Snow...

Okay so today was not exactly what I would call a "good day." It started off all right; I went to work, it was freezing, but it was like that yesterday so it wasn't a big deal. When I got to school, I saw that we only had *7 kids* in class. Normally on a Tuesday we have 12. Well that was a bit of a relief; it sure made our day go a lot smoother than usual. Anyway the morning was fine; we had a double birthday party for two of our kids which was really cute.

But then 12:45 rolled around. As I was getting something from behind the changing table, I looked out the window and saw that it had started snowing. Now I knew that it was going to snow today; we had a snow advisory since last night. They (the Weather Channel) said that we were going to probably get 2-4 inches of snow. I have no problem with this, just so long as the roads are plowed and salted (at least some salt; it doesn't really work very well when it's really cold outside like it is here). Okay so the snow slowly starts to intensify by 1:15. I was getting a little worried about how I would fare when leaving work. But my co-workers told me that everything would be fine and that we'd just follow each other's tracks as we left.

Ha! Easy for them to say. First off, all my kids were picked up by 5:30...parents were smart and came and got their kids earlier than usual so to avoid traffic. Anyway by 6:00 the center, which is usually open until 8:00 Monday-Thursday (preschool closes at 6:00 every day), closed at 6:00 tonight due to the weather (it was still coming down pretty hard). There was one little boy left; his dad had gotten stuck in traffic and by 6:15 Audrey finally told Britany and I to go home. Hey we weren't going to argue with her on that. So after spending about 10 minutes clearing what looked like 3 inches of snow off my car, I began to VERY SLOWLY drive out of the parking lot and easily drove up the small hill out of the center. Now there is another hill that takes you to the main road. This hill is rather steep. This hill had not been plowed. I got STUCK on this hill! I swear for about 20 minutes I was trying everything: reverse then going into drive, downshifting to 4th, 3rd, and 2nd gears (I do not drive a stick; I drive an automatic), but NOTHING was working. Finally Audrey who was behind me...sort of told me to go into reverse and then just go as fast as I could up the hill. I tried that. Nope. By this time I was in tears, having a full blown panic attack. I got out my cell phone and called my dad in tears. He said he would come help me. After we hung up I tried one more time; I backed up and put the car into 2nd gear and slowly...very slowly I somehow made it up the hill and on to the main road. I called my dad to let him know that I got to the road (after thanking my car over and over again for making it...not to mention a certain higher power...). He said he was proud of me for sticking with it and for getting up the damn hill. He also said he'd stay on the phone with me the whole time I drove home; now I know this is not the smartest thing to do when driving in snow, but when you are having a panic attack like I was and are unable to concentrate, talking was the best thing for me. So he and I talked the entire drive home. I told him where I was when I got to certain intersecitons; he'd say "you're that much closer." I FINALLY arrived at my apartment complex and found a "parking spot" (you couldn't see any of the lines since there was snow covering everything) and thanked my car and G-d again and again. I told my dad I made it home and he said he was very proud of me; he also said to just relax now that I was home; don't worry about the weather, just do a whole bunch of nothing. Good advice, dad. Thanks. I plan on doing that.

I was still rather shaky after hanging up with him, but I felt so relieved that I was safe and sound and secure in my apartment.

One last thing: I HATE SNOW!

Okay I'm done now. ;-)

Stay safe and warm!

-Lisa