Well, it’s just the beginning of February, and here I am snowed in again.  This is the second no-school-snow-day of this week, and according to the rodent in Pennsylvania, we still have six more weeks of winter to go.  Don’t get me wrong, I love winter and I love snow.  It’s so pretty to look at and photograph; it’s so fun to play in and ski in; it’s all good because it doesn’t last more than a few months.  The problem is I’m bored.  When we were stuck home two days ago, I did all the laundry, straightened up some closets, rearranged some cabinets.  By ten o’clock this morning I had already done more of that, and now the house is in pretty good shape.  I have some phone calls still to make, but other than that, I’m about ready to jump out of my skin. 

I mean, how much time can I spend responding to Facebook messages  or reading one of the four novels I am in the middle of?  How many batches of chili and cookies can I make (and try not to eat)?   How many blog entries can I write??  I am fortunate to live in a home large enough to spend time in lots of different rooms, so “stir crazy” does not feel like an appropriate term. I think of people in small apartments on the twelfth floor when I think of stir crazy.   But spending all day in pajamas (because, after all, why get dressed?  No one is going to come over and I’m not going anywhere), looking out the windows, does feel a bit claustrophobic.  I am pretty sure this feeling is all in my mind.  Many people I know love to spend all day in pajamas reading books or watching movies.  But I get to feeling like ants in my pants; so maybe it is a physical thing for me as well.

I know what I need: a plan.  I need to think through this day the way I think about the days when I go to work.  On those days, I am pretty tightly scheduled from the second I wake up to the minute I lay back down late at night.  Very little down time for this girl on most days, and I love it.  The only usual exception to this is Sunday, and because it is an exception, I really enjoy it.  But this week, I had two Sundays in a row, then a Monday and now another Sunday.  Too many Sundays spoil this cook’s broth; or something like that.  Even in the summer, when I am not working, I have a plan for each day. I guess it is because these are unexpected days off that I am struggling.  I know, many of you are thinking, boo hoo poor thing has another day off.  I feel for you if you had to go out and brave these elements and maybe spend hours getting to work while I sit home moaning and groaning.  If I could trade places with you, I believe I would.  I’m just that nutty, I guess. (And it goes almost without saying that everyone wishes she/he was a teacher on snow days and holidays…not so much during the school year).

So, here’s the plan, which I am fleshing out as I write:

 1) Finish and post this blog…

2) Take a shower and get dressed;  it might fake me out that I might actually be able to get out and go somewhere….

3) Make all those phone calls that I mentioned…

4) Make chili and cookies (and try not to eat them) …

5) Shovel off the back patio if the ice is not too thick

6) Create some new lessons and activities and put them on teacherspayteachers.com

7) Work on my photography projects that I am trying to find a way to sell

8) Do my daily at-home workout of planks and squats

That all should take me until early afternoon and maybe by then, I can at least take a walk or go to the store.   Okay, good, now I feel better.  Off I go!