Surviving Snowmageddon

Well, it’s here…Snowmageddon…or Sneauxmageddon as we call it down here. Temperatures have dropped below freezing, and the wind is blowing. Sleet, and even a little snow if you squint just right, have begun to fall. It is cold for South Louisiana, no doubt, and it has gotten messy enough that I don’t want to be on the roads. Still, the reaction to our winter storm had been pretty comical.

The decision to cancel school for both today and tomorrow was made yesterday while temperatures were in the mid 60s. It was the right decision, as no one wants to see her child get on a bus with no seatbelts in questionable weather or watch her teenager back out of the driveway with the prospect of icy roads ahead. Nevertheless,  at the time, it seemed funny. Of course, my two teenagers were thrilled and are currently enjoying a lazy snow day. And certainly no one heard me complaining about sleeping past 4:30 a.m. (Yes, the gym chose to close, too.)

Strictly for entertainment purposes, I have spent much of my day watching the news. While they are now giddily reporting some road closures and a minor accident, prior to the past few hours, reporters were working hard to create some news. Big events on the Northshore included the closing of Barnes and Noble, The Loft, and (gasp!) Starbucks! If you don’t have a good book, a cute skirt, or some overpriced coffee, well, I hate to break it to you, but you’re screwed. Most entertaining for me, I think, has been the tweet the weather person part of the news, a fun little addition where viewers can get instant answers to their weather-related questions. My favorite exchange so far… “Question – If I haven’t already brought a plant in, is it too late? Answer – No, but you should really look at your plant first and see if it’s already dead.” I keep trying to come up with an equally awesome tweet so I can get my 15 seconds of fame, but I’m just not sure how to top that.

I often wonder what our friends up north think when we panic over our winter “storms.” I hope they know that most of us realize we really don’t have it that bad here. Sure we’re probably overreacting a bit. We just get a little excited at the prospect of any white stuff falling from the sky. We’re great in a hurricane, though!

I should probably go now. I just heard them playing the “Breaking News” music. Please, please, please, don’t tell me The Gap is closed…