January 12 - "Oh the weather outside is frightfull...I hate snow! I hate snow! I hate snow!"

Ugh. I hate winter. If it weren’t for my family I would be living somewhere warm and snow free! Maybe some palm trees or cactus hanging around… But no, I am here in the Midwest. The land of crazy weather.
Today I woke up to snow on the ground. No big deal, it’s winter in Nebraska. I thought I started my day off in plenty of time. Got Alaina all packed up and ready for daycare which is outside of my routine because Teddy normally does this, but, we managed. I even remembered to write out the check! So we set off toward daycare and that leg of the trip went fine. I arrived exactly when I had planned, took her in and got her settled and then left to go to work. Apparently sometime, in those few precious minutes, everything went to heck outside. The snow kicked up again and people turned into 80 year old women drivers. We were going about 15 mph tops. At this time, I notice that Teddy has left my SUV with no gas in it. So I have to take a side street over the nearest gas station I know of to get gas. This short trip takes almost 20 minutes… I am going to be late and I am getting a little irritated. I get the gas and jump back in my car to take advantage of a picture opportunity for my blog. (See above...the snow didn't photograph that well...) At this time…I had no idea how much I was going to have to write about. So off I set again. Traffic seems to be a little better until I get to the main road. Holy backed up cars batman!! I was lucky to get on from the ramp. We creeped along at 10 mph most of the time and at other times were at a complete standstill. I never saw an accident so who knows what was wrong. All of a sudden, in the middle of my irritation, my passenger side windshield wiper just goes nuts – it flips over and makes this horrible noise and proceeds to not do it’s job and wipe my windshield! It’s broke. UGH! On top of all that, Teddy calls. “Hey, can you believe it is already 65 degrees here? How is your morning?” Have you ever wished you could reach your arm halfway across the country and just strangle someone?! Yeah, you know that feeling. The drive was horrible. I was 45 minutes late to work with a half clean windshield and I was so relieved to get there. I tried to fix the windshield wiper, to no avail. Work itself was not that bad today. I was busy and the day went by quickly. I had to work my lunch to make up time for being late so I could still leave on time at 4:00, but, that was even ok. End of the day comes and I am headed for the door. I get to my car and realize I hadn’t bothered to look outside and it is snowing AGAIN. Double Ugh! Well, I have to pick up Alaina and I have to go home. I have no choice but to set out. So off I go. At first it isn’t too bad. About like it is on a normal snowy day – people going slow and being careful. I maneuver my way in to the lane I will need eventually. Wow. This isn’t so bad. Then, the wind comes. 55+mph winds. White out conditions. We are barely moving. (Note in this picture you can see my broken wiper as well - hooray - no mom I was not driving when I took this picture!)
I think I could have ran home faster then we were driving. Creeping…creeping…creeping… At first I am being very nice. If a car is trying to turn on to the street, I let them in. I always think about that Collin Raye song “What if Jesus Came Back Like That.” I don’t know if you listen to country but way back when it first came out it made me think about everything I said or did to another person, stranger or not. I still think about that. If I am letting in car in I am thinking, hey, you never know, it could be. It is basically just the idea that you need to be nice to people. Well…by the time I am in traffic for over an hour I am apologizing to Jesus for telling him he is on his own. Now, something I should have mentioned before. I am a very patient person in most circumstances, however, driving is NOT one of those circumstances. I mean, it isn’t to the point that I am dangerous by any means. Mostly, I just yell at people in other cars…who cannot hear me. This, is why I should not live where it snows. So now I am yelling at people, and then praying because I feel bad for yelling, because, you know, what if? As I wait my mind wonders, would Jesus even drive a car? If he did, what kind of car would he drive? If he is in the Midwest he better have an SUV. I am glad I have an SUV… Wow, my car has a lot of miles! I need a new SUV. How long till Teddy’s car is paid off? Maybe we can put our tax return on bills. I wonder when my W2 comes? W2? How did my mind get here? Okay seriously – boredom induces thoughts like this which we call rabbit trails. Sit there and try to trace one back sometime. It is HARD. One time I got from tomato soup to Cruella Devil in like three minutes. Try it. It’s like playing the Kevin Bacon game. More creeping… Windshield wiper still broken. I finally got to the daycare an hour late and by the time I left there and got home I had been on the road for an hour and 45 minutes. I am never driving again…until tomorrow.