Are you dreaming?

Yep, I knew it. As soon as I opened my virtual yap, complaining about the warm temperatures a couple weeks ago, old man winter let me have it. Well, it isn't 22 inches and 22 below. But it's darn cold and a tad inconvenient.

Already the kids have missed a whole day and had a slew of 2-hour delays. "Mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again" and the long winter break hasn't even begun.

Still, there's nothing quite like a Christmas snow. It's what made Frosty come to life and the reason Rudolph made his nose glow so bright. Yes, I watch too many kiddie Christmas shows. But, hey, I'm a kid at heart.

So I was inspired to do a Google search on the possibility for a white Christmas for our area. Given that we already have snow on the ground and it isn't likely to melt in 20-degree temps, the chances are good that there will be snow on the ground. But I want big, fluffy flakes falling from the sky to usher in the jolly fat guy.

What I discovered is that predicting the weather, much like predicting how a typical day at the paper will go, is a futile effort. There are no guarantees. While one website might show a 60 percent chance, another shows more like 40, and yet another 11-25 percent (?).

In the end, I guess I'll be happy no matter what because at least I get the day off. Still, it never hurts to dream.