Dewvoid strikes again...

Well, Alabama Mike asked the question "Does the Dewvoid apply to Winter Advisories?" Of course it does! No snow for the Dew! I did have an icy windshield upon departure though... does that count? Friday night, though, you know, the snowy forecast day, offered a yucky rainy, slightly sleet-y precipitation event. It was dreary and cold, and it was dark, so snow wouldn't have been photographable anyway... but nothing happened. Some of the folks at the retreat heard about flurries in surrounding areas, but not in my neck of the woods. Oh well, that's the way the Dewvoid goes. Regardless of the weather though, I had a wonderful time at my scrapbooking retreat. It was great to get together with all my peachy friends and scrapbook... have a massage... be pampered... I had a terrific time!

Now, onto this morning... let me just set the stage for this one. I wake up to freezing temps outside. My thermometer reading an extremely cold 28 degrees, and the ground was covered in a thick frost, painting a wonderful looking winter wonderland setting, but it was doggone cold! Even the ant hills were covered in frost. Well, as you know, yesterday, Mini-Dew and I went to see "Annie", which is currently touring and made a stop nearby. Well, for a souvenir, she got a t-shirt, that she was able to get autographed by much of the cast, which meant she wanted to wear that to school today. Since the weather was forecast to warm up considerably, I didn't worry too much about it, and USUALLY, she doesn't sit out at her bus stop too long, so I wasn't worried too much about the cold. Of course, this morning had to be the exception... We walked outside the same time that we always do to await the arrival of her bus, which normally comes moments after the middle/high school bus... well, that bus came and went, and there was no sign of her school bus. I waited and waited and waited... 15 minutes passed, still no bus, so I called the bus barn (that's what we call it down here), to find out what happened to the bus, and why it was so far off schedule. Apparently, the substitute bus driver backed into a tree. What?! So, they had to get a new bus out there, but it would be there soon, and the school was aware that the children would be delayed. Apparently, I was too tired or something to react properly to that comment because I loaded my child on the bus that finally arrived about 25 minutes late. Well, the more I thought about the situation, the more it concerned me, so I called the bus barn back and asked some questions... According to the receptionist, before picking up any kids, while the driver was turning around since he had missed his road in the dark because he was having trouble seeing, he hit the tree backing up. Since he hit the tree, they had to bring him a new bus... so the bus was 25 minutes late. Apparently, their policy is that they don't drug test the drivers unless there are kids on board!!! WHAT?! If it happens before the kids are on board, it's ok?! Let's load them up anyway?! Are they kidding me?! Needless to say, I am talking to the board of education now, lodging a formal complaint. Good grief! On top of all that, my child was out there in a short sleeve shirt under her winter coat (a south Georgia winter coat, which is not the same as a real "winter coat") for an extra 25 minutes, in the freezing cold, to then board the bus with a driver who drove into a TREE earlier that morning... Do I get mother of the year award or what?!

On the plus side, I received an autographed photograph of Jim Cantore, my favorite on-air meteorologist/storm tracker for TWC. What? He’s cool. Special thanks to my friend Teresa for all her hard work to make that happen. I really appreciate it, and it was nice, for a change to open a FedEx package that didn’t just contain more work for me to do.

Peggy brought my attention to the 4-5 day outlook published by the SPC... well, she said the 7 day on Friday, but I am just now checking email. Thanks, Peg! Looks like some action coming up to the west... on Thursday (of course, I can't do anything on Thursdays). If it does last well into Friday, I might be able to talk bf into a chase. smile.

I'd better get cracking.

Toodles,
~Dewdrop