Well it has been a very unusual few days. Saturday afternoon we took Ben to the airport. He was off to Manchester, UK to meet with some other cardiology gurus about some studies that they are working on. I sent the camera with him and requested he take a few pictures.
This is a picture of Ben talking to me on the phone in front of the Manchester city hall. The next shows the view from his hotel in downtown Manchester.
As fun as it sounds to travel the world and visit the UK, Ben reminds me that he was only there for 48 hours and was in meetings or sleeping for at least half of that time ... so he didn't really get to out too much. The highlight of the trip was going to a pub to watch the local team (Manchester United) play in the Carling Cup Final, which they won in a penalty shoot-out. He was so excited to order some old English "fish 'n chips", but the pub was out of fish (during the Cup Finals no less!!!! - Ben's comment). The highlight of the trip for the rest of us was eating the Cadbury's chocolate that he brought home!
Meanwhile . . . back at the ranch . . . the kids and I are going through our normal (as normal as we can be without Dad) weekend activities. After church we go out to the car and drive home in rain/hail. We change out of our church attire and by the time we sit down to dinner it is snowing outside . . . sticking to the ground and everything! It continues to snow throughout the night and we had about eight inches by morning.
SCHOOL WAS CANCELED!!!! Isn't that an awesome day for any kid. It continued to snow a little more that morning and we ended up with about ten inches total. We spent the day sledding in the backyard, having snowball fights, playing with trains/dress-ups in the tippy-top, making pancakes, etc. It was a really fun day.
The interesting part, coming from Utah, is when this happened in my childhood we always hoped school would be canceled . . . but it never was. But here in Richmond (where they only get a dusting each year) they don't really have the resources to deal with a big snowfall. There were no snowplows to be seen. The city basically shuts down.
The pandemonium continued with school canceled on Tuesday. More games and frivolity. The snowplow finally got to our street around noon, which we were grateful for because we had to go get Ben from the airport that evening. We were glad they let his plane land.
School was once again canceled on Wednesday (which to me was just craziness, but I guess there was still some power outages in the county and they close schools by the county). And we just had the report that school will be starting two hours late tomorrow. So I guess our super fun and unexpected "weekend/week" is coming to an end. There is still some snow on the ground, but it is melting quickly. It is forecast to be 75 degrees on Saturday. Wow, this Virginia weather is something else.
SCHOOL WAS CANCELED!!!! Isn't that an awesome day for any kid. It continued to snow a little more that morning and we ended up with about ten inches total. We spent the day sledding in the backyard, having snowball fights, playing with trains/dress-ups in the tippy-top, making pancakes, etc. It was a really fun day.
The interesting part, coming from Utah, is when this happened in my childhood we always hoped school would be canceled . . . but it never was. But here in Richmond (where they only get a dusting each year) they don't really have the resources to deal with a big snowfall. There were no snowplows to be seen. The city basically shuts down.
The pandemonium continued with school canceled on Tuesday. More games and frivolity. The snowplow finally got to our street around noon, which we were grateful for because we had to go get Ben from the airport that evening. We were glad they let his plane land.
School was once again canceled on Wednesday (which to me was just craziness, but I guess there was still some power outages in the county and they close schools by the county). And we just had the report that school will be starting two hours late tomorrow. So I guess our super fun and unexpected "weekend/week" is coming to an end. There is still some snow on the ground, but it is melting quickly. It is forecast to be 75 degrees on Saturday. Wow, this Virginia weather is something else.
4 comments:
48 hours in the UK (even with meetings) is still longer than I've ever spent there, so I'm way jealous!
Your house looks so magical with all that snow all over it!
Ben is Mr. Fancy Pants world traveler. I am loving you got the snow and not us. I need warm spring weather real bad. I guess you are heading to Utah very soon. How exciting!!!
I remember in Oklahoma, someone told me how to drive in when the tires spin on snow and ice. "You just spin your tires until they cut through the snow or ice. then you are on the pavement and the car will work just fine." I'm glad you know more about driving than those people. Enjoy the snow. We had snow last night, about 5 inches on the balcony. Nothing stuck to the driveway or roads, they were too warm from the pervious days of 50+ degree weather. Now this is the type of snow to have. None to shovel, but pretty to look at!
Ben and Betsy, sounds like an eventful 48 hours indeed! But with lots of meetings and all the jet lag crammed into 48 hours, that must have taken it's toll for sure. Still, being in Manchester for a football match would be incredible!
--Scott
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