Aunty April hosts a slumber party

My 9 year old niece, her friend, and my 5 year old nephew came over to spend the night with "Aunty April" (yes, they really call me that...makes me sound 90, I know).

I began by bragging that I know people who know Saleena Gomez, Demi Lovato, and all the other stars of "Wizards of Waverly Place" and "Sonny with a Chance." Now I am faced with enormous pressure to produce autographed 8x10s of the stars next time I come home.

Next, I led them in a game of chase, ending in all four of us being chastised by my Mom for running in the house. We downgraded to hide-and-seek, but that didn't go much better.

I then thought it would be a good idea to make them ice-cream, which Mom insisted we eat in the kitchen. I also gave them second helpings. I now realize this means we'll be awake until 5 am.

We then went outside to check the snow and hosted a weather report for Pap and Mia, but not before my niece proceeded to leap 3 feet from our back porch into the ice/snow, and I nearly strangled my nephew in an effort to keep him from doing the same....

I also participated in a Barbie fashion show, a game of dominoes where you actually just build things, and then proceeded to give ALL of them makeovers, even my nephew, whom I know will hate me for that in 10 years.

I am now the coolest "aunty" ever, and even more convinced that I never want to babysit and will be a terrible mother.

Enough Weather-girl!!!

Unless your cable is out because of it, I'm sure you are aware the that for the second time in less than a month, the South is in the throes of a pretty huge snowstorm. (My favorite nickmame for it so far is "Snowpacolypse 2011").

We're all pretty dang excited about it, especially me because living in SoCal I now see less snow than even before.

I'll admit we Southerners go a little crazy at the mention of snow...suddenly cleaning out the grocery of bread and milk, demanding the closure of school and work for any accumulation over an inch, etc. And because of this we take a lot of ribbing from our Yankee neighbors and Northern trasplants for our silly behavior.

But I have to say, I've been glued to the Weather Channel all day, and Weather-chick is getting under my skin right about now. She's simultaneously covering the "sledding" going on at Piedmont Park and mocking said sleds, which are actually pieces of cardboard, inner-tubes, sheets of plexiglass, and about anything else we can get our hands on that will send us flying down a snow-covered hill. In one of her more southern-moments she remarked she'd "never heard of such!" She also didn't understand why there weren't more snow plows out.

Listen lady. We are sledding down the hill with deflated pool floats because we don't HAVE sleds. We don't want to go to work because we don't know how to drive in the snow. Most of us have never even seen snow-chains or whatever the heck you put on your tires to drive around in this stuff. Our DOT doesn't have snow-plows either. BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SNOW HERE!!!! Which you should know, since I'm hoping you went to some sort of weather school or training before they put you on the air.

Thanks for letting me vent guys. Now get back to your snow angels and hot cocoa!