Tuesday, January 20th 2009 will go down in history in our area.  Not because of the inauguration though....

Monday, January 19th was all abuzz in Hampton Roads, Virginia.  When I went to volunteer at the preschool across the street, I asked these sweet children if they knew of the "big event" taking place the following day.  All their hands went up but they couldn't hold in their excitement as they simultaeously yelled out, "It's going to snow tomorrow!".

Yes, in Virginia Beach, it seems that getting snow is a more exciting event than getting a new President.

On the Monday evening news, the top story was the upcoming storm which included "team coverage" spread throughout Hampton Roads.  They covered it all.....how VDOT was preparing to sand the roads that night, how landscaping businesses were putting plows on their trucks to help with snow removal, how the temperatures were dropping by the nanosecond and the "storm of the year" could be upon us soon!

Now, keep in mind, our "storm of the year" was predicted to bring 1 - 5 inches of white stuff.  Wednesday's forecast pushed temperatures back up into the 40's so any accumulation we received would be gone the next day.

I woke up at 6am.  Looked out the window.  No snow.  My 6 year old son woke up.  He looked out the window.  His eyes filled up with tears.

We turned on the TV to see where our snow was.  (It MUST have gotten lost!).  Fear not, our local weatherman assured us, the snow was still coming.  Some nasy coldfront from the north was getting in the way of our sweet southern snow and it would be here momentarily.  Then, I noticed the alerts streaming across the bottom of the TV screen.  Was I really seeing what I thought I saw?  Were the schools really closed?

Yes, 90% of the schools in our area closed.  Now, please remember, there wasn't even a flurry coming down in our area.  No rain, no snow, no ice.  But, our schools were closed.

So, we bunkered down and waited for the storm.

And waited...........

Maybe we'll get an inch or so.......

And waited..........

Maybe we'll get flurries..............

And waited..............

One flurry?...........Rain?...............ANYTHING?????????

Nope.  Nothing.  Nada.  Nil.

The sun came out.  Kids were out riding their bikes.  Neighbors were walking their dogs.  The wind picked up a little and a few surfers went out into the ocean.  Just another normal day in Virginia Beach.

Tina in Virginia