Just as I was about to head out the door and try and catch another bus, which I just noticed went by only 5 minutes late, I got an IM from Karla saying all classes at UIUC had been cancelled!
I verified it on the University website and I IM’d another friend who had made it in to work. She said they were about to be sent home, probably. Unsure whether we will get paid for any or all of the day, but at this point, “Whatever!”
Wishes do sometimes come true! I got my wish for a February storm (preferably not ice) and it is even big enough to close campus; well after most anything else was closed.
I see I just got a comment from Liz on my previous post about winter weather ruining her March birthdays so maybe I should explain.
I am not actually a fan of winter either. I grew up in the north suburbs of St. Louis County (MO) until the summer of my 15th year and then lived in the far, far, far west ‘burbs of Chicago until the day after I turned 19 and went into the Army.
As a kid, winter was OK sometimes but I could take it or leave it. The Army was the real problem. It spent 20 years out in the winter weather, standing around for 20-40 minutes at a time for no sane reason (formations), practice “camping”, shoveling so a walkway could become icy death when it was more sensible to slog through the 2-3 inches of snow, etc. In other words, lots of time in the winter weather on anything but my own terms. I came to despise winter.
I also do not snow ski in any form, I do not snowmobile, ice fish, or anything else outdoorsy that needs winter conditions.
But after “retiring” from the Army in 1998, returning to the Midwest and trying to piece my life together as I slowly and painfully began to come out an immensely deep depression and somewhere along the time I started the concept of Birthday Month to help me focus on more positive things, I also realized that I am a child of the American Midwest who happened to have a birthday in February. The middle of winter! So I learned to convince myself that winter—at least February winter—really isn’t so bad. I decided to actually like whatever the winter weather gods of February threw at me; sometimes it manifests itself only in bare toleration, but at least I don’t stress about it. I even decided that it was patently unfair if we did not get a major February storm.
Thus began my wish each February for a major winter storm in celebration of Birthday Month. While not exactly good at it usually, I guess this is an example of “making lemonade.”
8 responses so far ↓
1 Jenica // Feb 13, 2007 at 10:42 am
I don’t like being cold, and I don’t like changing shoes four times a day, and I don’t like hats, and I don’t like how my car drives when it’s cold.
But I DO like not having bugs the size of my hand, or poisonous snakes. I DO like the changing of the seasons. I DO like comfortable summers and beautiful springs and autumns.
So I’ll take winter, and I won’t whine too much. Because the good of my climate outweighs the bad, if you can just look at it right.
Happy Birthday Month, and Happy Snow Day!
2 Jenn // Feb 13, 2007 at 11:11 am
The ting I always remind myself when the weather is like this is that because of the latitude at which we live, there are very few parasites that live off of humans.
Yay for no burrowing feet worms in the Midwest!
3 Mark // Feb 13, 2007 at 11:24 am
Jenica, I do NOT like being cold–way too skinny for that crap–nor changing shoes often, nor hats (Army influence again) and I don’t even try to drive my cheap ass little car in this stuff; so I am fully with you in this.
I also like changing seasons; 4 of them. As I sort of said, I honestly don’t care much for winter. But I have managed to hoodwink myself into believing that it is all OK for February.
I really am not very good at “lying” to myself but for once have more or less succeeded so I take (an odd) pride in it. I have to admit that just a few days ago I was none too happy about the 2nd week of bitter cold. What’s a (skinny) boy to do?
And yes, Jenn, yay to few human parasites!
4 Christina Pikas // Feb 13, 2007 at 11:48 am
I was mostly in Florida and south Georgia with deployments to the Caribbean and the Gulf. I was so overjoyed to get back to Maryland from the Gulf. It’s so green here and I love fall. I love big sweaters — but people always jack the heat up so I can only wear them at home. Maryland is a part of me and my classes were canceled today, too!
5 Mark // Feb 13, 2007 at 11:58 am
Hi Christina! What parts of Maryland I have seen are pretty nice. I even wish I was going to Baltimore for ACRL, but I need to save my non-existent conference and travel $$ for others things. I’ve enjoyed Baltimore the few times I’ve been there. Mostly day trips, but I did go for a couple days to a conference of the American College of Sports Medicine back in the day. It was even paid for by the Army since I was a Master Fitness Trainer.
Did I ever mention to you that I am a matriculated U of Md student? Sure enough, just one of the seven or so schools I have matriculated into thanks to the Army. I have a really nice University of Maryland Overseas Division hooded sweatshirt. It is so nice and warm that I can only wear it 2-3 days per winter. I wore it a week or so ago during the bitter cold.
And I definitely agree about others turning the heat up. What is the point of wearing nice warm clothes if you are going to jack up the heat?
6 ranger // Feb 13, 2007 at 1:30 pm
February is also my birthday month. Happy Birthday Month, co-Februarians! I grew up in the mid-west as well and hated the fact that I couldn’t count on snow (for sledding) or nice weather (for just about anything else) so I took to having a half-birthday celebration in August.
Now that I live in Texas, I get to do things like play mini-golf and camp on my birthday. I wouldn’t trade that for “four full seasons”.
7 Mark // Feb 13, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Poser! But Happy Birthday Month anyway, my friend!
So what *did* you decide on? Was it the naked gocarting? I might actually make a trip to Texas for Birthday Month fun like that.
8 Enquiring minds … could probably care less // Feb 20, 2007 at 7:15 pm
[...] I will lead discussion at Metadata Roundtable (rescheduled due to the snow last week) on the proposed revisions to the DCMI Element set [...]