Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Life's colder lessons

I have learned a few important lessons during today's snowstorm. Well, some of these were more like refreshers rather than new lessons.

1. There are many, many kind people in this town. Thank you to the nice old lady whose driveway my car got stuck in front of, for the loan of her snow shovel as I attempted to get unstuck. My sincerest apologies for the small muddy hole I have probably left in your yard, but I did spare your mailbox that you just had installed! Thank you wholeheartedly to Patty from St. Peters who gave Trystan and I a lift for the half a mile to daycare after my car got stuck and I gave up on moving it myself. Thank you to the 3 guys in the blue volvo who, along with my husband, ended up pushing my car up to the top of the hill that I was stuck on (while Charlotte and Trystan were waiting back at the school). And mostly, thank you to my husband who shoveled our driveway, half of the nice lady's driveway, drove to come rescue me (shovelling half of the roads on the way so he wouldn't get stuck himself), and who did get my car unstuck and pushed it up the hill.

2. There are many, many foolish people in this town. Tops on my list tonight are Suzanne and Jim, who run our kids' daycare, and who decided at 12:30 in the worst of the white-out thundersnow to call all parents and demand that we come retrieve our children. It took me 4 hours from the time I left my house to the time I left daycare with the children buckled into the car. Had they not attempted to "close early", then I would probably have left at 4pm, and arrived by 5, taking only 1 hour on plowed roads with actual visibility, and I would not have been a nuissance to all the people I've already mentioned, and a danger to Trystan who was forced to ride along the entire harrowing journey. They'll be lucky if their poor decision making only costs their school's families time today, and not property or worse, lives.

3. The next time I decide that the roads are too bad for me to drive to work after taking Trystan to an AM dr appointment, I should go and get Charlotte right then. Again, it probably would have taken an hour for me to get home, but better than the 5+ than I ended up with.

4. I need new snow boots. Ones that fit. I have decided that my current pair are really a men's size 8 and not a women's, and they are terrible to hike up snowy hills in, especially while carrying a baby bundled in your coat.

5. Did I mention that my husband is Superman? Sort-of? Well, I'll say it again. I am exhausted and I didn't shovel 2 driveways, several roads, or push a car up a hill today. He is reading Charlotte bedtime stories as I type.

5 comments:

pam said...

Wow what a day. I am glad you are ok. I went out with Gavin about 2:30 and it was up to his thighs the poor guy could not even walk. It took Scott an hour to get home he left at 5pm.

Amanda said...

When everyday frustrations make us not particularly like our spouses that a day when they truly shine comes along and we remember why we love them. I'm glad everyone made it home safe and sound and I'm doubly glad that I'm sitting in England with no snow. :)

BriteLady said...

Scott was smart not to leave until 5. It took us about an hour to get home from daycare around then too, which is bad but at least the roads were sort of plowed.

We offered to take Char out to play in the snow when we got home, but she refused. I think she was upset that she couldn't go out the kitchen door to the deck--we had 1.5 foot drifts of snow on the glass door that we didn't want in the house...our patio furniture is buried up to the seats still.

We are lucky to have all made it home safely, and that the children were never stuck out in the cold or anything (Even during our treck up the hill, Trystan was plenty warm and seemed to be enjoying himself). And now, I have a true story about walking uphill in the snow on my way to school to get Charlotte....can you say guilt trip material? >:)

HiddenChicken said...

Daycare called us at 11 to tell us they were closing at 3. I left at 1:30 thinking I had plenty of time to get there. Stupid me - I only got near there at 4:20, and didn't get home at 4:45. Fortunately, my husband started out around 2, but still didn't manage to get there until about 4.

When I got to work this morning, I was extremely jealous to hear about the people who left at 5 or 6only have about an hour's drive! I'm glad you got home safely. I, too, was kicking myself for having bothered to go in at all - I spent just as much time trying to drive home as I did working.

flatflo said...

One of those times I can say thank goodness for technology. I made the decision when I heard the sleet on the roof at 6am that I was going to work from home instead of trying to go in. So I got to sleep in another hour and a half, worked an 8-hour day in my pajamas and welcomed Dave home at 5:40 (only 40 minute trip home instead of 10.)