When the phone rings...

at 6am, it's never a good sign. In the time it takes to roll over and reach for the phone to check the Caller ID, all the possible scenarios for bad news are running through your head. Something has obviously happened during the night and someone is calling to tell you what has happened, and the fact that they are calling at this unseemly hour can never mean anything good.

This morning when it happened, my mind starts racing through all the possiblities, until our caller ID announces a call from Charlotte Mecklenburg. "Great," I mutter, "they are calling to warn me of some psycho serial killer on the loose in my area." I answer and it is an automated call from the school district announcing that schools are closed for the day due to inclement weather. Huh? What has happened during the night that has school cancelled? I run downstairs where Marc is making Andrew's breakfast and announce that schools are closed, he is just as dumbfounded as I am, we rush to the front windows to look outside and see what has caused this rash decision for Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. I must warn you, what you see may shock you, surely we don't get this kind of weather here in Charlotte. Well, evidently we do, and it causes everyone to shut down and panic, oh the worries I have..."I haven't even been to the store to get bread and milk," I think. Oh wait, I did that Monday night, so we should be safe until the storm passes over us. Phew, that was a close one. So please don't worry about us, but if we call you for rations, please understand our situation and send them as soon as possible. Below is the view from our front door.