Living in a Snow Globe

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . February 1, 2010 . 1:23PM

For 5 days, I have been stuck in my house.

Originally, the tone of this post was going to be about how beautiful and amazing the snow is and about how we only get snow once a year or so and how that is such a shame. I was going to tell you of my amazement and how my mouth dropped open last Friday when it snowed all day long and I felt like I was living in a snow globe and I saw the utter beauty of the snow.

I was going to tell you about how my dogs romped through the snow like puppies, or at least Molly did. The little ones think it’s too cold and have decided to pee in the freaking house instead of being good dogs and going outside. They are so little and the snow was so high and they don’t like falling down into snow. With the exception of Prudence, who has made a pact with the Devil to not fall through snow so she can run through our fence, get out of the yard, run down the street and around the corner and force me to run after her in my pajamas. My neighbors loved that one. Truly.

You were going to hear all about how AJ was mystified and played outside for hours with his friends. How snowmen were plentiful and the children were happy. Instead, AJ played outside a couple of times and proclaimed it “too cold and icy” and has been in the house driving me crazy.

I was going to tell you, with pride, how people in Nashville really aren’t as bad as I’ve led you to believe. I know I’ve complained about how they drive in the rain, but they did so well with the snow! Nope. Everything shut down to the point where the only things open were McDonald’s and the liquor store. Thank goodness. Leon warned me that I “really shouldn’t drive unless I had to” and therefore I have been here. At home. Since Thursday night. Home. Where I have placated myself with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, lots and lots of napping and doing homework. The weather has kept friends away and made me a lot of fun. I have spent an inordinate amount of time looking at online goods and it is to the point where I no longer want anything because I have looked at everything so much that I am already bored with it.

I am not a happy camper. No, Sir. Not this one.

I grew up in Illinois. This piddly amount of snow and ice is par for the course. The idea of places shutting down and school being closed for this is crazy to me. I have things to do!

But…

It’s pretty. It’s glimmering, shimmering and shiny! And I’ve missed it. It’s not the snow’s fault that people around here react like we’re all getting smallpox because there is a little snow and ice. For one week a year, I get to pretend that I live in a Winter Wonderland.

It’s worth it.

And now for something serious…

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 22, 2010 . 9:06AM

There are many things in my life that I am passionate about that I don’t take the time to write about here. It isn’t that I don’t care enough, it’s that I understand and am aware that my passions are not the passions of everyone. And I also know that when people are strongly polarized, the reasons of one’s heart are often not enough to sway one another. However, there are times that not saying anything is akin to agreement and I feel like I cannot let this subject be one in which there is any doubt as to how I feel.

Those in my life that know me best know that I’m generally quite apathetic on most issues and due to my profession, I support people as to their decisions. With that said, I am adamantly pro-life for many personal reasons and many well thought out ones. As a humanist, a scientist, a mother, a woman, a friend, a social science major and someone who cares deeply for others…I can be nothing else.

My husband wrote a post today, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I’m linking it here. My personal whys will remain unsaid… Sometimes it is better that way.

In Memoriam

Loser!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 17, 2010 . 1:20PM

It was my first year in the running, but I didn’t even score in the to 10 hottest mommy bloggers. As such, I am in mourning.

Really, there are other things going on and school is starting up again, which means I’ll be back and blogging. Not even the top 10? Pshaw.

Happy Birthday AJ!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 8, 2010 . 11:30AM

Let it snow!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . January 7, 2010 . 5:53PM

In Tennessee, we rarely experience snow. Our weather doesn’t fluctuate often and this week we experienced our most extreme temperatures as they dropped down to single digits. Luckily, this happens, at most, once or twice a year. We may get snow 2-3 times a year. As I grew up in Illinois, snow doesn’t bother me and I am fine with driving on ice, black ice, freezing rain and snow.

People from Tennessee do not share this sentiment with me.

In fact, I would say that the term that applies to the fine folks here is “scared to death of snow and ice.” Last night, before a single flake of snow had fallen or flurried, the mere thought of snow had schools cancelled. This is how it has been here for the duration of the time I’ve lived here.

Schools have been cancelled tomorrow due to the threat of refreezing. Logically, I understand this. There are plenty of winding roads and hills and valleys here. Buses cannot safely travel them and if you can’t get kids to school safely, school should be cancelled.

What I don’t understand is the mad rush to the grocery stores to buy necessities? At most, the snow will last one day. I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t have a days worth of food in their home. Those that don’t have food don’t have the funds to mad rush Kroger.

When I lived in rural Arkansas, storms knocked the power out for days and it couldn’t be restored. They had a genuine reason for fear. In the Metro Nashville and surrounding areas, we generally don’t experience this phenomenon.

I’m not knocking my TN folks. I love living here and the people are second to none. I’ve just lived in different conditions. We’d go to school in 6 inches of snow. Teenagers, myself included, drove in it. Nothing was canceled and even when there was little heat in the schools, we went. No, I didn’t walk in 3 feet of it, smart alecks. But we did have the old school radiators and it was cold!

I just think it’s kind of…wimpy.

There. I said it. I think it’s wimpy.

I want enough snow to make forts like we used to when I was a kid and lived across from a church. They would plow the church and the entire small neighborhood would choose a side of the plowed area, dig into it and we’d have serious snowball fights. We’d sled down the 8-10 foot forts for hours. When we were done, we’d go into the house, have some hot chocolate, warm up, and be back out within the hour.

As I got older, and had older friends, we took it to the next level. There were bigger sleds and bigger hills at the park. One friend had a house in a rural setting and four, yes four, of us went down a hill at a time. I remember being between Rich and Chad and the sled tilting as we crashed into trees. I had a huge scrape on my cheek, but I couldn’t stop laughing.

Or Dave and I power sledding down what we thought was snow, but was really ice on the largest hill in the park. That was a huge mistake.

Or James and I attempting to snowboard down the hill behind his house and me biting it and vowing that I would never faceplant again because I was “never doing this crap snowboarding” again.

Or Jenny and Rachael throwing snowballs at me while I tried to get in the fort more quickly.

Or Olivia sprinkling Reindeer food on the snow so Santa would come.

Yes, please let it snow. I want my son to have memories like mine, too. Even if it’s just 2 inches of snow to make angels in or some flurries.