Thwarted Again!

This was not this week. Also not in Texas.

It seems that this winter, everyone and their mother is getting snow. People living in Atlanta! Florida! Even in the southern parts of Texas, Austin and Houston have gotten two snow days this winter! And yet still nothing for us in Dallas. We had Winter Storm Inga blow through this weekend. We got the freezing temperatures, howling wind, frozen water troughs at the barn - but NO SNOW.
In the lead up to the storm, there was the inevitable hype. The weatherman warned us to prepare for it - drip our faucets, cover our plants, take our pets indoors, stock up on liquor and beer. My parents live north of Dallas, and my mom believes everything she hears on the news and went out and bought extra groceries Just In Case they had a real Little House on the Prairie / Long Winter scenario where they would be bottled up inside their home for days. That evening I crouched, childlike, by our windows, waiting for any sign of precipitation at all. I refreshed #DallasWeather on Twitter constantly, anxiously scrolling for any mention of sleet, freezing rain, hail, flakes anywhere in the metroplex.
As I mentioned before, there was absolutely zero. Life went on as normal the next day and not like a wintertime miracle.
For the larger part of the morning, I stewed in my massive disappointment at having to go to work and commiserated with my coworkers. In light of what I’m sure what most of you who can work from home have experienced and maybe feeling a bit sour grape-ish, I wondered if it really would have been better to be snowed out of work but snowed in and working from home. You see, “WFH” is in large part what I did during this past Christmas break and during my preciously hoarded vacation time.
In my mind’s eye and for no particularly good reason, I always picture WFH as a leisurely late wake up - sans alarm - with hot breakfast and even hotter coffee waiting at the dining table (from god knows where). Then it’s a spell of napping / internet surfing / Netflix cruising in my pajamas until noon, occasionally glancing at my work email every hour or two and responding with Y / N. After a long lunch (again prepared by my mysterious personal chef), I somehow assume that the afternoon is going to be quiet so I WFS or Work From Shopping, repeating my behavior with my work phone while wandering about boutiques and specialty food stores with the Ladies Who Lunch. Then I “knock off early” and enjoy the stress-free evening full of frivolties, friends, and food.
In reality, WFH goes something like this: my work phone starts buzzing around 4 am since the majority of the people I deal with are across the Atlantic. I wake up at 5:30 to 20 emails which I frantically scroll through to determine which one I want to respond to first, all before putting my contacts in. I tiptoe downstairs to start taking phone calls at 7 am and DO stay in my pajamas until noon because I haven’t gotten off the phone until then. Bryan is confined to the upstairs part of the house because our place doesn’t have an office, and he’s trying to stay quiet during my conference calls. Then it’s a quick lunch of chips or raw vegetables or cold leftovers since I remember I haven’t eaten and then begin going through all the emails that I’ve been missing since I’ve been on the phone. The majority of the afternoon is spent responding to those emails / phone buzzes / bothering other people who are probably WFH during their break as well. And that’s all - that’s the day.
So maybe it wasn’t so bad that we missed a snow day after all. At least I wasn’t taunted by the promise of a beautiful day outside, full of potential and fancy-free. Tell me, is your snow day schedule or WFH schedule like the one in my imagination or in reality?


Comments

  1. oh man i live for WFH home days! I'm glad I don't have a work phone, ha!

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  2. My WFH schedule is definitely my favorite and I've really fallen into a rhythm. I wake up at 8 with my silent fitbit alarm which is awesome. I read emails on my phone while I make coffee and then get to work. I take a breakfast break an hour-1.5 hours later. I have started making hot breakfast (toast and an over easy egg), though when T was working from home I'd usually make a more elaborate hot breakfast that we'd both sit down to. Now I take all my meals at my desk like I did when I went into an office. I get so much more done in the first 4 hours of the day WFH than I used to in the office.

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  3. My WFH experiences are just like yours. I actually prefer working at the office instead. What a sad reality. Whew! I WFH fairly often, but never officially...like you it's usually on a vacation day or weekend. I can't officially WFH because I didn't sign a teleworking agreement. The wonderful part of that is I can't WFH when the office closes due to bad weather. When I have a snow day, it's a real snow day, no work (except the little bit I do unofficially because I can't help myself). It's mostly snow, hot drinks and binge watching something. And naps.

    Now I really want it to snow!

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    1. I had to click on "Publish" three times. Might be my browser.

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    2. PS - That girl in the snow cave is ridiculously cute! And looks really happy. She must like the snow as much as you.

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  4. Oh my gosh! Your WFH just reminded me of my sis-in-law. She doesn't like it because she finds she's busier and tends to forget to take breaks coz there's no one to remind her:) And we'll give you some of our snow here if you like:D

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  5. You wake up at 5.30... We have to talk. Stocking up on liquor and beer is always sound advice. In summer, too :)

    Great picture

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  6. I've just told my mum that whoever doesn't believe in Climate Change after the tumultuous weather patterns we've witnessed over the past 6 months is truly nuts. Anyway, love to see you're having some fun in the snow :)

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  7. I wish we had a WFH option! Both my husband (ER RN) and myself (ICU vet tech) are expected to show up to work no matter how much snow we get. I loooooove snow...as long as I can stay home to (safely!) enjoy it. 😊

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  8. haha.. my husband WFH a few days out of the month and you almost nailed it. He does get a few extra minutes of sleep and his breakfast is warm because I am making it for him. He takes care of the boys morning routines for me in exchange. And then once breakfast is over the facade ends and I need to tip toe around the house whenever he is on the phone. On phone heavy days I spend most of it shushing the boys to keep it down until my head hurts. Oh those sneaking WFH days.

    Sorry you didn't get snow though..

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  9. I'm so sorry you didn't get any snow! You need to move north.

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  10. I like your imaginary WFH day! :P Because Angel worked in a hospital, even when we were in Michigan, there was no such thing as a snow day for him because medical staff are required to come in, even in the worst weather, they're still needed! So I hated blizzard days because it was 27 miles from home to work and I didn't like that he had to be out on the roads in those conditions! Also, I went to a college that didn't believe in snow days, for some reason, so even when every other college was closed, we still had classes. I always still went, except for the day that my car literally got stuck in drifts in my driveway and I couldn't move it...I just went back inside the house. I've heard that since I graduated, my school has relaxed their snow day policy and now occasionally have snow days like normal schools but it's a bit too late I think...

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