Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The Perfect Snow Day

It's as if a higher power knew that I needed an extra day to get things done. Usually I welcome snow days because they're a little treat, a day off, a time to sit on the couch and stay warm. Yesterday I prayed for a snow day because I needed the time to get caught up. And I'm so glad!

This weekend, Sylvain and I had big plans. We had a room reserved at the Hendrick's Beal House in Madison, IN, courtesy of the in-laws.




It was the most beautiful Bed and Breakfast I've EVER seen and we put off all work and school related activities so we could spend some quality time together on the weekend before Valentine's Day. We arrived Saturday afternoon and spent some time with Brigitte and Mike, who live in Madison. We enjoyed the parlor piano with wine and cheese at the B&B before going out to dinner at the Key West Shrimp House. After dinner we went straight back to the room for a little.....basketball. That's right folks, we watched the UofL game while we snuggled and I loved every second of it! I fell asleep so early and I woke up so late, it was almost sinful how much sleep we got this weekend. Aaahhhh.

On Sunday we originally wanted to go hiking at Clifty Falls, but guess what? It was FREEZING outside. So, we just drove through the park, got out at the lookout spot for a whopping five minutes until we couldn't feel our ears anymore, then hopped back in the car and headed back to town. We stopped at the visitor center to find out if there was anything else to do in town, preferrably something inside and warm. Wouldn't you know, Madison has three beautiful wineries that offer tastings on Sundays! We toured all three of them and left with four bottles of wonderful Indiana wine. At the Lanthier Winery we enjoyed some red wine and chocolates. Next we visited the Thomas Family Winery which is a cozy little place with good music and good cheese. Finally we drove out of town to see the Madison Vineyards before heading back home to Kentucky. We tried to see one more, the Smith-Berry Winery in Kentucky (as in Wendell Berry, the KY poet - I think I was secretly hoping to meet him there), but alas, they were closed.

We took our time driving home, taking all of the rural routes and backroads. Sylvain took me to this quaint little restaraunt in Smithfield called "Our Best." The cornbread was amazing and since we were having so much fun, I bought a Christmas ornament! I usually reserve that kind of purchase for big vacations, but this weekend really felt like a vacation, so I thought it was more than appropriate.

When we got home, we weren't quite ready to come back to the real world, so we rented one of the best movies I've ever seen: Paris Je T'aime. Maybe it's because my husband is French, maybe it's because it was the weekend before Valentine's Day, or maybe it was because we just spent the most wonderful weekend together, but on Sunday night, when we fell asleep, I'd never felt so lucky. It was truly a wonderful feeling!

Then came Monday morning.

Sylvain left at 5:30 in the morning and by the time I got to school I missed him. Then I saw the pile of work I left on my desk, made a list of all the things I had to do before our grade level meeting at 9:30, my class Monday night, my class Tuesday night, and the end of the week. I had a mild panic attack while I prioritized all of those things and took a deep breath while I accepted the fact that a wonderful weekend meant that I wasn't going to be able to get everything done, and that was OKAY.

Then came a snow day.

A little voice said, "There you go, Rach. A whole extra day to get yourself caught up. Enjoy!" And I did. Everything's done, and I even have time to post on my blog!

2 comments:

Meredith said...

I am so glad that you had a mini-break - y'all deserved it!

Also - I am a huge Wendell Berry fan, although it's been awhile since I have read any of his work. Let's go to his winery this summer!

Laura said...

Yay for snow days! I'm glad you had such a good weekend AND got some bonus days to catch up on your work.
Hopefully we can get together this weekend *fingers crossed*!