Building A Tower Of Soup

This snow day was quite productive. I arose at 5:50 a.m. thanks to Misery Loves Company H, who can not seem to wake himself and dress for work without an attentive audience.

After three loads of laundry, the local news, one episode of Malcolm in the Middle, and half of He Got Game...I decreed that I deserved a nap, and snuggled down in the La-Z-Boy with Mabel's gift blankie adorned with my name. (The monks in the caves of the hills of the Ozarks must have called a moratorium on roll-baking for a few weeks to construct such a special gift for Mrs. Hillbilly Mom. Right, Mabel?)

With a morning nap under my belt, I set about peeling carrots and potatoes to brew a big pot of vegetable beef soup to provide sustenance for 3/4 of the Hillbilly family. The Pony does not eat soup, unless it is Ramen noodles. I tossed in some green beans and diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and a packet of soup mix and some Worcestershire sauce and some Save A Lot steak sauce and some Heinz 57 for a little tang. Oh, and three pounds of ground beef so that Carnivore H would be satisfied when he built himself a leaning tower of soup this evening. A side of garlic Texas toast, and my meal planning was complete.

Around 3:30, disturbing my Jeopardy-watching frenzy, the #1 son began reporting on each new school that showed up on the cancellations. Like we don't get three phone calls to tell us if we're out. The Pony and I could barely yell out our answers for #1 crowing about all the schools that surround Newmentia being canceled for Wednesday. I figured that we would join them. We're not one to set a precedent. We go with the flow. It was not official until 5:00, when #1 noticed a flurry of FaceBook postings about our cancellation, then saw it on the news.

Then I got my human phone call for the phone tree. The next two limbs would not pick up, so I had to call Stuart my own self. He's at the bottom of the trunk. Of course he already knew, but had I not made that call, he would have thrown himself a pity party at the lunch table about nobody calling him.

Moments later, the land line rang with the automated message from #1's school, then the cell phone with the message from The Pony's school, and then it was official.

SNOW DAY for Wednesday!

We have about 3 inches on the ground here. Arctic Explorer H reported that the county roads are treacherous, that the interstate was snow-covered this morning, and that he saw 5 cars off the road on his 30-mile drive to work. But he chugged along just fine in his $1000 Caravan with the new studded snow tires. I can't imagine much improvement tomorrow, because the temps are going down to zero tonight, and the high will be in the teens. #1 is itching to go to the post office for his Nook-protector that came in Monday afternoon. I do not want him driving in these conditions, so we might venture out if he minds his Ps & Qs.

That stands for Pints and Quarts, you know. As in a drunk behaving himself. I learned it at a Trivia match, so it must be true.