During her unexpected wintertime hiatus, the award-winning Chandra Wilson wrapped up her tax returns, cleaned house, attended parent-teacher conferences, picked up an award and even visited her old high school.

Wilson, understandably, would have preferred to be at work, wrapping up Season Four as Dr. Miranda Bailey in the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy.

But the chance for the actress to return to her alma mater, Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, was one of the brighter spots of her forced time off during the Writers Guild of America strike.

According to her hometown Houston Chronicle, Wilson returned to the school bearing gifts â€" the promise to fund a pair of $2,000 annual college scholarships for HSPVA's theater graduates â€" and in just minutes, produced more genuine, heartfelt laughter than the stern, no-nonsense Miranda Bailey has provided viewers in four years of serious, on-screen hospital corridor stare-downs.

"There's a whole lot of my mom, a whole lot of Wilma (referring to her mother, Wilma Allen) in Dr. Bailey," Chandra Wilson said, laughing.

"You know mothers. Everything is justified from their point of view. I may see it differently, but she's completely justified with every reaction and suggestion."

Listening to her mom has served Wilson well thus far. Chandra Wilson had acted since age five in Theatre Under The Stars productions, but only applied for the performing arts high school in 1983 at her mother's suggestion - her urging.

"Within two weeks, I knew that was the best decision my mother ever made," she said. "I didn't have professional aspirations. My mom didn't want me to be idle."

Follow this link to continue reading this great account of the amazing Chandra Wilson's time off this winter in the Houston Chronicle ...

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.