Winter Storm Pax has officially settled in over our mountains here in Western North Carolina. Snowfall totals, NOAA tells us, could reach up to 14 inches.

Normally, this kind of news would have me pausing only to leap for joy before suiting up and heading outside with my entire family and a sled. But I’ve got the blues.

Earlier this week, my 4 year-old caught the flu. While she is now bouncing on the leather couch in between showings of Mary Poppins (a family favorite) and “Peg Plus Cat” (thank you, God bless you, heaven will repay you with cities of gold, PBSKids), I am now quarantined to the bedroom.

Here’s my bed. Note the laptop, tea, and trash bag. That’s for the plethora of gunky tissues. Out of the camera view is my Kindle, some magazines, my cell phone, the thawing ice pack I had to keep on my head when I woke up with a migraine (joy!), and Albuterol inhaler I normally only have to use for emergencies. Nice, right?

Here’s me. This is no way for a snow girl like myself to spend the biggest snow event the South has seen in over a decade.

Sigh.

If you are in the path of Winter Storm Pax, I hope you stay safe and warm. And play in for me, will you?!