Snow Day!

Uh, Hooray? (I think).

I got up early to get Richard off to school and checked the closing reports online. I was happy to see that the local schools are closed. When I first checked at 0600, there was a two hour delay, now they are closed!

New Richmond Exempted Village School District

Closed Wed 2nd Jan 2008 07:10AM

The temp is about 12° right now with 16 MPH winds, plus there is an inch or two of snow on the ground. So, instead of having school, the kids get another day off. It does not bother me. I didn't really want to drive them there today anyway. I try and always drive them when the weather is this terrible. If that makes me a push-over, so be it. I don't want them sicker than they already are.

The weather is supposed to stay the same all day with a high of 20° and more snow. Too bad we don't get a blizzard. At least that way, it would be a feeling of justification for the kids staying home. Right now, it just seems like we are keeping them home for no real reason. 20 years ago, it would be snowing and they would still have open school. I guess things change with time.

All of us have bad colds. I have completely lost my voice and have (if you can believe a little more of the compounding bad situations I am in) two bloody ear drums and a bloody nose.Bridget thinks that are both ears are infected but who knows. I can hear fine. They're just not working at 100%.

William is coughing and Richard is even moving slow (but that might just be a case of apathy). Maryann is my daughter. She practally never gets sick. But, since she can annoy her brothers, she has to force the issue and push them to the side and sit between them.

I should be able to get some more work done around here now that I have some 'volunteers' sitting on the couch with the remotes glued to their hand(s).

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The first "Parcel Post Baby"

I have a newspaper article showing my Great Uncle who was listed as; "Here Is The first 'Parcel Post' Baby" who was sent through the mail. This is a very good scan of the article. You can make a guess at the date, but since the article is not dated and all my relatives have no information to follow up on this. I had to look back at the history of the postal service.

The article lists both the name of the baby and the 'Rural Mail Carrier and Rig' "who delivered him from his parents to his Grandmother about a mile away." (insured for $50)

The best guess I can do is either 1913 or 1914 due to parcel post service starting in 1913.

I don't know to laugh or smirk. It sounds like a stunt to see if they could get away with it. Knowing my family, that was just the case. No one I asked even knew it happened. Even my parents didn't remember even seeing the newspaper article they gave me in a stack of papers they had saved.

I sent off an email to the Postal Service historical society and am waiting on a response from them and if they knew of this happening. I hope to get a response sometime soon.

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