Snow Angels

Yesterday was my birthday (Insert birthday song here. Thank you!). I had a really good day. Several birthday greetings, a few people singing silly songs to me and a few cards from co-workers that were unexpected. It was just nice to be remembered. There was nothing extraordinary about it, it was just a really good day. It gave me joy in my arms.

It's rather humbling with each year to see the age meter rise. I don't feel as old as the numbers would suggest. For a long time, I've said I feel about 28 years old. Not a teenager, but not old, either. Possessing a sense of maturity, but not too old for fun. More frequently lately, I feel a bit closer to my actual age. This usually happens when I find out I'm actually older than individuals I thought were older than me. That's always a shocker and provides a dose of reality. This has been occurring since I was about 35 y.o. I just feel young and it creates a pause in me when it happens. Then it makes me laugh because I think how silly it is for me to forget I'm getting older. I hope I always feel young. I don't want to be an old fluff (I hate the f.a.r.t. word) who laments and forgets to find the joy in a moment. I've been around too many people like that. Don't like being around people like that.

There are other moments that I reclaim my childhood and go all silly and goofy. Yesterday was one of those days. A while ago, one of our secretaries and I were talking about wanting to make snow angels. I usually do this at least once a year, but last year passed without me doing it. Rita said we'd have to wait for a snowy day and take the opportunity together. So yesterday morning as the snow was falling and several inches were predicted, Rita said, "Hey, Mrs. D-M, today's the day for snow angels!" I immediately got in touch with my inner child. The thought of this activity gave me butterflies. I thought about it as I walked to the cafeteria and I thought about it as I walked back to the office. I thought about how we could make it an activity that would include more people. My inner child thought we should put a halt to this thing called school and get everyone outside making snow angels. But, um, no. That wasn't going to happen. Can you imagine, though, what it would be like for 1500 middle school students and their teachers to go out and make snow angels? We could laugh and get silly and goofy. Heaven forbid that middle school students would get silly and goofy. For some, that would be a fate worse than death. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the day would be utter chaos. So, alas, my imaginings were altered to a bit more reality.

Rita and I did have jobs and we did have work to do, so we waited. BUT, as soon as the buses hit the road and the school had pretty much emptied out, we made an announcement over the loudspeaker (with the principal's permission, of course). Rita got on the horn and said, "If anyone would like to join Mrs. H and Mrs. D-M outside to make snow angels and to celebrate Mrs. D-M's birthday, meet us in the courtyard in five minutes." We were joined by one teacher and five students. None of the students had coats, of course. Who wears a coat in the winter when it's snowing outside? Not a lot of middle schoolers, I'll tell ya. But Rita, Mrs. S and I were bundled to the hilt. Out the courtyard doors we went. Rita and I had to rein in the students because they were about to traipse all over the fresh fallen snow. You gotta do snow angels on virgin snow, dontcha know? Rita and I had planned just the right spot. There is a little bit of a hill in the courtyard where trees and flowers are planted. We chose the side of the hill so our angels could be seen from the office windows. We lined up a few feet apart, conferred on our strategy, then fell back on the snow. Swish, swish, swish, we spread our arms and legs back and forth. Laughter and silliness abounded. Carefully helping each other up so as not to make a mess, we stood back and observed our creations. We deemed them perfect, thank you very much.

As we headed back into the building, one student found a speaker that had fallen off the roof of the building. She quickly turned it into a bucket for scooping snow. I just caught the glimmer in her eye when a speaker full of snow caught me in the face. Um, so I chased her. Unfortunately, she had the upper hand, being much quicker than I and wearing proper foot attire. My prissy little red shoe boots with the smooth bottoms could not grip the slippery snow. I slipped and slid in my pursuit almost to no avail. RITA HAD THE KEYS. The students had to get past us to get back into the building. It's not true what they say, you know. Revenge does taste sweet. (insert evil laugh here).

The evening was low-key. Jim and I went to dinner at a new restaurant in town. I received a lovely gift from my spousal unit. We were home by 8:30 pm. Joy in my arms.

I said it wasn't an extraordinary day, but I was wrong.

jdm