Meanwhile in Texoma........

[Volkonski]

Our daughter was offered a job at a nonprofit NGO that supports children in the CPS system. Today she took that job and will leave teaching after 17 years. It means a lower salary but a better work-life balance. The amount of time spent on dealing with non-teaching activities had just become too much.

She spent 4 days of the recent winter break at the school dealing with the aftermath of the resignation on one of the 2nd grade team members. They are moving to a new math curriculum which will require a lot of extra work. She has been spending most of her evenings and weekends doing school stuff.

Happily her husband recently got a raise which will cover most of her salary reduction.

She had interviewed with her new employer in the fall for a job she didn't get. Last week her car was in the shop and while her husband was picking her up from school to go get her repaired car the employer phoned her and asked her to come in for an interview on Friday. She did and they offered her the job immediately. Her husband, before he joined the public defender's office last year, did a lot of work representing children in CPS cases so he knew a lady who had this job for 7 years. He arranged for our daughter to talk to her about the job so she could see what it would be like.

Our daughter and Mrs. V talked about the job offer for about an hour and a half last night. Today she made her decision and told her principal she would be leaving.

Her new office is downtown just 2 blocks from her husband's office so they will be able to get together for lunch sometimes and might even carpool. Her hours will be flexible to a considerable extent.

So it has been a weekend of drama here.

[Foggy]

But drama with mostly good news.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[Volkonski]

Mrs. V. joined the local YMCA today. To her surprise our medical insurance paid for it. I think it is through the Silver Sneaker program. She also got a free T-shirt.

ymca.jpg (241.72 KiB) Viewed 946 times

[Volkonski]

Fire watch in effect as dry weather continues

https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/n ... 813093007/

As of Monday the combined total of lakes Arrowhead and Kickapoo was 64.4 percent. That means Wichita Falls water customers remain under Stage 1 water-use restrictions. City officials urged residents to conserve water usage whenever possible.



The winter continues to be exceptionally warm in North Texas. The normal high temperature for this time of year in Wichita Falls is 54 degrees, but this year it has averaged 66 degrees, the second highest on record.

A Fire Weather Watch will be in effect for the area Wednesday afternoon because of warm temperatures, gusty winds and relative humidity as low as 17 percent.

[Volkonski]

Mrs. V. is in California visiting her sister.

Drove downtown to our Dallas daughter's apartment yesterday where Mrs. V. stayed overnight. Then I drove back home. Daughter drove Mrs. V. to the airport this morning. When Mrs. V. returns next week she will again stay overnight in Dallas and then daughter will drive her up here and stay for 2 nights.

Meanwhile our daughter here and I are on cat duty.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Cat duty is an enormous responsibility. Does Mrs. V appreciate your efforts while she is traveling the globe?

[Volkonski]

Our first snow of the season.

Tuesday
Rain and snow, becoming all snow after 3pm. High near 38. East wind 7 to 14 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

[Volkonski]

This will not impress more northern Fogbowers of course. Here it is a quite a topic of conversation.

At my physical therapy session today the young trainers (as I think of them) were all talking about it. My PT coordinator made a point of coming over to remind me not to go out tomorrow lest I slip and fall. Heck, I don't need snow and ice to slip and fall these days.

Tuesday

Rain and snow before noon, then rain between noon and 1pm, then snow after 1pm. High near 38. East wind 8 to 13 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Tuesday Night

Snow, mainly before 1am. Low around 29. West northwest wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

[AndyinPA]

Sort of sounds like our weather. It snowed overnight, but it's largely gone. We're at about half as much snow as there should be, but we've had rain, so won't affect the moisture levels, which are normal all around here.

[Volkonski]

Rain just changed to snow here. Hoping the temperature, currently 34F, stays above freezing.

[Volkonski]

News reports showing highway just to our west in Electra covered in about an inch of accumulating snow.

[Volkonski]

Just got an alert from our former Texas city. Tornado is hitting them right now. Reports of damage. That is part of the same storm we are getting.

[Volkonski]

Major tornados and flooding in the greater Houston area right now. Our former city hit pretty hard but news is coming out slowly what with so much else happening in greater Houston. Tornado watch extended until 6 PM.

