Since today is a “snow day”, I’m taking advantage of the time to get ready for my upcoming trip.  I’ve got a big pile of clothes and such on my bed, and as soon as the laundry is done, will probably finish packing the clothes portion of the suitcase.  I am a little early but the next two days will be quite hectic.   I’ve also got a bunch of paperwork/bookkeeping stuff to get done (private teaching creates quite a bit of record-keeping!)

We were going to have a rehearsal for the upcoming Elegant Ensembles concert this afternoon but decided to postpone it until tomorrow afternoon, which makes tomorrow very hectic.  Oh well!  It’s so hard to tell with weather.  On the one hand, I always feel like a giant wuss when I want to just stay at home and not drive around, as there are ALWAYS people who will go out in whatever weather.  On the other hand, my brain says, why?  After all, (I know I said this before, but I really mean it) whatever I am doing is hardly worth risking my life, or, more practically, risking my car insurance deductible.  Sure, I could probably get to Chesterfield tonight.  But my chances of a minor accident are significantly higher than usual, as well as my chances of slipping in the parking lot.  I also find that parents of young children (who I was going to meet in Chesterfield) are usually very hesitant to take the kids out and about in bad weather, so that works out well.  I don’t blame them—one adult is one thing (not withstanding the fender bender risk) but imagine a small accident with two small children…potentially waiting for an hour or more in the cold by the side of the road…and for what?  A violin lesson?  That could be made up another time?  (It’s not as if we get snow all the time, like in Cleveland!)

Maybe it’s my southern roots, or maybe it’s due to a couple of accidents (and really bizarre things like my car sliding down a driveway and hitting a garage door), or a couple of near accidents (doing a 360 on the highway and ending up facing into oncoming traffic)…but the older I get, the more hesitant I am to risk driving in bad weather.  Call me chicken, I’m okay with it.

*steps off of soapbox*

Honestly I just love surprise days off.  Whether they come in the form of a snow day or a sick day, I still love it (yes, even when I am barely alive, lying on the couch covered in kleenex, the day off part still pleases me).  Though I still feel guilty…did I make the right decision?  Should I have gone in?  Maybe pink eye isn’t that contagious?  Maybe the sheet of ice on my road isn’t a widespread thing?  (Then again, I generally feel guilty…it comes with the territory for being fairly high-strung.)

Readers:  How do you feel about snow and sick days?  Are you a “go into work/normal activities at any cost” sort of person or more of an “eh, let’s take it easy, nobody’s going to die if I stay home” person?