Snow Day!!!

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!!! I LOVE SNOW!!! :) Snow days are some of my favorite days in the whole world. You know how hearing a song can bring back memories? Or a certain smell of cologne or perfume or a candle can take you back to a time? Well, that is what snow days do for me. You see when I was a little girl, we went all out on snow days! I remember when they would call for snow I could barley sleep at night. I would go to sleep just to wake up an hour or two later to jump up and look out the window to see if it had started yet! We lived beside an old mill building and the road beside my house used to be rail road tracks, so there was an old loading dock attached to the old mill building. I would go out there when it was mostly ice and run and slide down the ramp on my knees and "skate" around on it! That was for the wussy snows.. the BIG snows however we would go all out! My cousins who lived up the road from us would break out the four wheelers and we would hook up water tubes to the back of them and go down to the park and do doughnuts in the ball field! One time I was riding it and did a face plan in the snow... it broke my sun glasses! One day when we were out having fun with the four wheeler an old neighbor across the street called the cops on us. My cousin hid the four wheeler and then went out to talk to the cops to tell them that they went "that way!" lol we had so much fun! Another time we tied together maybe 5 or 6 sleds all in a row and pulled them down the road on the four wheeler. I was too scared to sled so I rode on the back and made sure no one fell off! My other set of cousins lived waaay up on big hill. Their driveway was gravel and they would go out the night after it snowed and pack the driveway down with snow as much as they could so it would freeze over night. The next morning we would walk up to their house and spend all day sledding down their hill! It was SO FUN! Then we would go in for breaks and eat doritoes and make our own cheese dip to dip the doritoes in! I'll even give you the recipe...sliced cheese and milk.... lol microwave it to melt the cheese, stir it up and dip the doritoes... YUM! Just one of the reasons I've been overweight my whole life! haha Then there was the tradition after my sister Kim got married that we would go over to her house while it was snowing and stay up half the night playing monopoly or putting a puzzle together! Then she would make chocolate chip pancakes in the morning and the outside festivities would begin! All those are wonderful memories that snow days bring to me, but perhaps my most fond memory is that of my sweet neighbor Jenny Finger. See Jenny was more than my neighbor, she was my best friend. I went over to her house every day that I could, not just snow days. But snow days were extra special at her house. When the cousins were not playing with the four wheeler and we were not sledding, I would go out and play by myself. I would make snow angels, build snow men,climb trees, go on adventures in the snow. (I was a tom boy when I was young... and still am a little!) Anyway, I would go to Jenny's house to warm up during my play times. She would make the BEST snow cream in the WORLD! Somtimes she would make chocolate, sometimes vanilla. Jenny wouldnt make snow cream out of just any old snow though. It had to be the best! The kind we got yesterday, that fine powdery snow. If it had any sleet or ice in it, she really didnt want to even bother, but trust me it was worth it! I would go out and scrap off the top layer of snow off her car. You see you cant scrape too deep or you will get ice in it or dirt off the car, but the snow on top is perfect! Then we would sit around and just talk. Jenny and I talked about everything. Sometimes we would watch tv too. Her husband Rob always sat on the couch and watched TV. I miss them so much. Yesterday I had a little breakdown because my memories of Jenny are so strong on snow days. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who understands.. so he just let me cry a little. Jenny passed away about 5 years ago I think. I try not to remember her dying, only her living. She was such a great woman. She would give the shirt off her back. She loved the Lord, her husband, her family, and her neighbhors. I thank God for her. She taught me a lot about life, about growing old, about being young, about loving your husband. She loved Rob with all her heart. I spent the nigth with her every night for a long time after he died. She would always make me sleep in her bed and she would sleep on the couch where Rob slept. He couldnt get in and out of the bed well so he always slept on the couch. I would fall asleep every night to the sounds of her quietly praying and crying. I remember sometimes crying with her as I would listen. I always hoped that I would find someone to love like she loved Rob. Im so glad I did! So snow days have a special place in my heart. I know Im not the only one who has these memories, whats some of yours?