Land of Opportunity

Recently there was a debate in our legislature about whether to change our motto from "The Natural State" back to "Land of Opportunity". When I was young, Land of Opportunity was our state motto, then it changed at some point. Of course, now that we have been out hiking in this state, the Natural State seems to suit us just find. I love living here but not really sure what kind of opportunity we have that other states don't...I am also not totally positive why that was so important on the agenda, but I am not a politician.

Anyway, I digress. Yes, I know I do that alot...

So before I really get into my post, I felt like I should explain my "NO SNOW" policy. I do think it is pretty (sometimes). And my kids love to be out in it. But it completely interferes with school. Usually this is my favorite time of year to teach but right now we go for a day then have four days off, which doesn't lead to a very conducive learning environment. I also know that the more days we miss now, the fewer days we will have for our summer vacation. And I would much rather spend summer vacation outside with the kids then snowy days cooped up inside. I know that a lot of places get more snow, but that is part of the problem too. We don't (usually). I am not joking when I say 1-2 inches of snow can shut down our community. We aren't prepared for this weather. When there is a chance of snow, our news channels go into frantic mode. The shelves of the grocery store will be wiped out. And once it starts falling, the school cancellations start.

Now that I have explained myself, I will get to today's post.

So when I went to bed last night, I checked outside to see if the much anticipated "blizzard" had started. There were several different "forecasts" out there with many different "anticipated" precipitation levels. I was trying to be positive. A dusting. 1 or 2 inches. 6 at the most.

When I awoke, I first checked to see if I had an e-mail about school. Canceled. I scurried across the house to look out the front window. I couldn't even see the road. At all.

I would have loved to sleep in but by then my adrenalin was flowing. And the kids seemed to just "know". They were raring to go early!

About mid morning, I decided to take some pictures. I opened our back door and found this...

It is estimated that we got about 24 inches total. It snowed until mid afternoon. I have lived here a long time and never seen snow like this. I think we broke some state records.

Crazy stuff around here.

I could belly ache some more. There is one more day of my Christmas break gone. Well, probably three. We are already out of school for tomorrow, and I doubt we will be back on Friday.

Or...

I could look at this as an opportunity.

An opportunity to enjoy being with my kids (and husband...he couldn't get out either. They actually closed the Wal-Mart main office for the first time ever, if that tells you how bad the roads were! Tyson Headquarters were closed too.)

An opportunity to exercise some time before 11.

An opportunity to nap. :)

An opportunity to make baked potato soup and then chocolate lava cakes for dessert (thanks to our sweet neighbors who saw something I put on FB and delivered a much needed egg).

An opportunity to get the Valentines for school signed and labeled.

An opportunity to finalize our summer/beach lodging plans.

An opportunity to catch up on laundry.

An opportunity to learn more about my new phone.

An opportunity to catch up on light reading (a.k.a. magazines).

An opportunity to laugh at the many fun comments on Facebook. That has just lifted my spirits in a big way!

An opportunity to finish up some needed professional development hours.

An opportunity to organize and simplify our belongings.

I know there are many more opportunities, but those were just a few of today's. I wonder what kind of opportunities tomorrow will hold...

Reba