexpectedly, we call the first name on the caller list, and then that parent starts the rest of the calls...

All fun, well organized and efficient.. unless, the classroom teacher doesn't have their tree done!

That is the case, right now... we have about 10 classrooms with a phone tree. And even if they did have them, this whole process is a nightmare, since.. while we are phoning out... several parents are phone in... "Are you canceling school"... "will you tell Johnny to wear his red boot on his left foot.. and his green mitt on his right hand!". We take messages by the page full, and its like air traffic controlling.. getting them all on the buses, confident that someone will be there for them when they get home.

Whew..that was a long story... all to say.. it didn't snow.. at all today. We spent the full day there... and even got an outdoor recess today. Bonus to the day. I was so exhausted today, I left work at 4:15. I didn't know what to do with myself when I got home. I checked email, flipped on the TV and flipped through Dr. Phil, General Hospital and Family Feud. Thank God for Debbie's phone call, inviting me out for supper... so I wouldn't be tempted to break my "no cooking" goal!... Turkey Dinner at the Aurora... oh.. yum. And.. no dessert! hee hee...