Snow day!!!

Well, the weather report said it would be cold, but snow?? In Rome? We woke up to a bunch of white stuff on the ground. For a while in the morning it was still falling pretty hard. Here are some pictures from our window at home:

 

 

 

I actually heard the Sorelle below yelling when they woke up and looked out the window. Apparently it snowed here in 2012, but before that it had been 36 years. Schools were cancelled, and only some of the buses were running. Lots of parents in our apartment complex took their kids, even toddlers, out to play in the snow, since it might not happen again during their childhood. After a brief consultation with Ugo, we decided to cancel/close the Institute for the day, letting everyone know via WhatsApp.

There were a lot of fun exchanges among the GANS on WhatsApp all day. Here's a nice one my wife started with Matteo, who is leaving for Calgary on his mission in a couple of months:

Let me translate for you:
   Dee: "Rome is giving you a welcome to Canada, Matteo!"
   Matteo: "When the pre-field training is too realistic "
   Dee: "You're awesome!"
   Claudia (who served her mission in Toronto): "Ha ha, Matteo,
      Canadians just wash their armpits with this kind of snow ...
      you have no idea what is waiting for you"
A few kids posted photos of the snow, so I suggested we hold an online snow photo contest, with Matteo and Claudia as judges. A whole flurry of very lovely photos followed, with the winner perhaps being Jomar, as he slept in.

Rome temple construction site in the snow

Dee went out to enjoy the snow a bit. Being from Southern California, it's pretty rare for her to see it. Her feet got wet and cold, but she enjoyed it.

So, with an unexpected snow day at home, I decided that it was an excellent opportunity to do my income taxes. During the year I accumulate/scan all the documents as they come in, so then I just have to gather them all together and email everything off to Norm, our CPA in Los Angeles, after filling in his online forms. Norm has been doing our taxes for over 30 years, ever since they became too complex for me to figure out. I've only met him a few times in person, but he's great. My wife's whole family now uses him. I've never been audited, so it's money very well spent. It took me a couple of hours, and it is really nice to get that behind me. 

By early afternoon the snow had stopped and the sun came out, starting to melt the snow, though there was still plenty in the shade.

 

Dee writes:
I wanted to go outdoors and walk a bit, so I went down to Conad to get a few things, and enjoyed seeing the snow up close.  It was definitely button-your-coat-and-wear-gloves weather. The sidewalk was mostly cleared off, and snow was falling out of the trees. It was beautiful! I was very careful on the snowy parts, to be sure I didn't slip and fall. The store was nearly out of  bread, so apparently there was a bit of a run in the morning, or perhaps some of the bakers couldn't get to work. They had some nice rolls left so I brought those home to enjoy. One type was braided from white dough, soft and delicious. I also got a couple of whole wheat ones that were also really tasty.

All day the temperature hovered just around freezing or a bit below. Overnight it's supposed to get down below 20 F, so we'll see how much ice there is in the morning. 

We had several things planned in the morning that got cancelled due to the snow. Anziano Knies had wanted help with his computer in the office; once the sun came out, I asked if I could come over. The car was covered with about 5 inches of snow, which took a while to brush off with the snow scraper we presciently bought a couple of months ago (thinking ice at the time, not snow). The roads were fairly dry and it wasn't scary to drive. I was able to fix a couple of things on his computer and leave in under an hour.

 

Even though we had officially closed the Institute, Sheyla decided to go in and hold the FHE anyway. She is a member of the council and thus has keys. By the time we found out, it was a bit late for us to head in, but it's wonderful they wanted to meet on their own. 

Perhaps we and Ugo acted too quickly in cancelling for the day, but we are happy for the time at home to work on things for the coming week. In the evening I started writing the GANS campus history for 2018, covering the first two months. My plan is to update it each month so that it won't be a huge effort at the end of the year. 

My wife totaled up two months worth of food receipts to turn in. Our budget is quite tiny for the number of kids and meals involved, so we always go over somewhat, despite trying to shop frugally. It's not a huge problem for us to cover the difference, as the numbers aren't big in an absolute sense. However, we want to make sure Ugo and the stakes are aware; otherwise it might be a big problem for whatever couple replaces us in a year. The number of kids coming to the Institute seems to be increasing, which is a wonderful problem to have.