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Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
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Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
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mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
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Sunshine, clouds or rain-I wake up every day and immediately peek out of the mini-blinds to try to catch a glimpse of the weather. The news is blaring from the screen before the water in the Keurig is hot, my ears are ready to hear temperature and precipitation forecasts so I can get ready for the day. These are all required for making sure kids are dressed appropriately for school. I need to know if jackets are a must and if we need rides to school or if the bus will do. This is the basic, working (and most likely stay-at-home) mom, survivalist, preparation at its finest.
Put me in a car, drive me a couple of hundred miles away from the comfort of my home to a three day, kid-free adventure with my significant other and suddenly I forget that weather forecasting still weighs in heavily on what kind of time we are going to have. No, it can’t be too sunny, and I think that I can even live with a lot of rain-but let a whole-lot of fluffy, white stuff fall on me and I come pretty close to shrinking down to intolerable. No, it would be more like child-like, and as I hang my head down in shame, I will admit, it was actually temper-tantrum style.
We left on Saturday in my speedy Saturn, heading north to the city of Omaha. A place I have never been, and really the place wasn’t so important as much as the reason. I was ready for a little vacation. As a rule, I take my children, at least one, if not all, with me when I have the opportunity to go, but this time, it was about me. Not selfish, just true. We moved ahead of the dismal Kansas City rain and when we arrived to our destination, the roads were dry. It was 54 degrees. The skies were cloudy, but in the back of my mind I tried to assure myself that it was just because there had been rain. Just rain-these will be my famous last thoughts.
Vacation to me means no evening news-who needs it right? We had indoor plans for Sunday, so even rain couldn’t douse our agenda. When light filtered softly through the hotel curtains I looked outside, so hopeful-looking forward to seeing the beautiful Cathedral, to attending a play, to eating a fancy Italian dinner. My eyes widened when I saw what was waiting outside the hotel. It was the beginnings of a winter wonderland. I was forced to turn on the news, it was time, vacation or not.
Forecasts of up to six inches and white out conditions were met with fervent denial from me, who wasn’t ready to admit defeat. The snow seemed to be slowing down outside and after much discussion, we decided to ditch our original plans and see a movie about four miles away. Totally do-able, considering we had survived the Snowmageddon of only a few weeks before, I felt confident that I could drive us there and back. We made it to the warm, dark safety of the movies, enjoyed the “The Great and Powerful Oz” and walked out ready to see how we could salvage the rest of our first full day of vacation.
Three more inches of snow and white out conditions welcomed us as we walked to my car. The easy trip to the theatre was much longer and scarier back to the hotel. Dinner out several hours later required digging my car out of my parking space and many terrible words were uttered quite loudly. If there was anybody left in the world that thought I was a graceful lady, those should be dashed now. There was nothing graceful or nice about me that fine day.
By the time we left two days later, the roads were cleared and sightseeing was done, though not quite the kind that had been our original plans. As we drove south back to the comforts of our homes, we shared laughs from the memories of the places we had gone, sighs of happiness from the time spent together and absolutely no apologies for the destination and timing of our vacation. We left knowing each other a little more, with aspirations to visit again and fully aware that the next time maybe this momma ought to watch the news.
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