And if you are at all familiar with New England, you know that the first big snowstorm means widespread panic! speculation! runs on bread and milk! lines at the gas station! sold-out shovels-salt-scrapers! and school cancellation! Oh, and also storm coverage, all day long on every television channel! (Because now that you are staying home all day, looking out the window at the snow, the first thing you want to do is also watch the snow coming down on t.v. stations. Look! It's also snowing in Dracut and Marlborough and Salem. What about Brookline? Yup, there too.) You would think that we hearty, crusty New Englanders had never seen snow before.

Yes, the kids were sent home early from school because of the pending, predicted snow storm (and lucky for them, it really did snow or I would have stormed the school offices myself). Goodbye, lovely day date with Greg.

However.

On the bright side, we are finally finishing decorating the tree, reading books curled up on the sofas, making cookies, grading papers (I'm setting a 6-per-day quota to save myself from insanity), thinking up our Christmas card, shopping online, and just being cozy and homey. It's a gift of a day, merry and white.

Updated to add...