Snowbound!

Its been snowing all day, and I was really pleased with myself as I finished off a translation before 9.30, then had a SKYPE appointment with one of my clients at 10, spent the rest of the morning tidying the living room and preparing a lesson plan for a student who was coming at 3.00 p.m for a lesson.
There I was all warm and feeling pretty smug that I had been making money without having to join the rat race, when I got a call from Jolanda from the bus stop in Amsterdam saying the buses were not running and she could not get home from school!
So I wrapped up warmly and filled my handbag with mars bars, cleared the snow off my car, and slid slowly down the N247 towards Amsterdam.
The pretty snowflakes that had been falling in Monnickendam turned into a blizzard with white-out conditions as I got past Broek in Waterland, and as I crossed over the Amsterdam Ring I saw the traffic absolutely nose to tail on the motorway. I glided into the bus stop bay, and was greeted by Jolanda and two friends. "Can you give them a lift to Landsmeer, they cannot reach their parents?" said Jolanda.
- Landsmeer is along the Amsterdam Ring in the direction of the immobile traffic jam......
It took me two seconds to say no - but I could not leave the poor things there in the snow, so they piled in and my little car slipped and slid all the way to Monnickendam with three shivering blond teenagers giggling in the back.
Monnickendam looked lovely in the snow, and once the girls got in and warmed up with the Wii, crisps, sweets and drinks they were ready for snowball fights and a sleepover.
As I write the house is cosy, the girls are full of chicken and potatoes, the christmas tree lights are twinkling and they are just about to settle down to a film.
We will work out how to get them home tomorrow - there is a national weather alarm tonight and nothing is moving, not even the police and fire engines!