This has distracted me from our Texoma snow. Now accumulating here on lawns and roofs. Our daughter is almost home.

[Volkonski]

Have heard from our friends in our former city of Baytown and they are all OK. Many still without power. Baytown police calling everyone (including us former residents) to tell them to treat intersections with nonfunctioning traffic lights as 4 way stops. They repeated the message 3 times.

Worst damage was south of the Ship Channel in Pasadena and Dear Park.

Here in Texoma our daughter got home OK. Her school (and most in this area) will start 2 hours later than usual tomorrow to give streets a chance to melt and dry.

Our daughter told me that as soon as it started snowing some parents came to the school to get their kids including 3 students from her class.

[Volkonski]

Next week is our daughter's last week teaching. By this time next week for the first time in decades I will not be the father or the husband of a teacher. (Still be an uncle of teachers however. )

This weekend she and Mrs. V. are packing up her teacher stuff at the school and bringing it here. Lots of discussion about what stuff to take and what stuff to leave for the long-term sub who will replace her. (As Fogbowers who are teachers or who have a lot to do with teachers know, teachers spend a lot of their own money for classroom supplies. When a teacher leaves a lot of stuff leaves with the teacher.)

Our daughter has been much happier since getting her new job. It is less money and no long summer vacation but the day to day grind will be much easier. As a teacher she was putting in 10 to 12 hour days 6 to 7 days a week.

[AndyinPA]

Good luck to her. It's so sad there are so many teachers who are leaving the profession.

[Volkonski]

Meanwhile-

Our younger daughter's husband's teenage nephew got his teenage girlfriend pregnant.

After quite some drama over the last few months (about which we have only recently been informed) the plan is for our daughter and her husband, who have been unable to have children of their own, to adopt the child. Everyone involved now seems to agree that this is the best way forward.

Things are in the hands of the lawyers.

[Foggy]

That's a tricky situation, V. It's a long story, but ol' Wifehorn and I turned down a situation like that.

Your daughter and her husband have to be ready to deal with it if the biological father decides to interfere at some later time. Especially if the father is poor and your daughter's family has enough money to raise a child in a decent manner.

Why aren't they helping me, too?

But even without the money problem, what happens when he decides his child is not being taught the religious or other beliefs that he has?

I'm not suggesting they cancel or anything. If the lawyers have it, it's a done deal, I reckon.

But I am suggesting that your daughter and her husband talk about how they would deal with issues like that. Because Earthlings will be Earthlings.

[Volkonski]

Those are valid concerns. Pretty sure our daughter and SIL are going into this after much careful thought.

[Volkonski]

Today in Texoma it is 24F and icy. Freezing rain in the forecast for the next 2 days. Won't get above freezing until Thursday.

No, the local highway department does not have sand or salt to spread on local roadways.

Schools closed early today. Our daughter tells us that when the ice started to form many parents came to her school to get their kids. Non-teaching staff were all kept busy going to classrooms to get kids whose parents were there.

When our daughter went to leave the school the parking lot was a sheet of ice. She managed to get to her car and then drive home safely. Good thing that our daughter moved her stuff out of her classroom over the weekend.

Many schools and businesses have already announced that they will be closed tomorrow.

[Volkonski]

Texoma can't handle ice.

All of the schools (public and private) are closed tomorrow. Also the university, the junior college, the air force base, the airport, county offices, most churches, most medical offices, the courts, some banks, senior centers, meals on wheels, the YMCA, the Wichita Falls mass transit buses, etc.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I don't know many locations which CAN handle ice. Arkansas generally gets ice or sleet, then a light dusting of snow on top. We ALWAYS get ice. The Arkansas State Police warns BEGS people to not drive. Hubby and my Little Rock brother always take that as a challenge.

[Volkonski]

In a feat of lunatic daring Mrs. V. took the trash up to the dumpster just now. This meant crossing our ice-covered patio twice.

There was no rush. The city suspended trash pickup yesterday.

Anyway she is safe inside now.

[Volkonski]

Our daughter's school has canceled classes again tomorrow.